Eta Kappa/James Madison members Chris Scroggins (2015), Russ Gibson (2014), and James Fey (2014) spent their spring break ‘lending a helping hand’ at an orphanage and feeding center in Nicaragua.
The brothers are member of JMU's Nicaraguan Orphan Fund (NOF). Prior to the trip the brothers and other members of NOF collected 25 suitcases full of donations to take to the NOF office in Nicaragua.
“We flew into Managua, Nicaragua and departed the plane into a 90 degree environment in which poverty is all too prevalent,” said Scroggins. “After dropping off the donations at the NOF office, we headed to El Canyon, the orphanage where we would volunteer our time for the next week – a week that would change our lives for the better,” he continued.
The brothers spent several hours with the children “niños” before departing for the location where they would stay. Lodging for the week would be in buildings on what resembled a military base.
“There was a big gate that locked and there was barbed wire on top of the fence that surrounded the compound,” said Scroggins. “Inside the compound was a building with several rooms, a kitchen, and a large dining/meeting area. There was another small building with two more rooms for lodging, which is where we stayed,” he said. “The rooms were set up like a big dorm room. All of the beds were bunked,” he added.
For the next week, the NOF group would spend time with the children of El Canyon, playing with them, taking them to the beach, out to eat, helping to serve their daily meals, and teaching English and other Life Skills classes, and just being a positive role model.
“Basically we volunteered to teach what we felt comfortable with, and most had received some training. A young woman traveling with the group was a Dietetics major. She taught nutrition to the children,” said Scroggins.
The brothers also attended a church service with the niños. During the service, Brother James Fey was thanked for saving three of the children from drowning the day the group was at the beach.
While in Nicaragua the brothers also spent three days at Ciudad Sandino, a local feeding center in Managua.
“Children at Ciudad Sandino mostly come from single family homes or extreme poverty. The children are only provided with one meal a day, so they are in much worse shape than the children at El Canyon,” said Scroggins. “The children swarmed us as soon as we got off the bus,” he said.
At the feeding center, the members of NOF also played with the children, helped to serve lunch, and the children received nutrition classes.
“I will never forget how the children at both Cuidad Sandino and El Canyon reacted when we had to leave. They latched onto our legs and some even cried,” said Scroggins. “Never in my life had I felt so appreciated,” he said. “That day we promised ‘proximo año,’ which means ‘next year’ in Spanish. We hope to return to make another huge impact by extending the assisting hand to those in need. The trip to Nicaragua showed us the definition of poverty in America is flawed in many ways,” said Scroggins. “The Nicaraguans seem to be rich in many ways that we are not, and we left realizing that there were aspects of our lives that we are indeed impoverished in,” he concluded.