Homecomings and Goodbyes

We've had lots of comings and goings here at MCC in the last three weeks. Three weeks ago, we said goodbye to Maritza, a 1-year volunteer from Bolivia. She returned home a few weeks early so that she could participate in the Mennonite World Conference in Paraguay. Maritza served in Nicaragua through MCC's YAMEN program.

Then two weeks ago we welcomed home two Nicaraguan young adults who spent the last year in the US & Canada as part of the IVEP program. Sugey is a university student from Estelí who spent the year working near Ontario, Canada. Violeta is a univeristy graduate who worked as a Spanish tutor at Eastern Mennonite University in Virginia. Both girls are from Brethren in Christ churches here in Nicaragua.

We went to the airport and welcomed them back; their families also came, and there was much cheering when they came out from baggage claim. We then traveled to Estelí for a special welcome-home service at Sugey's church (the photo shows Sugey sharing a bit of her experience at church).

The next week we said goodbye to our SALTers from this year - Rachelle, Matt, and Kayon. While the homecomings were heart-warming, the goodbyes were bittersweet. We will miss these SALTers greatly. The outgoing SALTers pose for a photo with Cecibel, an IVEP participant from last year.

YAMEN is a program designed to give young adults from globally 'south' countries a 1-year service opportunity in other globally 'south' countries. Nicaragua received one YAMEN participant, sent another to Mexico, and will receive a young adult from Colombia in August.

The IVEP program allows young adults from around the world to spend a year of service in the US or Canada. Nicaragua has now sent 4 young people, with another young man headed to EMU in August.

The other side of the program is SALT, which allows young adults from the US and Canada to spend a year of service in other countries. We have received 7 SALTers in the last few years, and we will receive 3 more in August.

For more information on all these programs, visit MCC's website.