Nica: Our Last Week in Leon by Justin Pulsford

Justin, sad it’s the last day!

I’m leaping volcanos after finally recovering from ten days of tooth, root canal and toilet adventures. I am really happy to return to the crew, school everyday, eating ALL the food, the kitchen and all things Mama J. Just to explain, all PWB volunteers take on 1 of 7 roles. For the past four weeks I have been Team Mum. My roles include conflict resolution, time keeping, delegation of daily tasks (shopping, cooking etc.) and a mid-project check-in session with each team member.

Jake wakes me at 6.15am with coffee ready in the pot! It’s cool outside and I’m happy to join the boys for their morning training session in the park. I’m currently working on 3 clubs and some bounce juggling. Then it’s off to the market with Emily to gather tropical fruits, vegetables, cheese, eggs and honey. I love this place, it has a wicked buzz about it!

At 2.05pm I rally the “kids” with the ten minute leaving call, ‘Vamonos!’ We scurry onto a camioneta, like a kinda colorful “chele” centipede. We are greeted with smiles, excitement and the usual stampede from the El Barrilete children as they run past me to grab and climb Valentina 🙂

After a round of body percussion and improvisation games the children try out entering the ‘stage’, smiling, performing an action, bowing and then exiting the ‘stage’. They laugh wildly as their friends present in front of them, though we still have some shy ones as not everyone braves the walk of fame. They know it’s not long now and together we count down the days till their grand performance.

Practicing our dance routine

Over the next two days the children form small practice groups to run through their routines. I help Jake and Aileen, a school ‘educadora’, with the Diabolo routine. The children are wild with excitement and it takes everything we have got to shape them into a step by step presentation. Coming on stage in two files, Diabolos in one hand, sticks in the other. Jake works an awesome rhythmic clatter of Diabolos down the lines and a graceful turn with the sticks in the air. A heavy dose of patience & encouragement and it’s really coming together.

Janeli & Nayeli (2 of the girls at the school) have been keen to show me their 3 ball juggling progress. In week 1 & 2 we practiced 2 balls up, 1 after another. Then onto 3 balls, walking after them as the balls fly away in front, to the side and occasionally behind. Now I can barely keep up watching them stand in one spot and throw 10, then 20 and by the time the sun has fallen I counted 53 throws from Nayeli with catches to match. Wow! Along with Wendy they also work on a juggling, Acro-balance & Hoop routine. I stand speechless and amazed as their 3 minute act unfolds, utilizing tricks we had taught them and their own addition of originality, new combinations and shapes.

Janeli, Nayeli & Wendy practicing their act

Aileen & I head out to a local barrio with the Escuela Movil. As we trundle down the pothole ridden track, eyes and voices appear from huts, behind trees and across ditches to follow us to the basketball court at the heart of this barrio. This month’s addition of Team Nica and its colorful crew & props has really captured the focus of local children here. Ad-lib Hoop shows, comedy club routines, wand, slack rope, mime juggling, contact juggling and theatre acts have drawn them in to play and to take part in the educational mathematics and language games that the mobile trailer has to offer. Hector, a Nicaraguan volunteer, takes time to express his gratitude to me, and how he has enjoyed having us there each week. The importance of a fun atmosphere, co-ordination classes, balancing, juggling and straight-up high energy playtime! In addition to this, the chance for these children to experience mini circus shows, brought to them on their patches of earth with the thrill and excitement of seeing some of these things for the very first time.

The last session is intensely hot, though we play mostly amongst strips of shade that line the court. Aileen gathers a group of 8 for a wand class, with many more onlookers watching from the stone steps. Following a short session balancing a club in different places with some boys, I turn to organize two triangular throw and catch games with the balls I brought with me. After a contact juggling demonstration we finish by playing a throw, catch and name game. Names and sports, to favorite foods and fruits. I feel privileged to share laughs, smiles and praise with the 10 kids who joined us. Long after we change games 1 very sweet boy is still catching and calling out “Futbol” with a 5 second pause to think.

Playing with the kids at Escuela Movil

5mm out and 3mm up, somewhere between a tense finger lock and even pressure, is sufficient enough to keep the MP3 player cable steady to play music through the massive sound system provided. Apart from the occasional frustrated face of a dropped prop the show is nothing short of monumental! If the applause and cheers of 100 people from the barrio isn’t proof enough then the wave of happiness and emotion that sweeps us all off our feet is.

The sun had long gone, we present the school with their decorated wheelie box of circus props, and bathe in a warm pool of gratitude from Maria and the kids. A strong cocktail of sadness and joy passes over me as a tear rolls down my face in the circle of our goodbyes. What a show! What a Month!…Mad love for you, Team Nica!

Face painting on the show day!