SST Leadership

I have some exciting news to share! I have been selected to co-lead a Goshen College Study Service Term (SST) to Nicaragua in Summer 2012!! I am very excited about this, as it has been in the works for a long time, and there were several times this winter when I was pretty sure that things were not going to work out.

I will be leading the unit with Tamara Shantz, another admin faculty member at GC who is finishing up her role as campus minister and apartment manager, and will be moving back to Canada until we go to Nicaragua next April. Some of the delay in getting this finalized was figuring out all the details with her visa, pay and insurance, which made many of the decisions about this up to other people and only possible with prayer. I have been wanting this to work out for so long that it hasn't really sunk in yet that it is really happening.

It will begin to sink in when Tamara and I visit Nicaragua for a week in early June (only about 6 weeks away)! There we will visit the current unit of 11 students and 2 leaders and immerse ourselves in what SST is really like, try to learn a little more Spanish, and see what we really are getting ourselves into.

The assignment is basically this: Tamara and I will be the leaders of a group of 11-23 students who will be in Nicaragua for 3 months doing study and service. We will arrange for them to live with host families, study the language, learn the culture, arrange field trips, be a support and parent figure for them, and also hold them accountable to do the work (readings, journaling, final report) that go with SST. We also need to arrange service locations for them to serve at the last six weeks - these are spread throughout the country. For many GC students, SST is the highlight of their college experience, so it's a little stressful to have all that responsibility!

I will live in Nicaragua for 4 months - April through July of 2012. We will be based in Jinotepe, about 45k south of Managua. I have been studying Spanish by taking classes at GC but I still have a long way to go. I really know nothing about Nicaragua so I will have a lot to learn about where I am going. That starts this Thursday when Tamara and I are meeting former leaders for coffee and conversation.

It's exciting to anticipate this opportunity, but there is also a lot of preparation. My supervisor and I will need to figure out who will cover my tasks while I am gone. There are many books to read and decisions to make. There are vaccinations and shots to get. :( I would appreciate your prayers as I begin this journey!