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Work Trips

Each year, El Porvenir offers one-week and two-week work trips to Nicaragua. Groups of 10-15 people work in a village assisting Nicaraguan families in the construction of water, sanitation, or reforestation projects. The group is accompanied at all times by a bilingual El Porvenir staff member. Neither Spanish nor construction skills are required, though both are useful and welcome.

Water Well

Work trips cost $800 to $1075 and the fee covers the following expenses:

  • Cost of project materials, tools and equipment
  • Pre-project organization, materials purchase and delivery
  • Reservations, airport transfers, special arrangements
  • Lodging, meals and transportation within Nicaragua
  • Services of group coordinators/interpreters
  • A recreational weekend at the beach or in the mountains
  • Health/accident/baggage insurance

In addition, each participant is responsible for his/her own round trip airline ticket.

Click here for the current trip schedule
What to pack
Suggested Reading Materials - books and videos about Nicaragua
Travel Information Form
Click here for frequently asked questions

Educational and Cultural Trips

Birding TourBirding Trip

El Porvenir invites you to experience the stunning natural beauty of Nicaragua and to see an astonishing array of birds and wildlife. On this trip you will visit natural reserves around volcanic crater lakes, in rivers, in the central mountains. Local experts, Nicaraguan and North American, will guide bird walks every day. In addition to many days of birding, the tour will include a visit to some El Porvenir sustainable development projects in rural areas, and a day in two distinct artisan centers of the country. The fee for all expenses including airport transfers, hotels, restaurants, in-country transportation, interpreters, and guides is $1200.

  • Join us February 13 to 23, 2010.

 

Poetry, Pottery and Passion:
the Art and Culture of Nicaragua

This 10-day program offers an intimate experience of the art and artists of Nicaragua today, including potters, painters, and musicians whose works express the vibrant culture and inspiring history of this unique Central American country. 

Cityscape

Participants will meet in Managua, the capital, for an introduction to the city, its turbulent history and geology; then spend two days in Granada, for history and poetry.

Our time in Granada, the oldest city in the hemisphere, offers a visit to the pre-Columbian statues of Zaptera Island, now housed in the San Francisco Church museum, a boat trip through the picturesque Isletas, a beautiful archipelago of volcanic origin, an area rich with bird life, and on to the Pueblos Blancos, communities famous for their potters and marimba makers. Later, enjoy an evening of poetry readings at the Casa de los Tres Mundos.

Our trip continues south by plane and boat, to the archipelago of Solentiname, in Lake Nicaragua, birthplace of the primitivist school of art of Nicaragua.

During two days in the Solentiname islands, participants will meet artists, see works in progress and completed, and visit the library and home of revolutionary priest and poet Ernesto Cardenal. A visit to Fr. Cardenal’s church, itself a work of art, will include a performance of some famous liberation theology mass music, Misa Campesina Nicaraguense.

Our adventure is timed to include a special cultural event. We will be sharing the evening of the Purisima celebration - its traditional music, food, and decoration - with a local Managua family. We will begin with a background talk and discussion, and later, go caroling and enjoy refreshments in the Barrio Larreynaga.

Leon is a university city and site of the largest cathedral in Central America. A city tour will include stops at revolutionary murals, the Museum of the Legends, the Ruben Darío home, and a tour of the cathedral with a sweeping view of Leon from the towers.

We will end our program, with excursions to the National Music School for a concert and time to talk with the students.

With the able assistance of resource persons, traveling with us and locally established, our programs emphasize fun, discovery and learning.  Come join us for this exciting cultural adventure!

EXTENSION: Those who want to spend a day in El Porvenir projects will leave after breakfast for Ciudad Dario, an area where El Porvenir has worked for 18 years, to see water, sanitation, and reforestation projects, returning to Managua for the night, departures on own.

COST: $1350
INCLUDED: Admissions, airport transfers, health/accident/baggage insurance, lodging, meals and transportation within Nicaragua, services of study leader, group coordinators and interpreters.

  • Join us December 4 to 12, 2009.

Click here for the current trip schedule
What to pack
Suggested Reading Materials - books and videos about Nicaragua
Travel Information Form
Click here for frequently asked questions

Elderhostel Service Programs

EH_Logo_PMS193_2006If you are 55 years old or over, you can sign up for an Elderhostel Service Project trip which integrates an educational component and enhanced itinerary with a work trip.

Please consult the Elderhostel catalog by clicking at their website at
www.elderhostel.org for costs and details.

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