Jessica's Story:
How Jessica and Rotary are helping the Children of the Dump in Chinandega, Nicaragua

The following is the text of a presentation to the Mason City Noon Rotary Club by Jessica Hastings on her trip to Chinandega, Nicaragua:

Just imagine: You roll off of your cardboard mat at around 7 o'clock in the morning. You have nothing to wash off with or change into, so you go out to the dump to start your day's work.

Dumps in Nicaragua aren't like dumps here. Most of your day consists of exposure to fumes, toxic waste, and rampant diseases.

But on the plus side, it's trash day. You see the big dump truck roll in. Kids are already swarming it. You hop on too, to get the "best pick" of the trash.

You find a few things.

Then you see a rotten, brown head of cabbage.

You're hungry. But as you go to grab it, a little girl snatches it and runs to the top of the trash mound so she can wipe away the dirt and mold and eat probably her only meal for the day.

This is a typical day for a person living in the Chinandega city dump in Nicaragua.

As a freshman at Kline-Oaks High School in Spring, Texas, I didn't realize how well-off my life was.

When my grandma invited me to go to Nicaragua with her and the Rotary International group, I was like, "Nica-what? Where is that at and WHY would I ever want to go there?"

But that attitude changed when I arrived in Chinandega. It's there that I saw the most horrific sight I have seen in the 14 years I've been alive.

To see dozens upon dozens of young children ... pregnant mothers's ... entire families! ... sifting through the heaps of trash, desperately looking for something to eat and something to salvage, well, I knew I had to do something.

Since my trip I've been brainstorming ideas to put the saying, "with knowledge comes responsibility", to use.

So, I am putting together a drive to collect baseball gloves, hats and balls, and some soccer balls.

This drive will be held at the Hassler Elementary School in Spring and should be easy considering that baseball and soccer season are quickly approaching.

The first step out of extreme poverty is getting people out of that dump and involving them in an activity that they can be proud of. If I can collect enough equipment I know that I can truly help these people.

Working with Rotarians in the Houston, Texas area the equipment collected will be shipped to Chinandega and will be distributed to the children of the dump by local Rotarians.

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