Gender Roles in Nicaragua
by Juridia Salinas, 11th Grade, Uplight Community High School, Chicago, IL
August 2008
This summer I had the opportunity to travel to Nicaragua with buildOn on a Trek for Knowledge. In Nicaragua, I stayed in a beautiful, mountainous village called San Antonio de Arriba.
During my time in Nicaragua, I researched gender roles. Throughout my trip, I examined the daily lives of women and men as well as girls and boys.
My host mom’s name was Estelvina. She is 22 years old and was the mother of Francella, our three-year-old host sister. Our mom and all women in the village would wake up early in the morning to make tortillas, prepare breakfast and do household chores.
At four o’clock in the morning I would wake up to the sound of my host mom pounding tortillas, a staple in the Nicaraguan diet. Due to the lack of electricity and technology, everything was done by hand.
Women and young girls would spend all day in the kitchen preparing meals, cleaning the home and taking care of children. The young girls in the village would also help with these domestic tasks as well as run a variety of errands within the community. Young girls were learning how to cook and take care of the household at a very young age,
Although I saw my mom every morning, I rarely saw my dad because he would leave early in the morning to tend to the coffee and banana farms. He would return from the fields late in the evenings from a long, hard day at work.
Men in the village were the head of the household. Although their wage was not the best they still worked long and hard hours to provide food and supplies for their families. Young boys at a very young age would accompany their fathers to the fields to learn and assist with the crops.
The Trek for Knowledge was a life-changing experience. It made me realize that I should appreciate what I have and realize the many challenges that others have. It made think of how so many students drop out of school in the U.S. when there are kids that want to have an education but do not have the opportunity. The fact that student’s in the U.S. take school for granted is very sad.
I also learned more about issues affecting the world. These experiences made me want to help more and realize that even just one person can make a positive change. You just need to try.
At first, I though this experience was not going to have much effect one me but on the very day we left the village I was filled with tears. Leaving such an amazing place and most importantly the people and friendships that I made brought great sadness to me. On the flip side, knowing that the children in San Antonio de Arriba would have a school to learn in brought joy and happiness.
Nicaragua is such a beautiful place. The people in the village were loving and caring it was hard to let go of them. Everyday you would greet a stranger and that person would you give you back a hello along with a warm smile. The friendliness was the thing I liked the most. You were welcomed in every home and you were treated with respect.