Detroit to Nicaragua: car jacked at gunpoint?

I’ve just landed in Detroit en route to Nicaragua and the tiny mountain village of La Soledad—way up near the border of Honduras. The community was founded fifty years ago by a small group of families seeking refuge from war. There are now more than 450 people living in this jungle village, and one hundred dedicated children pack into a tiny shack every day to attend classes. The children of La Soledad have faithfully gone to “school” for twenty years while, year after year, their parents patch, repair or rebuild their shaky school. We are headed to La Soledad to work with all of the families and build their first permanent school. A school that will last for at least one hundred years.

I’m stopping in Detroit to meet up with a team of buildOn students who have committed to the same journey and purpose. They are leading a movement of youth in Detroit who face and overcome daunting challenges every day to lift up the city through service. Though they concentrate on Detroit, their dedication to service and education is not confined by city limits or even national boundaries. These youth also want to change the world.

Yesterday I was told one of the students would need help getting to the airport and may be a little late. Her mother was recently carjacked at gunpoint.

I’ve been involved in buildOn for nineteen years now and I have come to believe that ALL people, regardless of circumstance, can work together to make positive and lasting change. I am always humbled by the courage, resilience and dedication of the buildOn community. And I am always inspired by their ability to rise up and meet the challenges of making change. Being carjacked at gunpoint might slow them down but it will not stop them!

More from Nicaragua.