Student Travel
With ViviendasLeon, I was given the chance to give myself fully to something that is so much bigger than me, something that matters so much more than anything I have ever done... Thank you so much for Lindsey, Indiana and everyone else at VL for making this the absolute best two weeks of my life.
Alex, high school student, summer 2006
Learn more about VL from the people who've traveled with us >>
ViviendasLeón offers a unique global education program for school groups. What distinguishes our program is the opportunity for students to understand global poverty and its solutions from the ground up.
For over ten years, VL has brought high school and college students to Latin America to work on authentic development projects. Because we work in partnership with communities, organizations and schools, students participate as members of a larger, global community.
Language immersion, excursions to areas of natural beauty and historic importance, lasting relationships with host families and hard work on projects that change lives – all these elements of the VL travel program allow students to develop both the critical understanding and compassion to become true global citizens.
I was really impressed. From the big picture development building blocks [and] community development issues to the small details. I valued that there were three communities involved: Goyena, Leon and Drew School"
Amanda, high school teacher, Drew School, March 2007
Learn more about VL from the people who've traveled with us >>
VL offers school groups - either student/faculty groups or family groups - a two-week travel program during winter session, Spring Break or Summer vacation. The foundation of the program is daily work alongside community members on an authentic economic development project such as the construction of a school that supports education, the cornerstone of development and lasting change.
In addition, program participants stay with families in the city of Leon, the educational and intellectual heart of Nicaragua. Our host families have consistently won our participants' respect and affection for the warmth of care they provide. Evenings are spent at home with family members, or going out as a group to attend panel discussions with Nicaraguan community leaders or simply to hear live music, dance, and eat in restaurants.
While mornings are dedicated to work on the project, afternoons and weekends are for excursions to places such as Cerro Negro, Lake Apoyo, Mombacho, the Miraflor Rainforest Preserve or Leon Viejo. We can also tailor excursions and program curricula to your school's philosophy and interests.
The personal and educational benefits of traveling with ViviendasLeon
ViviendasLeon is unique as a student travel/global education program for several reasons:
- 1) We have been doing this for over a decade and we have honed our curriculum so that we are meeting the learning and social-emotional needs of the students who participate in the program. Further, we have a proven track record regarding the safety of our participants.
- 2) Our work in Nicaragua is authentic. We do not have made-up projects just for students. Our work is community-driven and fits into a larger program of sustainable development.
- 3) Students not only work on an authentic development project alongside community members, they also stay with host families, meet with community leaders, and travel around the country to understand the historical, geographic and ecological specifics of Nicaragua. Nicaragua is a beautiful country and opportunities for eco-tourism abound.
- 4) Because we have been a working partner with Nicaraguan communities for so long, we have relationships with a diversity of people: doctors, farmers, government officials, professors, scientists, activists and artists. This allows us to provide students with a complex view of the issues that face a developing country.
- 5) Our staff is student-centered: we are fortunate to have an organization where each member is bilingual, skilled in working with first-time visitors to the country, and committed to global education for youth.
- 6) We work with US schools to tailor the program so that it meets the needs of the school and its students.
- 7) The students have fun.
Why Nicaragua?
With so many options out there for travel, why Nicaragua? Because of its size, proximity to the US, shared history with the US, students' relative lack of familiarity with it and VL's long-standing presence there, Nicaragua is the perfect place for students to get a complex understanding of a place. Nicaragua shares many of the same challenges other developing nations have but it is the openness and warmth of its people to welcome our students and share stories that make it a unique place for students to learn. In living, working and talking with Nicaraguans of all ages, students begin to understand:
- The forces that drive people from Latin America to migrate to places like the US for work
- What it takes to build human capital, the foundational source of change and empowerment
- The importance of preserving and utilizing natural resources
- How history and geography create the context that affects the choices people can and do make
- That people, despite cultural differences, can connect and form lasting bonds of friendship
Students come to Nicaragua as a blank slate and leave with the an appreciation not only of the specifics of the Nicaraguan situation, but also those elements which are common to countries in Latin America and those which are shared by developing countries throughout the world. The learning that students achieve with VL endures well beyond their stay in Nicaragua.
Find out more.
Whether you are a student, teacher, parent or administrator, we'd love to hear from you. To sign up for a trip or get more information, go to our SIGN UP page. If you have questions about specifics, such as the daily schedule, go to FAQs.