Sophomore music major, Samuel Gracida and a small group of Capital students will be in Granada, Nicaragua on a service trip in the spring. While there, Gracida hopes to do many service activities such as building constructions and feeding many of the locals.
Gracida also hopes that he can use his major of music to use as a vehicle for social change, as well as some other students’ majors such as political science and religion to help some of the locals. Gracida is also hoping to have some Spanish majors to help develop a deeper sense of understanding of the culture in Granada.
Gracida said, “There are several [study abroad] opportunities there but I haven’t seen a service [opportunity]. I’ve traveled quite a lot—to about 16 countries—and some of those trips were service based … when you go on this kind of trip, especially for the first time, it really opens your eyes and your mind to something that you don’t actually get to see while living in suburban Ohio.”
When asked why he chose to go to Nicaragua when planning the service project for himself and the other Capital students, Gracida said “We could have gone to the Philippines, but I wanted to do something closer. So I found this company called Fellowship Travel International who have some people in Nicaragua who were willing to help us.”
Gracida wanted to combine the concepts of traveling with his major.
“It’s a way to serve not only a community that is disadvantaged, but also help people here in the US who are in a privileged community realize all those problems, beyond what you hear about on the news or on Facebook, they’re real things and when you actually get to live it, that’s when you understand,” Gracida said.
The entire trip, that will be happening May 9 through 16, will cost around $2,250 per person, and the first deadline to sign up for the trip, as well as send in the first down payment of $100 for the trip and plane tickets, was supposed to be on October 15th.
Gracida is working on extending the deadline for those who would like to sign up for the trip last minute. The next payment of $650 will be due on December 2nd. Gracida hopes to have a few fundraisers and events on campus in the coming months to help with the travel expenses.
Currently, Gracida has seven students signed up to go along with him on his trip, but hopes for a total of ten people. The trip is open to anyone interested. If students would want more info about the trip, or would like to know when the deposit deadline is moved, Gracida asks them to email him at sgracida@capital.edu.
