ESSEC Global BBA Humanitarian Project | Thibault de Cidrac

I did my humanitarian project in Nueva Segovia, a region at the north of Nicaragua suffering from water shortage.  I was hosted by a local family from Mozonte, a village near the Honduras border.  They did not speak a word of English; this allowed me to greatly improve my Spanish since it was the only way we could communicate.  This family hosted volunteers regularly and was very welcoming.  I lived on the same diet as them, we ate local food and could only shower a day out of two since districts would not receive water every day due to the water shortage. Throughout this experience I learned how to live like a local, making friends from the nearby park and sharing over-crowded taxis to reach the closest city.

On weekdays, we would start working very early since the sun hits hard in Nicaragua. Wake up call was at 5am and we would work from 6am to 11am.  My job was to assist the local water association.  We’d load huge water containers into trucks and start driving towards remote villages.  The roads were usually very rough so we had to change tires more than once!  Different villages required different help so some used the local city hall to supply the town; in other towns, we needed to go house to house to bring the water to families.

For me, this was a very enriching and rewarding experience. Meeting and working with motivated farmers and entrepreneurs from all over South America taught me a lot about a strong work ethic in these countries. I had the opportunity to visit a wonderful country and learn more about its history.  I bathed in the Nicaraguan culture, eating and living like a local, something I definitely recommend.

- Thibault de Cidrac, ESSEC Global BBA Year 2 student in Singapore