from the Chicago Tribune, 10-1-98

BUILDING BRIDGES

By Janna L. Graber

When Lindsay Neil was 16, she figured she had her life all planned

out. "I was going to attend college, be a sorority girl, marry a

millionaire and become a teacher," she says.

A two-week trip with her grandmother, Emmy Neil, changed all that. The

elder Neil, who teaches sewing and quilting at Colorado Mountain

College, had been spending her summers in a Nicaraguan village,

teaching women to sew. In 1993, she decided to invite her

granddaughter along.

"My grandma often showed me pictures from her trips and told me

stories of her experiences in Nicaragua," says Neil. "I thought it was

interesting. So when I was 16, I decided to go with her. We're very

close, and it sounded like a fun two-week vacation."

That vacation turned into a life-changing experience.

"I was blown away by what I saw in Nicaragua," says Neil, now 21. "I

had seen pictures, and I knew it was a poor area. I expected everyone

to be sad, poor and dirty. But the people were amazing. They were so

happy to be alive and hopeful of the future."

But Nicaragua was still a world apart from Neil's comfortable mountain

home in Glenwood Springs, Colo.

"When I first arrived in Nicaragua, I was confident in myself and my

ability to speak Spanish after two years of it in high school," Neil

says. "But when I got off the plane, everything hit me. The smells of

exhaust fumes, fresh fruit, and open fires all mixed together. There

were cars honking and roosters crowing. Begging children were

everywhere. I had a hard time understanding the language, and

everything was hectic and chaotic.

"From the airport, we hopped on a cattle truck for a 10-hour drive to

Teotecacinte. It's a small town of 2,500 near the Honduran border.

There are no phone lines and only one or two cars in town. People live

in adobe houses with dirt floors. They just got electricity in this

decade. These people are so far below the poverty line. One man,

Gumercindo Sanchez, told me that he wished he could know what it felt

like to step up to the level of poor. That really hit me."

But the people of Teotecacinte, where few have an education beyond the

6th grade, showed Neil that they still have a lot to offer.

"I was completely surprised," says Neil. "They weren't miserable at

all. They loved life. There were parties for any reason. Even with the

poverty and people earning less than $100 a month, they have a

richness of life. Nicaragua is laid back and not so time-oriented.

Here in the States, it seems to me that we live to work and don't get

to enjoy life. But there, they work to live. Relations with people and

family are very important to them. In Teotecacinte, they never pass

without saying hello. I felt very welcomed. I found it amazing, after

I learned about the revolution and their history, that they welcomed

me with open arms."

Neil was so touched by what she saw in Nicaragua that after her return

to Colorado, she took a course called World Hunger. The teacher,

Colorado Mountain College professor David Harmon, was also involved

with Teotecacinte and founded a sister-city exchange between the

Nicaraguan village and Glenwood Springs.

"The class discussed the myths of world hunger and the various

problems that cause it," says Neil. "It helped me to better understand

the whole situation I saw down in Nicaragua."

In the fall of 1993, three months after Neil's return from Central

America, Harmon came with his Friendship City Exchange organization to

Neil's high school. He was looking for someone to lead a fund-raising

campaign to build the first high school in Teotecacinte. It was just

the cause Neil was looking for.

"A teacher suggested I lead the project," says Neil. "So I went up

immediately and said I'd do it. It's something I'm very passionate

about. Education empowers people and improves lives. I went to school

every day but didn't appreciate it. Yet here were these kids in

Nicaragua who were thrilled about going to school. It was their goal

to graduate."

Neil, who was still in high school at the time, ran an impressive

fundraising campaign.

"I had been a volunteer coach before, but never anything like this. I

started up a Million-Penny drive to raise the money to actually build

the school in Teotecacinte. To do this, I went around to various local

schools and did slide shows and talked about the people and lifestyle

in Nicaragua."

She quickly raised the money for the Nicaraguan high school, but

Neil's involvement had just begun.

"The wonderful thing was that I was involved with every step of this

project. I went down to Nicaragua to help with the construction. Then

I met with the Ministry of Education officials to establish school

guidelines," Neil says.

The resulting three-room schoolhouse with tile floors and a tin-roof

is not much to look at. But to Neil, who is now a senior at the

University of Northern Colorado, the small facility is beautiful.

"The school opened in 1995 with 156 students," she says, "but in the

past three years it has grown to 260. Our students are scoring in the

top percentages. Several want to attend college and then return to

work in the town."

The highlight of Neil's involvement with the school came last

December, when the very first class graduated. Neil gave the

commencement address -- in Spanish.

"It was the single best day of my life to be standing in front of the

town and their students and proud parents. The whole project was a

team effort. But it was thrilling for me to see the first students

graduate," she says.

Neil remains committed to the school project, and she and the

Friendship City Exchange in Glenwood Springs still carry the burden

for paying the salaries of the school's 11 teachers.

"We have to raise around $1,000 a month to pay them, so we've done

garage sales and other fundraisers," says Neil, who was awarded a 1998

Volunteerism Scholarship from Seventeen magazine for her efforts.

Neil plans on returning to Nicaragua each year to continue her work

there. Now that the high school has been built, Neil has set her

sights on the students' continuing-education needs. She hopes to

establish a scholarship fund for students who want to attend college.

Neil clearly values education, but she says the people of Teotecacinte

are most important to her.

"I've lived with the same Nicaraguan family now for five years. I call

them mom and dad. It's like a second home to me. Each time I have to

leave Teotecacinte, I'm a wreck," says Neil. "It's a huge culture

shock for me to come back (to the States). I see things I have that I

don't need and start giving things away. Many people can't relate to

that. They wonder why I'd want to be there in such poverty, to shower

in the river or eat beans three times a day.

"But I wish everyone could have this kind of opportunity, to see a

different side of life and have an eye-opening experience. Maybe it

could be just walking down the street to a different side of the city,

or maybe it's a car accident -- something that makes us not so

self-absorbed, something that enables us to see another view of the

world."

Neil believes that her time in Nicaragua has changed her life. "It's

taken me this long to put the experience into perspective and to learn

how to bring what I've learned there into my life here. But what it

adds up to is that I've learned to simplify my life. I'd rather not

work my whole life to have things. I was a brat from a well-off family

and was very materialistic. But now I've come to realize that life

isn't about having what you want, but wanting what you have.

"I'd rather have fewer things but be able to do more. It's OK to sit

back and enjoy life. Everybody needs to be able to do that," she

says.

Volunteering also has its own rewards, says Neil. "People think

volunteering is a huge commitment. But there are many ways to help

others, even if it's just a tiny step. For example, a smile given away

can change someone's day. Even that can make a huge difference to

someone else."

Although Neil could barely speak Spanish on her first trip to

Nicaragua, she plans to graduate this December with a degree in

Spanish. From there, she hopes to attend graduate school and

eventually work for a non-governmental agency in Central America.

"What I want more than anything is to find a positive outlet where I

can help make a difference in how social, political and economic

issues are handled in underdeveloped countries," says Neil.