High school freshman and senior to travel to Nicaragua this spring

Tiarra and younger sister Shania eager to begin their trip

posted on November 23, 2011

Early November, Tiarra Little and Shania Janis volunteered to take a service trip to Nicaragua, March 8-15, 2012. Little befriended a young lady on the Cambodia trip she took last summer as part of Global Explorers, a nonprofit cultural exchange organization. The young lady takes part in yearly service trip to Nicaragua with a church based out of Ft. Collins, Colorado and invited Little to participate. Little decided to take part in the trip and extend the invitation to her sister. For Little, it is a chance to introduce her sister to the world of traveling.

“I feel really good about getting to take my little sister with me instead of having to go by myself,” says Little. “[On this trip] it is up to me to put my leadership skills to use and pass them on to her.”

Janis is ready for the new experience.

“I’m nervous because I have never been out of the United States before but I’m very excited,” explains Janis. “I’m looking forward to interacting with people that I don’t know and being able to practice skills that I’ll use later in life. I’m excited that I’ll be going with my big sister.”

While in Nicaragua, the two will take part in various planned activities. After reading to young children at an orphanage, they will hike an active volcano. The girls will also work with some of the children on arts and crafts as well as give donations of books to different schools and villages.

In order to take part in the trip, Little and Janis are putting on fundraising events and sales. By the end of November they must raise enough money to purchase their airfare. Their deadline for fundraising enough money (approximately $5,000.00) for lodging, food and miscellaneous expenses is late February 2012.

Little and Janis have successfully completed a few food sales events and plan on creating more. Other fundraising events include, a basketball tournament, ticket raffles, a Shoot-A-Thon and Bingo (asking for prize donations).

To view Shoot-A-Thon details and other fundraising events by Tiarra and Shania, or to donate go here: http://www.facebook.com/events/218982561508956/