Westchester Students Build Homes, Fill Hearts In Nicaraguan Service Trip

BEDFORD CORNERS, N.Y. -- For most teens, vacation means a time to kick back, relax and unwind. However, more than 60 Westchester students traveled to Nicaragua this winter to spend their February break helping rural families in needs.

Members of Temple Shaaray Tefila in Bedford Hills and Bedford Presbyterian Church spent a week in Nicaragua helping build homes in remote villages.
Photo Credit: *Contributed*

Students, seen here pouring mixed concrete, build foundations for the villagers' homes.
Photo Credit: *John Haffey*

Westchester volunteers stand beside one of their buildings.
Photo Credit: *John Haffey*

Students were able to explore the remote beauty of rural Nicaragua.
Photo Credit: *Contributed*

John Haffey

Content Partner: Temple Shaaray Tefila

Students traveled to the remote Nicaraguan villages through Temple Shaaray Tefila and Bedford Presbyterian Church, and built homes for the poorest of the poor. The February trip marked the 14th visit Temple Shaaray Tefila has made to the area, and has been a community activity since 2004. The students worked in El Portillo and El Campuzano in the Nindiri region, approximately 45 minutes outside the capital city of Managua.

Among the student's task were mixing concrete, building foundations, stacking block and cement walls and attaching roofs to provide protection from the hot sun and rain.

To hear more about the student's experience via Fios 1, click here.