On Friday the Phoenix Project conducted it’s monthly field trip for our students to the “Ladies Cooperative and Recyling Center” and to “El Chalet” to play football.

As our first destination was quite close to the barrio of Alexis Arguello, the La Thompson students were very excited to be picked up in the bus first, maximising their time to spend singing their favourite songs and just enjoying the adventure. We were received at the recycling center by Karla a leading member of the cooperative, and the kids received a talk about the work that goes on there, the importance of recycling and then were taken on a tour of the facilities. The kids and teachers were really inspired by this visit, so you might want to keep an eye out for future posts as the Phoenix schools are getting the recycling fever.

After having their minds stimulated it was time to get the students’ bodies moving, so it was off to “El Chalet”, a fantastic little football pitch in the center of Esteli. We soon got 2 football games going, split between the younger and older kids, but mixed the boys and girls from both schools together. It’s been great to see the interaction between the students from La Thompson and Alexis as they get to know each other better and having a lot of fun playing football. Who was man of the match you ask?  Well I’m going to choose Johanna (grade 3, La Thompson) for the younger kids match, she had really solid game in midfield, putting in some good tackles and not being afraid to get forward and have a pop at goal.

Star player Johana leaving the rest in her wake

For the older kids match, despite Karelia contributing a goal and Lester putting in a good performance between the sticks , I’m going to pick Dannier (secondary school scholarship student, La Thompson), he covered a lot of ground throughout the match, but also provided good link up play and got the winning goal. A mix between Michael Essien and Diego Forlan one might say.

The field trips are great experience for our students who having been working so hard during the month in their classes. Please follow us on facebook, visit our website – www.thephoenixprojects.org and don’t forget to “Fly the Phoenix” for these amazing kids.

All the best – Patrick

Phoenix Nicaragua.