P.E.I. classmates building classroom in remote Nicaragua

Two Holland College students are leaving for Granada, Nicaragua, on Thursday to help build a classroom in one of the country's poorest areas.

Tori Vail and Brenlee Brothers spent the last year preparing and fundraising for the trip.

Brothers, who joined in on the volunteer experience after hearing about it from Vail, said she hopes it will give her a new perspective on Central America and its people.

"Just to be able to come back and have a new mindset of how people live down there," she said.

Friend had a connection to volunteer group

The idea to help people in Nicaragua started out with Vail's mother.

Vail and her mother wanted to donate money to charities in 2014, but they weren't always sure where the money was spent.

So her mother proposed they do it on their own. They knew of a friend in Edmonton with a connection to a group that travelled to Nicaragua every year.

And that's how they ended up going to El Salvador with 13 other people, she said, adding that the group is still in the process of registering as an official charity.

"We build this play area for the kids, because they didn't really have a safe place to play in that particular community," she said.

Vail's experience resonated for Brothers. She's interested in travel, and has never visited Central America. She also loves the warm weather and wants to learn Spanish.

"Everything about it appeals to me," she said.

Plans also involve interviews with the locals

The women started fundraising with friends and relatives last year, and said people are very supportive.

They plan to take flip flops, soccer balls and T-shirts with them, and cash to buy supplies and hire locals for the construction of the classroom.

Overall, their group will consist of 20 people, most of them from Edmonton.

They will also take their cameras to document the experience for their broadcast journalism class at Holland College.

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