In June, Hannah Frantz traveled to Nicaragua, a beautiful but poverty-stricken Latin American country. This was Hannah’s second trip to Nicaragua, the first having been through Proctor Academy. This year, Hannah was with a group called Compas de Nicaragua. Hannah worked with a Women in Action clinic and learned sign language through the Asociacion Nacional de Sordos de Nicaragua (ANSNic) in Managua. The Women in Action clinic strives to improve the lives of women and children through improvements in education, health, and the economy. ANSNic is an association focused on providing a place for deaf people to meet, support each other, and develop the community. In this photo, Hannah and the people of ANSNic are signing “I love you.” For more information on Compas de Nicaragua, visit Compas1.org.
Also while in Nicaragua, Hannah and three of her Compas de Nicaragua group helped her host family build a bio-gas system for creating a more efficient way of burning fuel for cooking. It took them three days to dig by hand the trench they’re standing in. In other news, Hannah’s family sent word to the Beacon that Hannah was named to the Dean’s List with High Honors for the spring semester at the University of New Hampshire, where she is a senior majoring in Athletic Training. “After college,” Hannah says, “I hope to attend the Maui School of Massage Therapy in Maui, Hawaii to get my massage therapy license.” The mission trips to Nicaragua are not part of Hannah’s studies. “I do them because there is no greater feeling than to put a smile on a child’s face and know that you made a difference in their life in some way,” she says.
