(Author: Stephanie Mork)
Volunteers make up the backbone of Comamos Juntos and we have been lucky to have such a passionate and hard working family through the years. The story of Comamos Juntos is quite possibly best told by our volunteers who keep coming back for more, week after week. One of the unique things about our volunteer team is that it is made up of people both living in Managua and from all over the world. Over the last year some of the people that made up our team were from Holland, Canada, Italy, the UK, the United States, Argentina and Nicaragua.
We had a chance to chat with a few of our volunteers to get the inside scoop on how they became involved with Comamos Juntos, their passion for the organization, and how their experience with food rescue is changing the way they think.
“When I first heard about Comamos Juntos, I thought it’s a great initiative. I liked the way they work to help solve the problem of food waste and hunger in this country,” said Greg, a local volunteer.
Greg started volunteering in November of 2016 and he remembers having a great first experience and feeling like part of the family right away. He said, “Volunteering with Comamos Juntos is always a positive experience.” For him, volunteering has brought more than the satisfaction of helping others. He said, “I am bringing positivity and teamwork from Comamos Juntos into my day to day life.” Janneke, a volunteer from Holland also said, “Comamos Juntos has been a great way to get involved with life in Managua and do something good at the same time.”
Once you are a part of the Comamos Juntos family, you are bonded by a shared mission to reduce and eliminate food waste and also spread the word about how important this mission is. “It is amazing to see a team of people that do not know each other, or even speak the same language, to work together for the same cause,” said Stephanie, a volunteer from the USA.
Seeing the amount of food that a small group of volunteers can save from one market in just one day is incredible. Imagine if more countries around the world also adopted this model! About one third of the food produced in the world is wasted or lost, and the mission of Comamos Juntos has given some of our volunteers a new lens to see food waste in other areas of their lives.
Volunteer Yasiri from Managua said, “Comamos Juntos has changed my way of thinking a lot and how I use my food. When I get home I no longer waste any food, because I start thinking about the people in need of food and all the food we waste.”
Comamos Juntos is not only changing the lives of the people we are partnering with, it changes the lives of our volunteers and allows them to gain a new perspective and interact with people from all over the world. We love our volunteers and we love making new friends! If you or someone you know is interested in food insecurity, learning about new cultures and meeting people from all different backgrounds, send them to us! We can always use an extra hand or two in the market :)