Life after graduation: Alumnus builds homes, schools out of plastic bottles in Nicaragua
Kevin Kausch was able to cross helping a developing country off his bucket list.
The Central Michigan University alumnus travelled to Nicaragua after graduating in 2014. He raised the funds for his stay and ended up getting donations from friends, family and his church before making the trip during the summer of 2014.
Kausch said the living conditions of locals in Nicaragua were less-than-desirable. He said despite their situation, people living in Nicaragua were very welcoming to him.
“Once I arrived there, it was worse than I expected it to be,” Kausch said. "(The locals) were making the best of the situation and were always friendly."
While in Nicaragua, Kausch joined the Growth International Volunteer Excursion, an organization that focuses on sustainability development through volunteering in developing countries. Kausch and 31 other students from around the U.S. used recycled materials as construction supplies.
Kausch assisted on various construction projects, using bricks fashioned from recycled bottles during his two-week stay in Nicaragua. Because it is too expensive for the community to recycle the plastic bottles, they are littered throughout the area, Kausch said. GIVE has been salvaging the litter to create the bricks for local homes.
Kausch and his group spent their time adding on to structures that were already in place in the community, using plastic bottles. The organization has completed multiple school buildings in the country.
“Over the last few years, GIVE has been building vocational schools to help children do more with their lives," Kausch said. "We would pack the bottles with sand until they were hard as rock."
On his trip, Kausch stopped in Jiquilillo, a small fishing village on the Pacific Coast. His second stop took him to the opposite side of the country, to Little Corn Island in the Caribbean Sea.
Kausch said he hopes to return to do more volunteering and further improve the quality of life in Nicaragua. He saw the benefits of his volunteer work not only on the local community, but for volunteers as well.
“Going on this trip, you start out with 30 students that are complete strangers, but after those two weeks, you are best friends with all of them,” Kausch said.
Those interested in joining GIVE can apply at givevolunteers.org.
