Dreaming Nicaragua is a documentary created by the Fabretto Foundation that highlights the stories of 4 young children and their families in very poor communities of Nicaragua. Unlike many of the other films that we watched in class, Dreaming Nicaragua was not very political; instead, it highlighted the struggles as well as the joy and simplicity of each family. Through all of the hardships that the families face, the children are able to find comfort in an art class provided by the Fabretto foundation.

The first story shared was that of Josef. Josef is a young boy who lives with his brother, aunt, uncle and cousins. Already having too many kids to take care of herself, Josef’s aunt nevertheless took Josef and his brother as if they were her own children. It isn’t clear what happened to Josef’s father but we are told that his mother went to Costa Rica to find work for a better life. Through this story we get a glimpse of how hard it is to find a job in Nicaragua, even for men. Josef’s uncle says that if it weren’t for the tobacco factory everyone would be unemployed and seek other measures like stealing in order to get by.

Next, we meet Nauri who is a vibrant young girl with the dream of one day being a TV star. Nauri goes around interviewing different people about their opinion of men. It was very sad to see that many people, including young girls viewed men as abusive while some even seemed to hold a grudge towards them. I think this is because men often abandon their families when times get tough and can no longer support their family or even when they find some woman who is younger than the last. During one interview with a young girl about 11 years old, we learn that she thinks all men are abusive and evil because that is what she sees in her neighborhood. The only solution proposed by the older women is education. Education seems to be very valued in Nicaragua and can be viewed as a symbol for success, especially for women. However, the only problem is that education is very hard to receive to  kids in poor communities.

We also learned the story of Izabel, whose family I personally believe was struggling the most. Her family would sometimes go days without eating. The children would wake up in the morning and be fine without eating breakfast or lunch, but they said that around 4 or 5 pm they would start to cry for food and it’s sad because there would be nothing to feed them. I find it amazing, however, that despite living in anxiety about where their next meal is going to come from, the family always manages to get by with what they have. Isabel’s brother was suffering from a horrible rash that would give him very high fever’s and burn his body to the point where no one could hug him because that would just cause him more pain.

The last story that was presented was Yuri’s. Yuri and her family work in the garbage dumps collecting anything that seems valuable and either selling it or keeping it for themselves. Her family says that going to the garbage dumps is not something they are embarrassed about. In fact, they are very proud of what they do because it provides them with decent living. They are not going around stealing from other people. Whatever they have is from their hard work and that makes them proud. Yuri, is a little older than the other kids but in the film she is as happy and optimistic they were. She said that she wants to finish school and be a successful woman. However, at the end of the movie we learn that she became pregnant 2 years later. Although she fell into the norm of having a child at a young age I am hopeful that she remains strong determined to have a god future.

I like that this documentary really grasped the issues of Nicaragua on a very simple level. It provided a more personal touch to the way stories are shared. I could not help but smile with the children despite all the struggles that they were facing. While the film makers presented us with families who struggle to get by with what they have, they still managed to have the film be full of joy with children who are hopeful for the future.