Colorado State University-Pueblo’s Outdoor Pursuits program is offering students the opportunity to travel abroad on a service trip to Nicaragua in 2016.

A group of 10 students at the university previously visited Nicaragua for a service trip during spring break of 2014. Director of student recreation, Jack Krider said that many of these students came back changed, touched by the lives of the families, children and the community that they served.

“We painted a school, worked in an orphanage and went door-to-door in the countryside handing out a week’s worth of food to 130 families,” Krider added.

The service trip to Nicaragua in 2014 was focused on the people in the cities of Managua and Jinotepe. According to Krider, the trip had many firsts for students that involved being on a plane, being out of the country, seeing the ocean and even zip lining where students saw monkeys.

“The main goal is to serve others. The underlying goal is to give opportunities to our students to experience some things they may have never or might not have the chance to experience again,” Krider added.

Trips organized by the Outdoor Pursuits program consists of a meeting first to discuss about the trip. Discussions involve the purpose of the trip, what students will experience, costs involved, pre-trip meetings, getting passports if applicable and possible fundraising to help fund the trip.

“The students had an experience of a lifetime. They worked with children and people that have so little and yet were so giving that they could not believe it. There were tears shed by some students the last day we left the orphanage because these children really touched the hearts of our students,” Krider said about the 2014 Nicaragua trip.

Krider said that many weekend trips are offered by Outdoor Pursuits and that current trips abroad are in early planning for 2016. Students interested in participating in trips with Outdoor Pursuits or have ideas about future trips can contact Krider at [email protected] or at 719-549-2067.

“As far as international trips we have talked about Costa Rica. The main goal of most of our trips is to provide an opportunity for students to experience something they have never done or to develop a new skill, to experience new things outside their comfort zone,” Krider said.