This week's Manna Mail is from the Vanderbilt View, Vanderbilt University's monthly alumni and faculty periodical. The May edition features Manna Project International and profiles two of next year's MPI Program Directors. Special thanks to Joan Brasher.  

Vanderbilt students are putting their post-graduation plans on hold for a year - or more - of service.

 

by Joan Brasher Photography by Brian Shumway/Redux Pictures, Daniel Dubois and courtesy of Manna Project International

It sounds like the plot of a dreary, futuristic movie. A city of scavengers, many of them orphans, living in the filthy heaps of refuse at a municipal garbage dump. Clothed in rags, they rummage for food, scrounging out a meager existence by selling the small trinkets or recyclables they find, or worse - selling their own bodies to survive.

At La Chureca, the city dump on the outskirts of Managua, Nicaragua, this bleak tableau is all too real. It is a story - at least for now - that has no happy ending. But it is also the story of a young woman - and many like her - who are dedicating a year of their lives to Manna Project International. A humanitarian organization formed by Vanderbilt students, Manna is bringing hope to some of the poorest communities in the Western Hemisphere.  

Story continued here... 

NEW LOOK - Enjoy the great new look of our MPI Nicaragua and MPI Ecuador pages.

PRESS -  Read about more MPI in the news.

DONATE - Go here to make a contribution online or by mail, now at no charge with Google Checkout. Neat!

MAY 17th -  Welcome summer volunteers to Nicaragua and Ecuador!

 

CALENDAR -  Stay up with MPI's daily activities and events with our new online calendar. (Always being perfected)