FOX 12’s Pete Ferryman traveled to Nicaragua with Portland volunteers who set out to make a difference, and ended up changing themselves.

The journey for the volunteers started at Southlake Church in West Linn. They packed donated diapers, shoes and school supplies to give to the children and tried to comprehend what was to come.

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Arriving in Managua, Nicaragua, the volunteers were quickly reminded that expectations and reality are often worlds apart.

“Now that I’m here, it’s just something you can’t ignore. It’s something that is just hard to put into words. The things that have happened to these kids and how they live is just beyond my imagination. I had no idea what I was going to see,” said volunteer Dean McGregor.

For many, the toughest thing to witness was the Managua city dump, a place where hundreds of families and young children live in filth.

But the dump became an oasis of hope after Portlanders volunteers to make a difference.

They’re building an entire village for the children, complete with individual homes and recreational facilities.

Volunteer Emily Harris formed an instant bond with a 14-year-old girl named Jocelyn.

“It was tough with the limitation of the language, because I really wanted to tell her how awesome she was, that she was going to be OK,” said Harris.

The volunteers know there is a lesson here for everyone – a life-changing lesson they will struggle to convey once they are home in Portland.

“It’s going to be a whole new world, it really is,” said volunteer Andrew Block.

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