Sonia, Meredith's host mother

Sonia Rocha has welcomed 11 Geneseo students through her home's front doors, cooking and cleaning for them, offering them a room of their own and company while they are in El Sauce.

The company and being able to know about their lives are the best parts, she says.

"It's not just the American culture but other cultures, too, because they have all been different places," she says.

Meredith spent last spring studying in Spain. El Sauce is much different; the people are more welcoming and laid back. She says she doesn't need to worry about saying the wrong thing or making a social faux pas.

Like the other host families Kellan and Yacarely arrange for students, Sonia is paid about $12 a day. It includes three meals per day. Kellan has a small pool of families to work with, honed from his own experience coming down two times before taking over full time and others' experiences. He says they choose the families who like to spend time with the students and really want them there. They are not necessarily the "best homes" in town, but the best matches.

"They come to help the poorest people of El Sauce," says Sonia about her affection for the program.

Sonia has lived her entire life in El Sauce and knows the needs. Most work is needed in the country she says, like the communities Meredith is visiting with the healthcare worker. There's a lack of health care, she says, and safe water. Most people drink from community wells or collect water in pails from rivers and streams. Many of the patients at the El Sauce health center have stomach problems from bacteria in the water. Living without plumbing and in rough conditions are the toughest on young kids and the elderly, says Sonia; there's no real system to help older people.

A retired librarian, her husband, Alberto, works in the mayor's office, with a master's degree in cattle production. She usually doesn't eat with Meredith but always sits down to talk about the day and exchange ideas.

"They come and they look at things differently," says Sonia. For example, one student made the simple observation that five or six people live in two or one room in homes; the homes aren't big enough for the size of the family.

"I've lived here my whole life. That's how I grew up. I never looked at it that way, but after they said that, I thought, well, I guess they are right."

She says she tries to share typical Nicaraguan culture with Meredith, especially the diet. She likes to make "indio viejo," or "old indian," with hand-ground corn and pulled beef and other things they always eat.

Kellan also stayed with her, years ago. Now they are close friends. He's actually moving in to their house next door so he can have a friendly neighbor and more time to visit. Sonia knows the Geneseo program well.

"It is very good because all of the programs you have are not lucrative for you, but good for the people," she says. There are several nonprofits working in El Sauce but some seem to have an agenda or work for what's good for them instead of designing programs based on what El Saucians say they need.