San Nicolas is a small town nestled in the mountains of northern Nicaragua in the department of Esteli. It is surrounded by a sprinkling of tiny rural communities accessible by rough dirt roads that weave their way through the mountains. Many of the students who attend high school in San Nicolas live in these remote communities and walk as much as five miles one way to get to school every day.

Career options in San Nicolas are limited. Many people farm their own land and grow enough beans and corn to feed their families, and perhaps a little more to sell locally. Other people own little convenience stores, known as "pulperias." And recently, more jobs have been opening up in the civic sector for teachers and doctors and local politicians – but often there aren't enough qualified local workers to fill these positions.

San Nicolas can be distilled by number into its few community spaces: three churches, one high school, one elementary school, one public library, one baseball field, and one park. It's a small enough town that almost everyone knows each other; people sit outside on their stoops just to talk to their neighbors and greet out-of-town visitors riding through town on horses.