Participants should be sure to register three months before their trip, and complete all of their paperwork and payments no later than two months before their trip. Each trip's information page will have specific due dates. If you need to register late, we may allow it, provided you can supply the needed information very quickly.

Any participant who does not provide their paperwork by their trip's due date may be assessed a late fee of $50. If you are still waiting for a passport renewal or have other reasons why you cannot provide the needed information, just let us know. We're quite nice about it.

Here it is:

• Online trip registration
• Payment
• Basic health insurance information
• Medical evacuation (Medevac) insurance information and confirmation scan/sheet
• Copy of the photo page of your passport
• Flight information
• For physicians on Global Health trips: Credentialing information

Though not required by JustHope, we encourage participants to register with the U.S. Department of State's Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP). When doing this, you'll need to have an address in Nicaragua. Use one of the following:

• Most non-medical groups: La Casa de Paz, Chacraseca, León, Nicaragua
• Most Global Health (medical brigade) groups: Hotel San Juan de León, León, Nicaragua (though in 2018, we are using Hotel Europa, 3ra. Calle Ne, 4ta. Avenida, León, Nicaragua
• If your group is going to La Flor: Best Western Las Mercedes, Managua, Nicaragua
• If you aren’t sure what address to use, use the JustHope office address: JustHope, De la Iglesia Zaragoza, 75vras abajo, Casa rosada con verjas negras, León, León, Nicaragua

Children as young as 11 have joined their parents on JustHope trips. For all children and youth, we expect a parent/guardian to be along with them. We set no age requirement, though we would discourage participation by very young children.

The viruses that cause Zika, chikungunya, and dengue are an ever-present concern in Nicaragua so use of DEET mosquito repellent and other mosquito bite prevention strategies(PDF from the CDC) are important and highly effective safety precautions. Because of the presence of Zika, women who might be pregnant and partners of pregnant women should know that the CDC advises against their travel to Nicaragua.

Malaria is present but rare in our partner communities and the CDC (as of 2018) has no recommendations for these areas other than mosquito avoidance. If you will be traveling to the eastern half of Nicaragua before or after your JustHope trip, you should know that the CDC's recommends chemoprophylaxis for those areas.

JustHope's experience has been that diligent use of DEET mosquito repellent and other bite prevention strategies (long sleeves/pants, netting, permethrin-treated clothing, etc.) have proven to be effective protection against these viruses for our participants.

Regarding DEET mosquito repellent, we do not recommend 100% DEET, as that is such a high concentration that it is easily over-applied to no greater benefit. Repellents with under 50% DEET are ideal. More information about DEET is available from the CDC.

If you have already registered, please mail us a check (JustHope, PO Box 4542, Tulsa OK 74159) or use this page to pay your balance online. If someone else is making a payment on your behalf, be sure they indicate who and what trip their check is for, or fill in the appropriate information on the online form.

If you aren't sure how much you've already paid, you can check your dashboard to see what completed contributions you have made. If others have made payments on your behalf, you'll need to contact us directly.

If you have permission of both the photographer and subject(s), you can share your photos and videos with JustHope. If you do so, you implicitly give JustHope permission to use the photos and videos in any way we choose. You can upload them to our private photo server or using the DS Photo app on your phone (android, iOS). The account name and password will be provided to you after the trip, or earlier if you ask for it.

The upload process is pretty simple, but we have a tutorial video (just 3 minutes) that covers the basics. We appreciate descriptions and tags to help us organize the photos.

You should talk to your doctor about your specific needs regarding vaccinations and other heatlh-related concerns. The Center for Disease Control also has recommendations. If you are traveling to any other countries before you arrive in Nicaragua, be extra sure to check vaccination requirements for all countries and carry any needed certificates of vaccination.

The most important thing you can do to avoid contracting mosquito-borne viruses (chikungunya, dengue, malaria, and Zika) is to prevent mosquito bites in first place.

Attending physicians need to provide the following in order to be credentialed to practice in Nicaragua. Each item must be notarized.

• Medical diploma.
• Any specialty certificate (family practice, pediatrics, radiology, etc).
• State medical license. Must be valid through the duration of your trip. If you are waiting on a renewal, please send the other documents now with a note as to when you expect your new license to arrive.
• Basic professional information. DO NOT simply send in your CV. Please use the online form (you must be logged in OR use the link sent to you by email) OR complete this form on paper.

About notarizing these documents: In some states, notaries are not permitted to notarize copies of official documents. If you run into this issue, ask the notary to attest to an affidavit of your statement that it is a true and exact copy (rather than attesting to the copy itself). See an example here.

Mail all of these notarized documents to

If you use a delivery service that requires a street address, use

All documents need to be physically in the JustHope office no later than two months before the trip.

If you have questions or difficulties, please contact us.