Hi everyone,
My name is Netsay Ramos and I am an upcoming senior at Lionel Wilson College Preparatory Academy located in Oakland, California. I was leader of the day for the first day that our delegation got to physically work on our community action project, both at the Sala (tutoring space) and at the Ludoteca (kid’s playground). Our delegation split off into 3 different groups. Some students went to a workshop with a carpenter where they were able to build 4 wood tables for the Sala, with the assistance of a trained team. Another group went to the Sala, where they quickly got to work on disposing of the glass on the ground, leveling out the benches and then painting them and designing drawing on them. The last group went to the Ludoteca, where they dug holes on the ground so that they could then place tires there for the children to play on.
You can imagine that this day was full of mixed emotions because although many of us students felt very tired and exhausted by noon, we were all very pleased and dedicated to creating sustainable change in the community.
Before leaving the Sala, we glanced at what we had accomplished in just a few hours and we were amazed at how much work we got done working together.
After coming back to the hotel to take showers and power naps, we went to dinner, where we waited for all of us to have a plate so that we could have a short prayer done by Joseph before we ate.
You’d think we’d be tired and completely out of energy by 8:30 pm, but we were not. We had a group of fantastic dance instructors come to the restaurant to teach us some more Bachata, Merengue and Salsa! It was AMAZING! I personally let my timid side go and gave 100% of myself to learning how to dance all the songs that were played and I could tell many of my peers did too. I am thankful for having the opportunity to work with so many incredibly talented and dedicated students, leaders, and locals.
-Netsay 🙂