Hello everyone, it’s Lisette and Sofia here to keep you up to speed on our daily adventures.

Today was an eventful day full of new experiences and bonds. As a group, we were able to learn how to balance our wishes for what we wanted for community and what the community actually needed. In addition, we learned how to stay committed and engaged to the multiple projects that we were having a part in. Shortly after arriving in Colonia Kennedy, we had our first eye opener when we realized that we had only a day and a half to finish our three very complex projects. During our time in Colonia Kennedy we were able to repaint the outside and inside of the community center. We also created two murals that represent the community of Colonia Kennedy that you are able to see as you enter the building. We also started to fix the damaged part of the walls with cement and started working on painting the logo. Something that really moved us as a group within Colonia Kennedy was seeing how the community was contributing to our project by helping us and showing us their gratitude. We as leaders were impressed with our fellow glimpsers by their dedication and commitment to their projects and the community of Colonia Kennedy. We saw our shy peers blossom as they integrated themselves within people of Colonia Kennedy. We connected with community members at the end of our stay at Colonia Kennedy through the music and dancing of the Dominican Republic. While we were there one of the most inspiring people that we met there was Ernestina, president of the administrative council of Colonia Kennedy, we found her inspiring because she was really involved in the progress that we were making and made sure that we stayed true to what the community needed and wanted. During our experience of being leaders of the day, we found that the coordination of projects were hectic, but after we were moving along throughout the day we found it much easier to make sure that each group had what they needed and was going at a decent pace. It was really great how our glimpsers and the members of Colonia Kennedy were able to move forward to make a positive change. As leaders of the day we were pretty proud of how we approached difficult situations in an effective way while also trying to support our glimpsers by providing them with the support they needed.

After we came back from Colonia Kennedy, we went to our last English class! We were able to show our fellow peers the progress that our students had made through a mini talent show starring our students. Although, saying goodbye was very difficult we are proud to know that we were able to be a part of their lives and of the positive impact we have had in them. We are truly grateful for the opportunity to meet amazing young individuals and being able to see them grow as people and as students. This was probably one of the hardest things we did today, but we are thankful for the bittersweet experience of saying goodbye to our amazing students! We as leaders learned how to keep a calm and positive attitude despite the obstacles we encountered, and sometimes it takes a little bit of coming out of your shell to gain new perspectives.

Thank you for taking the time to catch up on us,

Lisette and Sofia