Today was the start to our very first Community Action Project with the community of Cañada de las Palmas. We provided a wake-up call at 7am and headed downstairs for breakfast prepared by Dilenia. Our breakfast consisted of ham, cheese, lettuce, and tomato paninis, paired with a fruit punch smoothie. Following our delicious breakfast our favorite driver, Sandy, lead us to Cañada de las Palmas. On arrival, many people of the community, including children, were excited to see us as we had many projects planned. The projects that our Global Glimpse Group (C1C) had planned are: renovating concrete floor for the community center, painting and refurbishing the community center seats, building a latrine (toilet) for the entire community, constructing a basketball hoop and basketball for children of the community. Also, a Glimpser went house to house to teach families ways to purify the unsanitary water after the water filter project was too far out of the budget. Many of the Glimpsers showed what Global Glimpse is about. “Big Love” to Hakeem and Kemo for showing the 3 C’s (Courage, Commitment, Compassion) to fight for their project even after it was denied and when there was no room in the budget. Using the 3 C’s, they fought for what they believed in and succeeded.

After a couple hours of hard work, we settled down for lunch with the community. Our lovely hostel owner and cook Dilenia, sent a great lunch for us that included; beans, rice, pasta salad, and meatballs. Many of the Glimpsers even ate less to assure that the community members got a chance to eat, what great leaders!

After lunch, the team got back to work and completed 3 out of 5 projects with the help of the community. By the end of CAP day 1, we successfully completed the community chairs, basketball area, and lessons on how to purify water. Not only did we finish 3 projects, but we also got a lot started for the latrine and concrete floors. C1C worked hard today through many obstacles including community men not wanting to allow females to do the “hard work”. But, with our majority of our group being female, we continued to show our strength to compete the various projects. CAP day 1 down, and we miss you already Alex!