Holaaaaaaaa!! It’s Angelica and Allyson!!

Today was a continuation of our Community Action Project, in which we worked on a water system and community sign for Rio Grande. We all woke up at 7:00 AM, eager to start the day. We had breakfast at 8:00, which consisted of hard boiled eggs, bread, and pineapple juice. After that, we boarded La Princesa, our beloved bus, to Rio Grande. We were greeted by hugs from the community kids. We got to work around 9:30 with half of the Glimpsers working on the water pipes and the rest working on the community sign. Some went to dig, while others went down to the river to fill up buckets of water. It was a slow start, but we were soon able to pick up the pace. Our Global Glimpse Leader (shoutout to Carla!) was the artist behind the beautiful hibiscus flower that is on the top right corner of the sign. You don’t go to art school for nothing! Although a community sign may seem like a simple task, there were a lot of details that had to be considered. There were many disagreements within the sign group such as the placement of vines, lettering, shading, and coloring. Once we figured everything out, it was time for lunch. On the menu was rice and beans, fried chicken, and salad. Everyone was so eager for seconds, ESPECIALLY Carlos, who came up for thirds. After lunch, the group working on the water pipes finished their jobs pretty quickly, so most of them had time to play with the kids and interact with the community. As for the sign group, we diligently worked on painting the finishing touches on the front side of the sign. We then carried the very, very heavy sign across the bridge (with help from the locals). We worked together with the kids to collect rocks for the cement and used our muscles to plant it firmly into the ground. Although a lot of us finished early, we used our spare time to help out another organization who was at Rio Grande, working on painting the new elementary school. When it was time to leave, we said our “see you tomorrow”s to the community, and on the way back to the hotel we were able to see the new sign. We then ended the day with our usual Nightly Meeting, where we “passed the torch” to the one and only, Angie boo!!

 

Angelica: Being Lider del Dia really pushed me out of my comfort zone today. I am usually shy and timid in group situations, so it was difficult in the beginning for me to raise my voice to gather everyone’s attention. As the day went on, I was more comfortable speaking louder than usual when making announcements. I felt like I worked really well with Allyson and that the day went on smoothly. If I were to do this all over again, next time I would make sure that I checked on the group working on the pipes more rather than mainly focusing on the sign group. I had fun today with the opportunity to take charge! (reflect on your experience as a leader! What do you think that you did well? What could you have done better? How have you grown from this experience? Introduce the next Leader Del Dia’s!)

Allyson: I as well am usually not an assertive person, but being co-leaders with another quiet person really prompted me to assert myself as a leader. I think that being a leader is really challenging as there is so much to remember, so much to do; however I really valued this experience because it taught me to speak out and lead a group of people. I agree with Angelica that we could have checked in on all groups regardless of what group we were working in. Overall, being LDD was a challenging but it was worth it.

Overall, we learned a lot about what it means to be a leader. It was so nice being able to see the sign being put up and how excited everyone was to see their community officially recognized. Having a leader is essential to getting work done and we were able to see that today.

With love,

Angelica and Allyson

PS Happy birthday, William! Elizabeth says that she loves you a lot!
and shoutout to Reetu! We miss you a lot and hope you’re well!!