Today was CAP Day 2. I remember one of my peers saying, “Just think of the kids,” and another responded “That’s all I’m thinking about.”  Our motivation is driven by the thought of doing what we can to better the lives of children who have very little. We resumed our project the moment we arrived at Barrilete, and before we knew it, our projects were halfway done by lunchtime. The projects we decided to take on (remodeling a dorm room, constructing several benches, making curtains),each a major project in itself, ended up going by quickly despite hitting a few rough patches. It leads us to believe that our passion towards these projects are truly meant for the children.

As our trip comes to an end we come to the realization that we have all done so much in so little time. It always seems that the hours go by slowly but when someone asks what day it is we are all in awe at how quickly our time here has passed. Many have learned so many things on this trip, from being a translator to learning how to use power tools. Every day has something new in store for us.

The group worked about 7 hours on our CAP projects. Deborah is part of the dorm renovation group and I am part of the curtain group. One of the struggles the curtain group faced is the wind blowing dirt and leaves all over the paint we had on the curtains. We all agreed to start working in a classroom inside to prevent the curtains from getting tampered. Meanwhile the curtains were drying, I taught the group how to sew the ties for the curtains and we finished all twelve ties in a few hours. Luckily, all the painting for the curtains was finished today and tomorrow the paint will be dry. Barrliete’s founder, Maria constantly expressed her gratitude to the group and always commented to us and others around her about how she loved the design of the curtains. It was extremely heartwarming to know that someone so important to Barrilete and the children she helps is proud of what we have been doing for her school out of the goodness of our hearts.

Today, the dorm renovation consisted of painting the walls and beginning the construction of the cubbies. The most strenuous part was painting the base layers on rough walls. Every inch of wall had to be covered, even the most rugged parts that were hard to cover. Despite the stuffiness, no person in the room took a break until the walls were nearly completely covered. When I realized this, the persistence of my peers amazed me. Just after lunch we were able to begin our “Under the Sea” themed designs, and everything began to fall into place. We were all able to express ourselves through our paintings and leave our mark here in Nicaragua. All of my thoughts were centered on the idea of making a enjoyable space for the children who would be occupying the space in the future. When Summer came in and expressed, “I love this room; it’s so calm and nice in here,” I felt that we had accomplished creating an enjoyable space.

Tomorrow is the last day of English Tutoring and we are all sad to say goodbye to our students, but we leave them happy knowing that we have strengthened their English skills in just over a week.

Buenas noches and big love to everyone,

Deborah and Abril 🙂