Today was the big day, a dollar a day.  We had all anticipated the bucket showers and all the rice and beans we could ever stomach.  Rules were no shopping, no snacks,no electronics or electricity,(and for me no huggies wipes)(:  . It was a day where we all were on the same page, when all was said and done we realized that maybe having all the things we think we need aren’t necessary.  For breakfast we had a roll with butter and pineapple pear juice. After we  went to the Cerro de mogollon community where we encountered a group of farmers and their families. And event though some of us were feeling under the weather we all supported each other and kicked today’s butt.  One of the community leaders was a farmer, told us about the education and health facilities there. We learned that there is a primary school that hold about 15 students and that’s for grades 1-3. The part that really hit us was when he said the secondary school had up to 700 students and ONLY 6 teachers. To think that 6 had to help and teach a crowd of 700, it sounded unreal. Out of the four community leaders. We saw the crops and all the animals. We even had an opportunity to herd a goat. Some other sites were the houses and the river. IMG_4810

The people we saw we so kind hearted and just amazing. They greeted us with such enthusiasm. On the way to the river we had some “obstacle courses “. Whether it was walking on logs to get over waterways or jumping gaps, the whole experience was breathtaking. When we got to the river the community leaders showed us these little wholes in the ground where they would get their clean water. The whole group had thought, ” wow, the ingenuity.” They had utilized the earth in a way that was just amazing.  We stopped for lunch and had pasta and rice which wasn’t what we expected but it was delicious nonetheless. The people in my group, Alyssa, Justin, Irene, Stephannie, Moriah and Sofia, were lucky enough to have lunch in his home. There we met  his wife . She told us about how she wanted to be a nurse  when she was a little girl and all the struggles she faces getting there.  In a town of a couple thousand she is the only nurse. When we asked her how many patients on average she got a day, her reply was around 40. We had looked at her in just awe.  For a woman that treats. around 40 patients in a day, she only makes 400$ in a week.  Even through her struggles in life being of service to others and making a difference, makes it all worth it to her. After lunch we went back home and continued the rest of our challenge. This is the part that really made me proud, because we couldn’t just listen to music or go shopping or anything like that, we all sat and bonded and most of either made new friends  or grew a stronger bond with another one. We had so much fun being with each other that we had gotten shushed for laughing so hard. I think seeing how dedicated the whole group is what surprised me the most. Dinner was a little bit of a bust as well, unfortunately our dinner was switched and we ate pizza. Even through all the people who were sick and all the nice food, we still got what we needed to get out of dollar a day which was completely amazing.