WOOOHOO ! Our first community action project a.k.a CAP day has finally arrived, and we can’t even put into words about how proud we are of our group. What is CAP exactly you may ask? Well, it’s a big project where the glimpsers join as one to help improve and rehabilitate the community. In our case it would be to revitalize the school of CECAINI which serves the children and their families that work at the local dump (vertedero). We have a total of four projects going on which are to provide safe drinking water, paint a mural devoted to recycling, re-paint the basketball court and plant trees around the school.
Corina: Since there were four different projects going on we each had different community members in our groups helping us, I worked with the existing gardener at CECAINI, Ramon, who gave us AMAZING tips on how to plant a tree. He told us that the trees had to be a certain distance apart from each other to be able to grow big and strong. Ramon was a big inspiration to me because he showed us that hard work does go a long way. This project also made me realize that you can’t just put something in the ground and call it community service. You have to involve the community and incorporate their needs and agree on something that can be useful and feasible for everyone involved.
Jocelyn: My group’s CAP project was to re-paint the basketball court. At first there were a few complications at the beginning because we had to wait for special paint that could withstand the wear-and-tear of ball games to arrive. Once when the paint came, we only had about 30 minutes of work time which was much less than the other groups. However, we prevailed and painted a third of the court beautifully in that time. Our group worked, Ken, the same painter that painted the original court three years ago. He taught me how to paint more efficiently and gave good advice on how not to “paint outside the lines”. With our progress thus far, we could already see the dilapidated court transform into a beautiful masterpiece with clean and vibrant colors. It is amazing that a simple splash of paint could instantly brighten the campus. It warms my heart knowing that the next time the students enroll in school, they will see a beautiful basketball court which is just one more incentive to stay in school and continue their education.
We really understood the meaning of teamwork today- there were so many hiccups but we made progress and are all still friends! 🙂 We have only just begun our journey to beautify CECAINI but we already feel the satisfaction of putting hard work in alongside the community to help our future generations. We cannot wait to show you the final products!
Liam and Athena,
Hey it’s one of your Ambassadors, Emma :). I hope you both are having a great time in Constanza. I’m so happy/proud of both of you for going on this trip and way to be one of the first leaders Liam, and I’m excited to read the blog from when you’re leader Athena, you’ll do great! I’m really impressed with your CAP, especially the clean drinking water project, you guys are tackling a lot of projects but you seem to be making good progress :). I hope the rest of your trip is amazing and I can’t wait to hear all about it when you both get back!
Best wishes from the Bay Area,
Emma Rusin
P.S.
I’m so sorry I forgot to mention Bricia in the last comment I made, I hope there’s no hard feelings, I send you all the love and support <3! Also can't wait to read about your day as leader and I know you'll be amazing. Best wishes again and apologies for my forgetfulness.
Emma Rusin
Great job Cori, miss ya have lots of fun! And enjoy your free day buy me something :))
Hi Constanza GG kids! I’m Lyric, and I visited Constanza last June as well! I’m glad you guys worked hard on your CAP and it really pays off when you see the smiles on the faces of the people you helped, and knowing that your project will be there for a long time. Hi Erl, Frankie, Amner, and Javier! I hope you’re enjoying your trip! And uh I hope you made it to ASFER frankie..if not it’s okay. Anyway see you later Pittsburg squad!
Hi, Athena and fellow Glimpsers. I am so impressed by your CAP, and can’t wait to hear about it, and all of your adventures in Costanza, in person.
Athena, our puppy Pele is getting bigger, but he is just as cute as when you left. He is waiting patiently (well, ok, impatiently) for you to come home and be one more person to play with him. Good luck on your day as “lider del dia.”
Jonathan, holy cow! I’m so proud of you getting out of your regular routine to help others
Hello GG Costanza. The courts look great and I am glad you all are still friends. CAP comes with many challenges and can be stressful because you all care so much and want to make sure you guys do good work. It will all work out. Keep up the great work and make sure Jonathan comes back with some blisters on his hands. Hopefully he has not complained too much.
Wow i can see the hard work you all are putting in the school. I also get excited for all of you making a different not just in people’s life but as well as the entire community may our Lord bless you all for doing this hard work. MISS YOU LOTS CYNTHIA can wait to see you. Love you Mom.
Hi Vi and Alex. Nice basketball court!!!!!
Can’t wait for you guys to come home. We miss you.
PS: i have been so busy at work so sorry I haven’t blogged anything. I worked 16 hours yesterday. Yikes!
Hey Bella Bella,
Nice job with your CAP! I like what you all did with the basketball court! We have a new court at my school too. Schools are about strengthening minds AND bodies.
Miss you so much! Can’t wait to see soon!
Mom
My baby sister Cori I’m so proud of you and all that you and the other glimpser’s are doing. Can’t wait to see you love you