Hello Global Glimpse readers, my name is Alysia and I will be a senior at Dougherty Valley high school. Next year will be my fourth year on the swimming and water polo team, and I lifeguard over the summer, I practically live at the pool. I learned about the Global Glimpse program through two of my fabulous water polo players that were glimpsers the year before and raved about their amazing trip. During this trip I want to learn to appreciate what I have and at the same time be inspired with a way to help people who are less fortunate.

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Today I was the leader of the first CAP day. The day started with the usual chore of waking up the glimpsers. Stereotypical of teenagers, it took them 30 minutes to become fully functional and walk down to breakfast. The amazing cooks made us sunny side up eggs, toasted tortillas, and everyone’s favorite, beans. After an hour of last minute shopping and planning, we were off to Fabretto.

As we walked into Fabretto it was clear that we had our work cut out for us. The problem that was most apparent when we arrived was that the ground of the garden was as hard as rock. Our main focus for the first CAP day was to create a suitable place to grow plants and to demolish and reconstruct the fence that goes around the garden and runs around the perimeter of the school yard. Before doing any constructing of the garden we had to make sure that the soil was suitable for planting. The plan for our Cap project is to reconstruct the garden and build planter boxes on top of the previous soil. We completely took out the fence that surrounded the garden and up rooted any plants that we wanted to replant in the planter boxes. By reconstructing this space and growing new herbs the children will learn how to care for the environment and maintain a healthy diet.

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The day was filled with ups and downs. The first aspect of the garden that we fixed was adding gravel onto the land that we could not grow plants on. Everyone had their own group that they belonged to. Some people were part of the group that was expanding the garden, some people were in charge of demolishing and reconstructing the fence, there were a couple of people in charge of making flowers out of recycled water bottles and working with the kids, and the last group was in charge of making a path for the garden. The Garden group got rid of the old fence around the garden, took out all of the plants, and started to turn over all of the rocky soil in that area. The group that was in charge of the fence got measurements for the fence around the garden, to demolish the old fences and to reconstruct the new fence. The group with the kids made about 40 flowers out of recycled water bottles to decorate the garden with. The group that was in charge of the path turned over all of the soil in the pathway and dug troughs in the ground to put pieces of wood to make the path. Sometimes things went according to plan and sometimes they did not, but thanks the cohesiveness of our group we were able to accomplish a lot on our first CAP day. By the end of the day the group succeeded in constructing most of the pathway that runs through the garden. Through some hardships the teamwork and persistence of the group really shined through. Of course we could not have pulled it off if it weren’t for Sonati, people who donated supplies, and the local children that are students at Fabretto.

It was absolutely amazing to see how well the Glimpsers worked with the kids. Even though many of us did not know much Spanish we were able to communicate well with the children. As embarrassing it is to admit, the kids knew more about construction and gardening that we did. All of them were extremely helpful and contributed a lot to our garden. It was so moving to see all of the Glimpsers working with the children.

The day was filled with new experiences. Many of us have never built anything from scratch before. Very few of us knew how to use a pick axe to turn over soil, how to hammer down a nail, or saw a piece of wood. All of us learned how to plan better and work together as a team even under a lot of stress. Despite all of the stress that the Glimpsers were feeling in the morning they all pushed that aside and came together to make our plans for the school a reality. By the time this CAP is done the students at Fabretto will learn how to keep the environment clean by using the 3 R’s, reduce, reuse and recycle. The students will also have a healthy diet by using the herbs from the garden. The aesthetic of the garden will make the students want to maintain it and continue to help the environment and maintain a healthy diet. I am so proud of everyone for keeping it together today. This is only the first phase and I can’t wait until everyone back home sees the final product of our Community Action Project.