When we last left our heroes, they were really quite exhausted from their first day of their Community Action Project. However, after a good night of sleep, they went back to working on the project with much enthusiasm and drive to finish what they had started!

That’s right folks, today was the second day of our C.A.P.! Our goal today was to finish the murals we had started, to put some finishing touches on the Facebook  page, and to continue to help AVODEC with the construction of their volunteer housing. (Spoiler alert: We achieved our goal!) Yesterday we were getting used to the space we would be working in, especially with figuring out where we would clean the brushes, and figuring out how we would be able to execute our ideas. Today, things went much more smoothly because we knew what to do and were able to get everything done. Everyone worked really hard and really well together. I especially liked how, if they didn’t have anything to do, people asked around and offered to help. Things were a bit stressful for a while as we tried to get all of our work done, but things worked out in the end, even though the project did not turn out exactly as we planned it to. Our great teamwork led us to success and we’re really proud of our work.

This project helped a lot of figure out our strengths in working in a group, and it also allowed us to get out of our comfort zone and try something new! Personally, I stepped out of my comfort zone by getting on a sketchy ladder (refer to yesterday’s blog for details on the sketchy ladder) and climbing up pretty high to paint a part of the inside mural. Others in the group tried their hand at painting a mural or building for the first time.

Another major part of the day today was our last English lesson. We didn’t have a topic for today; we were allowed to do whatever we saw fit. To end the class, my group (Julia, Oscar, and I) gave our kids a test and then let them play outside. The other groups had similar plans for their classes, and we could hear the laughter and shouts of the kids throughout the classrooms. Saying goodbye to the kids was hard for a lot of us because we grew pretty attached to them over the two weeks we’ve been teaching. There were tears, hugs, and a lot of Facebook exchanges. I believe I can speak for all of us when I say (or rather, type) that we are really proud of the work that we’ve done with the kids and they’ve come a long way in just two weeks. Teaching had its hard moments; when the kids wouldn’t pay attention or when they had too much energy and we were really tired from the day’s activities. But there were also some really amazing moments, like when a student who was  having trouble with pronouncing/spelling a word finally got it, or when we played games with the kids and they really enjoyed them.

Today was pretty packed with stuff to do, and it was frankly quite hard to muster enough energy to both participate and try to keep everyone else’s spirits up as El Lider Del Dia. It was an interesting experience for me, and I learned that I can be pretty loud and command attention when I want to, and I can also do a lot more when I put myself out there. I also learned that being a leader is not always a one-person job and it definitely helps to ask others for help.

All in all, it has been a pretty good day. We achieved a lot today and overall on this trip. We just have a handful of days left and then we’ll be back home to be with all of you! See ya’ll soon!