Hi everyone, this is Austin and Ryan! Today was the first day of the delivery phase of our Community Action Project. Over the past week we’ve worked hard brainstorming, planning, and designing our project so it was very exciting to finally begin executing our ideas. After reviewing our project roles, we prepared to head to our work site (Escuela Gabriela Mistral). Unfortunately, there was a delay with the purchasing of our materials and we diverted our pent up energy to English tutoring preparation. We took an active approach to planning with many groups deciding to plan in the beautiful coffee shops around town. At noon we ate lunch and again prepared to head to Gabriela Mistral. At 1:00 we arrived with materials at the school and began work. Because of the mix up, our plans were changed and some students found themselves unemployed. However, in typical Global Glimpse spirit, the students took initiative and found other jobs, moving heavy debris and clearing the area for the fence part of project. Furthermore, they used their bare hands and, utilizing the heavy debris, constructed a beautiful stone walkway.

Our main focus for the day was to build a set of lockers for the teachers (who previously had to lug their many books and bags around) to use. Through hard work and a little help from a contractor and our Program coordinators, students managed to complete a majority of the locker frame.

We plan to complete and paint the lockers tomorrow and begin focusing on the fence and volleyball parts of our project. We couldn’t get jobs on the lockers for everyone, so while some students worked on the lockers, others dug holes for the fence posts we’re going to install tomorrow.

After 3 hours of hard work, we headed back to the hostel to do some last minute planning for English tutoring. At 5:15 we made our way to the school and taught our lessons. After tutoring we returned, had dinner, and held our nightly meeting. And now we’re here.

Today was a very challenging, but very rewarding day. Although we faced some sudden changes that disrupted our carefully planned schedule, we adapted and learned how to solve these issues on the fly. We even had some positive outcomes because of these problems. Glimpsers finished parts of the fence even though no fence work was planned today. The students were incredibly hardworking throughout the whole day and selflessly pushed through their fatigue to complete a project that will benefit the students and teachers at Escuela Gabriela Mistral. The two of us were so proud of the students after taking a look around the various projects and seeing the amazing progress that had been made. We’re both so glad we had the opportunity to go on this trip and experience so may new things. All the students on this trip have learned so much more than we expected to, from simple things like learning how to play the guitar to important life lessons like the dichotomy between happiness and wealth. We found that even though money can certainly purchase immediate happiness, the Nicaraguan people, who have almost nothing compared to Americans, can experience incredible joy and happiness. At our host families, we saw a little boy play with nothing but a piece of plastic and look as happy as, if not happier than, many kids that play with iPads in America. The profound happiness that the Nicaraguan people glean from basic things such as family, friends, and education astounded us and opened our eyes to the fact that we don’t necessarily need vast amounts of wealth and technology to enjoy life.

After the amazing progress today, we can’t wait to see what the Glimpsers accomplish tomorrow. See you soon!

(a new friend we met!)