We, Theodore and Aisleen, came into the position of El Lider Del Dia with a very skeptical point of view, yet approached the challenge with an open mind. We started the day off far too early, by waking up our peers as well as our Global Glimpse Leaders. Regarding waking up our Global Glimpse Leaders, one of them required us to sing to awaken him from his slumber.
Knowing we had a fairly long day ahead of us, we began with a hearty Dominican breakfast. Then we got straight to cracking on the preparation for our Community Action Projects (CAP). The event and brochure groups immediately began prepping for the community members to begin filing in just a few hours from then. We tidied up the halls, practiced dance routines, began decorating the facilities, and even napped. As for the Mural Group, we had to go through a long but adventurous walk to La Escuela Primaria en Dios Dira. Upon arrival, we began to paint a white base coat on a fairly lumpy wall that made us unsure if we would be able to accomplish our mission. Once the white paint dried we continued outlining and painting the sky, and the hills. From then we began our semi-non really leisurely walk in the treacherous heat, back to CONAMUCA. With all the excitement of the upcoming event, we walked into lunch, eager to greet the community.
After lunch, the Mural Group headed out yet again to the school in order to progress on the project. While painting, a local community member joined in and proceeded to pick up a brush and help us paint, which we really needed! She was a very inspiring young individual that took the time out of her day to help us. While with the community event, we only expected about 100 people to attend, but much to our surprise, there was nearly 250 children and family. Along with the unexpected amount of community members, we quickly learned the difficulties of a significant language barrier. Since we were Los Lideres Del Dia, we were required to accommodate the needs and wants of our fellow Global Glimpsers, and being unable to provide assistance with communication, the position became very frustrating. Luckily we were able to delegate tasks efficiently and complete the first day of both events without too much of a hitch. Without a professional artist, we used our resources as well as the rest of the Mural Group. We are very proud of the progress that the mural group made, finishing the majority of the artwork. We are also very proud of our community event’s attendance, far surpassing anyone’s initial predictions. While the mural group worked their hardest, the community event was beginning to reach full swing. We had face painting, basketball, volleyball, and a ton of arts for the children of the community to perform.
Despite the chaos that ensued, the entire community had an incredibly fun time as well as our fellow Global Glimpsers. Knowing that our event was a success, and that there is still more to come, our excitement to further help the community of Dios Dira, was still growing.
-Theodore and Aisleen