Hola! We were the leaders for the first day of the Community Action Project (CAP.) We were really nervous to be leaders today but we think that we did a pretty good job. The day started off with us taking an hour long bus ride to the Pusuca community. When we arrived we presented our idea for the CAP project which was to advertise the community and finish building a market for their goods. The plan is that all community members will be able to sell their products from the structure. At first there was division among the community members which led the Glimpsers to be disappointed and nervous. Many of the community members felt the structure only benefited one person.  Their was a huge debate among the community members and members.  It was an incredible life-learning moment for all. However when we started working the aura was different and we were able to come together and make it a productive day. We all fully realized how passionate we were about the project and how much good it would do the community. We worked on the flooring of the market for the first few hours and put up road signs directing people the the Pusuca community. We also started the roof of the market after some villagers cut down the trees in the forest for the wood.

A huge theme of the day was to look at the bigger picture and don’t give up at the first sign of trouble. In fact the ‘Question of the Day’ was: “What are some ways you can organize yourselves to work best together as a group for the coming days.” We realized the three Cs: courage, commitment and compassion were the answer.

Overall, we had a lot of fun being the leaders of the day. We are used to people looking at us on stage (we are both students at a performing arts school) so being a leader felt natural. Though it was hard to control the group at times because there were many emotions running through the group. We worked alongside some of the Pusuca community members who were very handy and helpful. It was a roller coaster of emotions but at the end we accomplished a lot and were proud of what we did AND were rewarded with s’mores as a celebration when we returned to the hostel! We hope tomorrow is just as successful and fun as today was!

Love, Tarina and Ariel