Heyoooo, this is Bandana and Chelsea. Today we had a spectacular day with the honor of becoming the Leaders of the day for the start of the Cap Project.  Being in the Dominican Republic has really opened up our eyes to how privileged we are in the States, to how we take everything for granted. From as little as not doing our homework, whereas kids in the DR aren’t even able to get a decent education. Not even swinging, but purposely putting our hands back when opportunity approaches. It shows how different the world is in every corner. As a whole we decided to build a sidewalk for the community of Loma De Yaque. We came to this project because the people in the community raised the problem that the kids did not have a safe passage to the classroom due to the rain making the dirt muddy- which resulted in making it unsafe for the kids to leave the classroom and getting their clothes dirty.

Today we had the opportunity to start building the sidewalk. As the leaders of the day, we got to step up and split the group into 3 small groups for different tasks. One group was responsible for watching over the kids in the community, second group was digging the foundation as well as mixing the cement and the last group was the wheel barrel group. Chelsea and I got to experience all three tasks. Starting from painting the kids faces to them painting ours, to moving the 50-pound cement bags, to digging up the foundation. We felt proud of our group today, everyone had this glow on their faces, with this unique and positive energy to help everyone. What amazed us was that when we asked the different groups to take a break or rest for a while, no one agreed. The motivation and the energy that the delegation showed today really impacted how the day went. Since our delegation is made up of mostly girls the local workers thought that they should do all the hard hands-on work and have us girls watch. Even though they were very persistent that we watch we decided on our own to pick up shovels and pickaxes and start digging. Today was also Fathers’ Day in the Dominican Republic so our work time was cut short. The locals were able to go home and spend time with their families. The culture in the Dominican Republic is something that will carry on because of how precious and exotic it is.

Okayyyyy, it is very late and Chelsea and I want to go to bond with the group.

Bandana: I love you mommy hajur, baba hajur, dada and all my friends and relatives. I miss you guys so much. And mamu, please make me dacchi when I come back, Baba hajur, don’t miss me too much and dada enjoy the last few days without me hehe.

Chelsea: For my family back home I miss you so much, especially my little baby brother Liam I can’t wait to wake up with you screaming in my ear. Can’t wait to be home in a few days.