Hello friends and family, my name is Haley and I was the leader of the day for the third and final day of our CAP project. Today was day 14 and for most of us the feeling of being homesick is overpowered by the smiles, laughs, and memories we’ve all shared together.

The day began at 7:00am. We left on a small adventure to the laundromat before breakfast, navigating our way through the streets of Leon without any help. We headed to the comedor at 9:00 for breakfast, where we enjoyed a glass of passion fruit juice with a delicious quesadilla. We returned to the hostel to gather our things, then boarded the bus to head to the special education school. We were all so sad find out that it would be our last day with our favorite bus drivers.

Once we arrived everyone got straight to work to ensure the project would be completed by the end of the day. The painting crew went into complete focus mode, perfecting every line and detail. They even exceeded much more than the original goal of two class rooms, and completed an entire hallway. The bus crew got an arm workout while shoveling away heavy rocks. The reoccurring appearances of spiders, scorpions, snakes, and frogs under the rubble became the highlight of the day.

After a couple hours of hard work, we refueled with a meal provided by the comedor and Nicaraguan ice cream for dessert. The next couple of hours were completely dedicated to finishing the CAP. The sweat dripping from our faces, dirt smeared upon our legs, and paint stuck under our fingernails truly symbolized the dedication we all had for this project.

It was such a rewarding feeling to see the bright hallway, clean bus area, working fans, and a safer door to the bathroom. The principle of the school told us how much our service means to the staff and students and we took one last look at our completed CAP before boarding the bus to shower before dinner.

In order to celebrate the completion of our successful project, Nancy and Noel took us out to dinner. Many of us enjoyed panini pizzas, crepes, and vibrant smoothies. With very happy tummies, we headed to English tutoring. The night was filled with lessons about time, tongue twisters, and a student even brought mangos to share with some of the Glimpsers. We headed back to the hostel for the nightly meeting and a reflection to debrief our CAP execution. At 10:30 we headed to our rooms after a very fulfilling day for a much needed lights out.

Post Project

Post Project

English Tutoring

English Tutoring

Celebratory Dinner

Celebratory Dinner

Finished Walls

Finished Walls

In just 14 days the 18 strangers that met at the airport have morphed into a family. It has come to the point when people ask, “When are we going back home?” they are referring to the hostel. Completing our project demonstrated how close we’ve come and how much of an impact we can make when we work as a team. It was amazing to see how much we could revamp the school in just 3 days. Seeing how much renovation a lot of this city needs really forced me to realize that things won’t just magically fix themselves. It takes people that are willing to take time out of their own life to improve the lives of others. By far this group of students is so selfless and genuine, and this is what helped make the CAP so successful for us. Although we don’t get to see the kids reactions, its such a rewarding feeling to know that we helped make the school a cleaner and happier place for the students.

All cleaned up!

All cleaned up!

Being the leader of the day really forced me to own my own voice. It felt really good to know that I contributed to the success of the CAP. Making sure the day ran smoothly, keeping people hydrated, and being a helping hand to all the GG leaders were some of my tasks for the day. The responsibility that came with this role exceeded what I had originally believed. However, today really taught me how to manage a large group and be confident in my ability to lead. We are all excited for tomorrow’s much needed free day after such an exhausting but fulfilling day.