Hello! This is Jade and Ocean, the LDDs for the third day of our community action project

It was another early morning, with wake up at 6:30, with a chorus of “Morning’s Here” from the TV show Friends. We started the day with a luxurious and filling breakfast of gallo pinto (rice and beans) with huevos, (eggs) pan (bread), and a colorful assortment of local fruit. Around 8:00, we walked down to the school and started working on our project. It was a very productive and fulfilling day. We helped organize materials in the school’s storage. We worked hard cleaning and adding a fresh coat of paint to the walls around the school. At 12:00, we spent a bit of time playing volleyball and soccer with the students. Seeing them, and our purpose working here is, helping them, makes all the hard work worth it. We took a break and had fresh-made lunch from the school, including a Costa Rican staple, rice and beans, along with fish and salad. We then continued with our work, taking on a few new tasks.

We added life to the school by painting colorful designs onto plant pots around the schoolyard. This was truly a passion project for all of us, pouring all of our creativity into these designs. We also made great strides in helping the school put up a new structure that will eventually be a wonderful place for the kids to spend their time. We cleaned building materials and helped Chino, the Maestro de Obro (master builder) at the school, set up more foundations. We went back to the Casa Aquieres after 4:00 and relaxed after a hard day of work until we had an amazing dinner at 6:00, eating Arroz con Pollo (Chicken and Rice), once again with beans, as well as a lovely, fresh ensalada (salad). We closed out the day with our nightly recap and reflected on the day.

This entire project has had one major theme, which is the change you wish to see in the world. We all have better acknowledged our roles in our communities thanks to this experience, learning that we too can make a difference in the world. Even though our impact may not have been what we had originally hoped, instead consisting mostly of painting, we learned that no matter the size of the impact, it can still make a big difference to someone, and make the world even just a little bit better.

We would like to shout out Sam, Jailene, and Alex, among all of the other glimpsers, who were extremely dedicated to their work for the whole day, despite it not being the most exciting. We would also like to give a big thank you to our amazing donors for making this project possible.

“To believe in yourself. To believe in one another. That’s fundamental to being alive. If you can do that if each of you can truly do that, can’t nobody rip that apart.” – Ted Lasso

Jade: Hello to the Rousseau gang! I miss you all and am excited to see you soon

Ocean: Hello to my family as well

There’s another round of calls happening tomorrow, so all of us here look forward to talking to you soon!

See all the pictures of today’s adventures here!