More attention to the walls

Prepping the wall

The group in action

Preparing to scrape the wall

Scraping the wall

Working together

Team work!

Working on the CAP project

As we wind down from our tenth day in Nicaragua, it’s safe to say we have discovered what we are really capable of. Like my favorite author, JK Rowling, famously said,”We do not need magic to change the world, we carry all the power we need inside ourselves already; we have the power to imagine better”. Today was our first day of CAP, aka our community action project. Through this project we have dug deep into ourselves and worked together to make something magical happen. We are working tirelessly to leave a positive impact here in Nicaragua, and it is truly apparent that our project is something special because of this. Las Chavaladas, the organization we are partnering with, works extremely hard to provide resources for at-risk adolescent boys. They stress the importance of education, healthy relationships, and rehabilitation. Our entire day revolved around our work with Las Chavaladas.

In order to make it all happen, we had a early start at 7am. After breakfast at the amazing Imabite, we got right to work in our different committees. While the supplies committee went shopping, everyone else teamed up to discuss the logistics of the day. Planning a project in general is a difficult task, but planning a project in a different country is even more difficult. We may have stressed today, whether it was about what color to paint the walls or how many paintbrushes to buy, but we persevered through it all. Our goal for today was to scrape off all the paint that was currently on the classroom walls so we could start anew. We are preparing to paint a new and vibrant alphabet with pictures to go with each letter, so today was mainly getting ready to do so. With 22 people, 44 hands, and 3 hours, we were able to take the first step towards the impact we want to leave.

Our passion for this project solely comes from the boys we will be helping. As students from the Bay Area, we are incredibly lucky to have sufficient classroom spaces to learn and grow in. At Chavaladas, the conditions are not at all like what you would imagine a classroom to be like. Our delegation wants to change that because we firmly believe that a colorful and comfortable classroom environment will help fuel a positive education for them as well. Education is the key to success in their lives, and although it may not seem like much, our projects in the classroom will be a step towards success.

22 people, 44 hands, all completely exhausted… and it’s only day one. Yet our passion for this project won’t be exhausted. We have two more days, and we’re completely ready to accomplish everything together. We are ready to find that magic within ourselves, within each other, and leave it all here in Leon, Nicaragua.