“I’ve learned that people may forget what you said, they may forget what you did, but they will never forget how you made them feel.” – Ken Wilson

Waking up at 6:00 in the morning was very difficult because we knew we had a very long day ahead of us. Having planned to work at La Goyena community from 8:00am through 4:00pm seemed like such a long time, working outside in the blazing heat, sweating bullets, getting dirt in places where it shouldn’t be, and working on three completely different projects seemed merely impossible. The teachers and Global Glimpse leaders even had their doubts on how we were to get the projects done in such a timely manner. When we finally arrived to La Goyena, we split up into three groups to work on our projects. The first group, which was installing pipes for sinks and an irrigation system, continued digging all around the school with the help of some community members. Along the way, many of the students received blisters because of the hard effort to dig up the dirt, but their grit and commitment kept them going! As for the second group, they were able to sketch their unique and individual designs to explain how to filter water. This was very important for the community because the well-water has many different types of bacteria.  Once this was done, they moved on to transform buckets into sinks, which will allow each student in the community to have accessible water. The third group began to sketch out their design for a mural, and as some were sketching, others began to paint the mural. As time passed, each project began to take shape, and in a matter of hours we noticed that we were almost finished with everything. The time we finished was at  exactly 2:30pm which was an hour and a half earlier than what we anticipated!!  When Don Fabio, the leader of La Goyena community, and the students that were specifically working on the pipe project saw the water start flowing after we turned the knob on the faucet, smiles of victory began to appear across everyone’s faces. They were aware that they had sparked a flame in the heart of each individual that witnessed this event take place!

Maybe one day, a long time from now, the pipes will break again, the filtration signs will get destroyed or the mural will begin to fade, but with all of this said we keep in mind that not only did we make an impact on the community, but in ourselves. The entire group will always remember this day as one of the toughest but most rewarding days of their lives.