Hello fellow friends and families! Today was the day that we started CAP Project at Escuela El Platanal. We started our day by waking up at 6:30 am. It was difficult waking up a couple of people but we still managed to get to our Comedor on time. For breakfast, we ate very delicious pancakes which came with syrup and slices of watermelon, pineapple, and bananas. After that, we headed back to our hostel and we prepared for our talent show. When all the groups were done preparing for it, we prepared our materials for the CAP and we picked up a couple of people who went to go buy some materials. Some of our English Tutoring students came to help us with our project.
When we arrived at Escuela El Platanal at 10:30 am, we gathered our materials and we arranged into our group projects. By this time, we had most of our materials for our projects. We had five projects planned. Our projects were: fixing an unstable sink, expanding the school garden, building a water tower for the garden, creating a recycling and compost systems, and three swing sets. Those who worked on the reparation of the sink were Adrian and I (Thuy Anne). They had to stabilize the sink by building a frame because the sink was falling off the wall. Sujata, Francisco, Brian, Jorge and Aldo worked on the garden. They expanded the school garden by planting more fruits and vegetables. They also built barriers around the plants with recycled bottles. The recycling and compost group was managed by Maria, Kathleen, Esmerelda, and Brian. They built an eco-friendly garbage/compost system. The water tower for the garden was built by Christian, Eduardo, Jorge, Uziel, and Mr. Robertson. They wanted to make an easier water system to easily water the garden. The swing project was done by Luis, Jorge, and I (Shara Castillo). They built three tire swings on trees. There were two swings for the little children and one swing for the older children. Some of our English tutoring students, teachers from the school, and the community came to help us with our projects. They did an amazing job at helping us figure out how to build some of our projects. They used their great skills and knowledge to contribute to the school. Without them, we wouldn’t have been able get a lot done today. We would also like to our GG leader, Mr.Robertson, for a tremendous help by using his knowledge on how to build most of the stuff. He directed most of our projects because he knew so much about building things.
After we came back, we prepared for the talent show. The talent show was dedicated to all the English teachers and the English students, who worked hard for the past two weeks. All the boys in the delegation sang with one of our English students (Christian). He played the guitar for them while the boys sang one of his original songs. The girls in the delegation sang and danced to “Count on Me” by Bruno Mars. Most of the students in the talent show sang, but overall it was an amazing performance. The students also brought food and drinks for us. We all took pictures together and said our farewells. Overall it was a very productive day since there was lots of changes to the schedule and the projects.