Hi everyone! It’s Kalah, Shawn and Zharit, today’s LDD’s (Líderes del Día).

Today was the first day of working on our CAP (Community Action Project), which we have been planning for the last week. After many meetings with community members, a versatile snack shack was deemed most useful. This shack will be next to the baseball field (also built by a previous Global Glimpse delegation), where they can store the harvests of their produce, sell food during baseball games, and overall create a gathering space for all members of the community. They took our delegation in with open arms when we visited, so we want to give back to them in any way we can.

We got an early start today at 7AM. We wanted to give everyone an original wake up call, so we sang a remix of a Marvin Gaye classic with our personal twist on it. It was a crowd favorite. After everyone was up and ready, we made our way to Rosaura’s for breakfast. We had a simple breakfast of oatmeal and bread. When everyone’s stomachs were full, we loaded onto the bus and made our way to Suarez.

Once we arrived to Suarez, we were eager to work and began digging a trench. This took a couple hours because we rotated shifts and shared tools. We made sure to remind everyone to drink water and put on sunscreen, so if your kid comes home sunburnt it’s not our fault! We made sure not to overwork ourselves in the hot sun, and took plenty of breaks. There were a couple of construction workers that did a lot of the more complicated aspects of building, so at times we felt a little useless watching them do the harder work, but they reassured us that it was important to only do what we were capable of. The number one rule of helping others is to know when to step back, because often times the people you are trying to help know what’s best.

After a lunch of rice, beans and sausages, we took buckets back and forth to the nearby stream to start mixing the cement. It started raining a little, which helped us speed the process up as well as cool down. We poured the cement into the trench we built that morning and finished the foundation!

Once we said our goodbyes to the Suarez members, we hopped back on the bus and back to the hotel. We had 45 minutes to get ready for graduation from English tutoring. After everyone got into their most formal clothes, we walked over to El Liceo and met our English students in the auditorium for the graduation ceremony. Everyone had a great time seeing their students walk the stage all dressed up and were very supportive of each other. It was a bittersweet moment, we have bonded with our students so much in these last couple classes so we will miss them, but seeing them graduate from class was so rewarding! All of our hard work payed off.

After we finished taking all our pictures, we headed to Rosaura’s for dinner. We had burrito-like wraps with chicken, cheese and vegetables and a delicious fresh squeezed pineapple lime juice. It was a long day for everyone but we did it with smiles and have 2 days left of CAP to go! Here’s our personalized messages from your leaders of the day:

Shawn: I miss all my family so much! I am having an amazing time here but I can’t wait to come home and tell everyone all about it. Thank you to all my family that helped me pay and prepare for this trip. This has been one of the best experiences of my life. Good thing I’m coming home soon because I’m starting to get sick of rice and beans. Love you all 🙂

Zharit: Missing everyone but really trying to enjoy our last 4 days in this beautiful country with all of the warm people. Love you mom and dad for helping me pay for the trip and for being supportive while being a little indecisive about my summer plans. So glad I took this trip though! and Nicole if you see this keep the room clean until I get home… Oh and to my friends I can’t wait to see you all!!!!

Kalah: Missing my beautiful mother and my corny father. I can honestly say I am very happy my family supported me and pushed me to get the experience of this life changing trip. I can’t wait to get home and tell everyone about my constipation experience and many more. HAHA! LOVE AND MISS YOU ALL VERY MUCH BE HOME SOON!

Hope everyone enjoyed our summary of the day! We miss and love you all!!