Hola from your leaders of the day Ethan and Ziba,

Today was one of the most intense days of the trip, which was the Community Action Project Day One. We got up, got ready, and arrived at Los Embasadores, a barrio, filled with many warm souls. Prior to the CAP day, the community had expressed to us how passionate they were about putting up a fence and building a play structure for the kids. The adults cared for their children’s safety, but also desired a place for them to express their youth. Our team of 21 Glimpsers took charge of the small lot that was our responsibility to turn into a meaningful park for local children. By a glance, we could see the amount of work that had to be done before the construction. Our first steps were to clear the trash and level the land with the help of the local community members. With the amount of trash within a small area and the nearby river, we could tell the town doesn’t prioritize litter. Our goal for the day was to accomplish the fence and two of the three structures, but were adjusted due to circumstances out of our control.

Much of the work for the morning was digging holes, measuring the area and creating a smooth surface. Even though these were strenuous tasks, our glimpsers and the locals worked from their hearts. Within two hours, the majority of uneven land had been leveled out. Once we were able to move on, we began digging support holes for the fence. The locals stepped in with much of the heavy duty work. By this time we split into two groups where one stayed put and the other began working on the structures. The structure team sanded and painted the wood for the future tire swing and bridge.

For lunch we were delivered a delicious meal by our host, Dilenia, and with welcoming arms we shared our meal with the many children. To see their eyes widen as we handed them their meal was a humbling experience.

Some of the peculiar incidents was the real fear of cockroaches finding their way on our bodies, but the hardest situation was the power outage that greatly delayed our process. Due to the power we were not able to finish welding the fence nor use the tools necessary to cut wood. As leaders we were struck with what to do. We waited it out hoping it would pass, and during this time we didn’t decide to inform the others about the power so no one would be discouraged. Since there wasn’t much to do, the team took a break. We took a trip to the local store with several of our community friends. There, one of our Glimpsers, Yeshi, bought everyone a beverage. Because the power was still out, we made a Plan B once we got to the hostel. Upon returning, we set up a motivation meeting to make sure everyone was on the same page.

We knew the next day would be challenging but feasible because of all of our capabilities. With a more eager mind set and five hours until the presentation, our team is ready to tackle tomorrow.

Signing out from here in Constanza is the dynamic duo