Today we woke up at 6:30am and we had breakfast with Charito and her sister – Charito has been through many challenges in her life, but she overcame them and shared her story with us today. Afterwards our guest speaker Roberto came and led a workshop on aid & development. After lunch we presented our C.A.P. ideas to our guests, followed by English tutoring. At night we had a group reflection on poverty and global aid.

One of the biggest takeaways has been learning about how different people in Ecuador live in what we might call poverty, even though there is no exact definition of it. We also learned about development versus under-development and how the US compares to Ecuador, both in the past and present. It was really interesting to learn about the Ecuadorian culture and what their people value. This whole experience made me feel better about myself because it forces me to think about other people and how they don’t have the same things or opportunities that I do, and it actually makes me want to do more. I was really surprised by our speaker Charito and her story about her home being destroyed by a volcano, because it was so touching.

I am proud of being leader of the day, and actually listening to stories that can help me in my life as I move on from this experience. My peers did a good job of being involved and listening to our guest speakers and asking thoughtful questions. The most inspiring person from today was Charito, because she made everyone change their perspective on others – she doesn’t need anybody to help her, and she did it all on her own. Being leader of the day includes a lot of responsibilities, and you have to make sure things get done on time, and everything goes well. I learned from my peers that I was a “happy medium,” looking at the bright side of things, and that I was good at greetings and saying goodbye and thank you to our speakers.

Sincerely,

-Kenja