Hello, our names are Michelle and Brenda, and today we were the leaders of the day for Deconstructing Poverty. Our day consisted of us visiting a local dump in Constanza and English tutoring in the afternoon.We started off our day, bright and early at 6:30 AM. Later at 8:00 AM we made our way to the local dump of Constanza, where we had the opportunity to meet with individuals from the community who lived in the dump. Our group was led by a local by the name of Mono who has lived and worked in the dump for 25 years. He allowed us to ask personal questions that gave us a more in-depth perspective of how it feels to live and work in the dump. Something that we took away from the experience was that although he spent majority of his life in the dump, he was still very content with his living condition and made the best out of his situation. He raised his four children and family there, who also work at the dump.  We had a better understanding of the work that he was doing for his family, and learned to be more appreciative of the privileges that we have.

After lunch we went down to El Centro Educativo Arroyo Arriba to tutor English. We had an extremely good turn out today as 47 students showed up. All of us were excited to teach the students and to see their progress throughout the days. This teaching experience has been such an interesting and eye opening opportunity. We enjoy watching these young students and seeing the effect we have on peoples lives. Most of our students are living in poverty and it is inspiring to see the work ethic and dedication they have to their growth.