Today, we learned the value of preserving our environment with an organization called The Guardians of the Water.  The Guardians of the Water are a group of middle school and high school students who dedicate their time to cleaning up the community and advocating for a better future with a cleaner environment.  With them, we collected trash in the streets and separated it by categories such as plastics, trash, and glass/metal.  The youth in The Guardians of the Water made a friendly effort to talk to us even with language barriers for those of us with limited Spanish.  As for the neighborhood cleanup, we were surprised by the amount of trash that was left on the streets and on vacant lots.  We found clothes, diapers, dead chickens, a plastic baby arm, bottles, cans, and lots of plastic wrappers from food products. In two hours, many bags were filled with the trash from just a few streets.

In the afternoon, we went to a recycling collection center called Acopio Center and met with the founder of the Center, Maria Reyna.  Mrs. Reyna truly dedicates her time and is very passionate about recycling and cleaning up Constanza. The Acopio recycling center was the first in Constanza and serves as a model for the government of the Dominican Republic.  After learning more about her passion, we worked together breaking down cardboard boxes and bundling them with string so they could be shipped out later.

After the recycling center, we prepared for our English classes.  We arrived an hour early to prepare for our classes and we personally had a roller coaster of a day with our students of seven to nine year olds with lots of excitement and emotion. At the end of class, we prepared for our talent show next week and gave our students gifts for finishing their homework and participating with us in class.

Leader of the Day messages:

Hi mom and dad!! It’s Emma, I’m doing well. See you next week!
Hey Fam! I miss you guys so much ! I’ll be home August 3rd around 1 Am please be on time ! I love you!