Today was Global Business and Working Like a Local Day and boy did we learn a lot! The first thing we did today was the wakeup call. Today the wakeup call was at 6:00 AM, the earliest start so far! Today we focused on Global Businesses and their effect on smaller, locally grown businesses. We had the chance to work on Don Joaquin’s farm. Don Joaquin is a farmer who owns a locally grown farm named Finca de Monagrillo. This farm is a family business that has existed before Joaquin Cedeño Batista was born. The farm provides fresh produce to the community of Chitré. Our goal of going to the farm was to help Don Joaquin in fertilizing his melon plants as well as plant new pepper seeds. A team of 20 of us were able to divide and conquer the field in about 35 minutes. It was really eye opening to realize that this work is typically done by only one person. Today was extremely sunny so it was our job as co-leaders to make sure everyone was drinking plenty of water and put on lots of bug spray and sunscreen. This trip gave us a bigger appreciation for small local businesses that do not have the luxury of bigger teams, resources, tools or money that some bigger global businesses have. One thing that was really impressive was the irrigation system that they had in place to better the environment. It proved to us that even small businesses can make great strides to improving the earth.

The next activity that was planned for today was free time! Something that was definitely deserved after all the hard work we put in as a team. While some of us decided to get some rest, other explored some parts of the city and went to one of our groups favorite spots, a bakery called Pan and Cake. They have amazing coffee and sweets! After our free time, we worked on developing the ideas for a CAP project. Our CAP project is for improving the playground, garden and classrooms for “Nutre Hogar” a preschool that helps children from under privileged families. This place is a safe haven for many young kids and prepares them for their first years of schooling. Today we divided into groups of 3. One for the playground, the garden and the classroom. Nereida is a part of the playground group where the main goal is to fix the monkey bars, the see-saws, the swings and the rope climb to ensure its safety and to make it more fun and playful for the kids that play there. The plan that Nereida’s group decided was to re-paint the whole play area, to place new screws and bolts into the wood, and to make sure that all sets are safe and secure. I, Kaitlyn, was part of the garden group where our main goal was to plant some new vegetables and fruits such as tomatoes, yucca, lemons and strawberries, all foods that could be well maintained and fed to the children that need food each day. The other plan for the garden is to paint a mural. Our idea for this mural is to create an image that is both unifying and fun for the kids. One idea we have is to paint the Earth with children holding hands, surrounded by flowers and fruits and vegetables. Our creative people on the team have been making some great designs!

Finally, we wrapped up our day with dinner and a nightly meeting where we reviewed our day, learning about global business, monopolies and the affect they have on smaller local business. Today was an extremely fun and educational day but one that required lots of hard work.

Tomorrow is Free Day! Tomorrow we will have the chance to explore the city, and make calls to home, so make sure that you keep your phones on and charged because you may be getting a call tomorrow! All of us Glimpsers are very excited to hear your voices. Both Nereida and I want to shout out our families and say that we love and miss you. To my mom, thank you for posting on every blog that we have posted so far! I love and miss you and the rest of my family. -Kaitlyn

Mamà y papà, los extraño mucho y quiero decir que no se precupen por mi porque estoy bien y mañana los voy a llamar. -Nereida

Thank you to everyone who has been checking up on the blog and we look forward to talking to you tomorrow! Lots of love!