Carlos sweeping loose dirt to pack into worn down areas of the floor

Carlos sweeping loose dirt to pack into worn down areas of the floor

Amy with two of the young boys from the community. The one on the right was 13 years old.

Amy with two of the young boys from the community. The one on the right was 13 years old.

Stylishly braided hair by Aldina Aguilar, a woman from the community

Stylishly braided hair by Aldina Aguilar, a woman from the community

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Hello everyone! Today we had an early wake up call: 6 a.m. to be exact. You see, today was all about submerging ourselves in the life of a local by living on a dollar a day. This included taking a shower with only a bucket of water, which wasn’t as hard as it seems, and our meals had to add up to less than a dollar. For breakfast, we had a wonderful meal of Gallo pinto with water. The very sleepy Glimpsers, including myself, traveled to the Tejerina community to meet the families we were going to help and “live like” for part of the day. That is where I met Aldina, and her beautiful children and grandson. They let us into their home, and were so kind and welcoming. We helped her make rice, we swept and hung clothes, and in return we got to carry a very adorable baby and play with the lively Luz Maria, who enjoyed beating us at soccer. Aldina gave us intricate braids that I couldn’t even attempt to replicate. Afterwards, we shared a lunch with the families, but nothing beats what came next. PIÑATA!! We invited all kids from the community to participate in destroying a disproportionate minion piñata.

After that we went back to the hostel and had a seminar about out Community Action Project. We discussed what projects we would be able to accomplish with our budget and whether they were feasible, needed, whether we had personal passion for it and if we would have the community’s engagement. We then prepared for our English tutoring lessons and ate dinner. We walked to English tutoring lessons and taught Matagalpans a variety of topics.

We were able to actually experience some people’s everyday realities of living on one dollar a day and appreciate our privileges in the states.