Todays concept of poverty day began the day before with an academic seminar. We were introduced to the idea of living on a dollar a day (one of our many challenges on this trip). To get the full experience we were given a bucket full of water to use to shower, flush our toilets and wash our hands BUT it had to last us all day. We also had our meals reduced to fall into the budget of 2$ a day but don’t worry we still had endless amount of clean water to drink and stay hydrated! Well our day began by waking up at 7:15 and getting on the gua-gua to head to our community and eating breakfast which consisted of hot chocolate and bread. When we arrived to Mabrigida we got information from Nicole (a peace corps volunteer living in that community) and were then assigned a specific home and group. Having different families, we all experienced different chores and activities throughout our time there (i.e. sweeping, mopping, walking the pigs, guarding a goat, holding huge pigeons and so much more).

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Our delegation also had the opportunity to cook for the locals and it was DELICIOUS! After spending time with the community, it was time for our hugs and goodbyes. We then had another ride back to the hotel (where almost everyone fell asleep!!!!!) and then had an academic seminar. After that we had free time and went to dinner, where we had plantains and egg. During our nightly meeting all came to the agreement that we had never seen or experienced such a wonderful family and community bond in our life. It was super awesome to be able to play with all of the little kids and share such amazing memories with my delegation! Seeing the whole community so united made us realize how much we take for granted, care for each other and how much we love and miss our families!  The memories and experiences we made today is definitely something you should ask us individually because of how powerful and inspiring this whole day was! We truly all bring our own special twist of uniqueness to this trip and it’s something that we will never forget!

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