Today was definitely an extraneous day. Our first day working on our Community Action Project. Today wasn’t very much focused on learning something, there were no speakers or seminars, just the group going to a community to work. Our CAP project seemed very low key, the plan was to create signs for the buildings and plants in the area, however this was not the case. Today, we worked extra hard in making sure that we did the best job we could. We had to pave out paths for the signs, get them together and paint all the signs, while making sure it looked presentable. We divided into three committees for this project, one group was working on the path, another on the individual signs, and the last on a large central map. The map group was not working on the map, because Esteban, the leader of the community, got us a professional artist to do the map. So we had to find other things to do. The map committee worked on making crosswalks for the area, but we ran out of paint, so after lunch we split up. Some of us helped the individual signs and others with the path. Both required a lot of work. The individual signs spent  so much time making stencils for their signs, only to learn that they were better off with free hand. The path split into two sections, people who dug out the path and the people who laid out the gravel. And this path was not a short one. It took us all day and we got about 70% done.

 

I think that today was one of the most important days. It required a lot from us and we persevered through it. Today may not have been focused on learning, but I believe that we learned so much. We persisted through each task and didn’t give up until the very end. When we ran out of things to do, we found new places for us to work. What surprised me the most about today was everyone’s attitude. When I started talking to everyone during breakfast, they all seemed low energy and not happy for what was to come. Then, when we got to work, it was like I saw a whole new group. We didn’t complain and we surpassed expectations. I’m proud to say that we made an impact today, and that I know we won’t lose that spirit tomorrow. I think that everyone was inspiring today, but I’ll name a few examples. Charles was in the zone today, and Prabin along with him. They dug out the path for so long with only two other people to help. And after that, they didn’t stop, they worked on getting the gravel on the path they had just dug out. I also believe Kellie was inspiring, because I’ll be honest, she did complain today, but when she did that work, she wouldn’t stop and was an integral part of our team. Being El Lider Del Dia, or the Leader of the Day, was a very interesting experience. It came with it’s challenges, but when I saw all these people, all my peers, working together and still having a great time it was amazing. I thought that we were a team today, and we were all ready to get done what we needed to. I loved seeing us cooperating and caring for each other. We were courageous, because we took on a monumental task and crushed it. We were committed, not stopping until we had nothing left. And we were compassionate, showing care for one another and making sure we all were ok. At the end of the day, I loved seeing all of us grow and I really miss that cape.

-Julien

 

IMG_0409 IMG_1206 IMG_1203 IMG_1190 IMG_1171