Que honda chicos?

After a well-spent karaoke/fiesta night, the group had too much energy to fall asleep. The problem was then that the next morning we had a hard time waking up at 7:30am. After having breakfast, we rode the bus to the community center in Mata de Cadillo. We conducted the interview for the Discovery/Needs Assessment phase of our CAP project (Community Action Project). The community decided that their biggest need is a kitchen; we will help them build this so they can host guests and events at the community center. This need is especially important because when they hosted events in the past, the locals had to cook their meals at home and it was cold by the time they celebrated together. We’re excited about making this wish a reality, and after a meeting back at the accommodations, we ended up figuring out a basic plan of how we can make this project happen. We also discovered that we need a lot more information before we finalize any decisions.

After a morning filled with our community action project, we had our first afternoon of English tutoring! It was a bit of a challenge, because the person with the keys to the school was VERY late. We had 8 different classes ranging from beginner to advanced. We all had our struggles and little successes, but over time, we will continue to adapt and improve our teaching. After tutoring, we had time to prepare for our next session on Wednesday, and now we actually know what to prepare for.

We ended the night with a yummy sopa, a self-reflection where we got to know more about each other, a discussion about aid and development, and a lot of Big Love in our nightly meeting. Little by little our team is getting closer to each other. ๐Ÿ™‚

With love,

Valerie & Briseyda

Everyone dancing merengue and having a great night.

Their current method of cooking consisting of cinder blocks and a metal rod.

Group photo at the community center where we’ll be building a kitchen.

Advanced-level tutoring team.

Everyone preparing for their next English tutoring session.