Hey guys, it’s Alex P and Nick, back with another blog post. This time about CAP (Community Action Project) Delivery Day 3.

After starting the day at 7am with our wake-up call, we had a delicious breakfast that was made so by a selection of fruits such as papayas, mangoes, pineapples, and bananas. We hit the road at around 9 which got us to Rio Grande at 9:15. Although we had a slow start once we arrived at the school, we easily made up the time.

With hammers in hand, the entirety of the greenhouse committee got to work on putting the finishing touches on the structure of the greenhouse. With the help of our good friend, Cucho the Contractor, we finished the structure around 10 and were finally able to start putting up the tarp. We rolled out the tarp across the roof of the greenhouse and got to nailing it into place. Alyra switched from painting to try her hand at working on the greenhouse and was a key contributor to its construction. Everyone was working as we put up all three sections of the tarp, and once again with the guidance of Cucho, we hammered the last nail an hour before lunch.

Done!

Arriving at the school, the mural committee was eager to get started for fear of incoming rain. Led by Ethan, Jo, and Yasmin, the group came together to paint the stages of an orange plant’s growth. The effort was truly cohesive as most of us (even the greenhouse committee) tried our hand at mural painting. While many of us were working on the plant growth mural, Aylin and Jo worked very hard to sketch, and paint the city flower of Constanza, the Cayena, in a matter of hours. Similar to the greenhouse committee, the mural committee finished painting the murals with time to spare. We used the time wisely and cleaned up the mess that had accumulated over the last three days of work. Shoutout to Alan and Alex P for sweeping up the mountains of sawdust.

The afternoon began with chicken paella and salad for lunch. It was widely agreed upon that this was one of the best meals of the trip. We shared our lunch with our good friends, Ruddy the bus driver, Cucho the contractor, and other community members who helped us throughout the project. After lunch, Alex P and Nick (us) spent quality time together washing the dishes and cracking jokes.

As the two of us emerged from the dish room, we were greeted by the beautiful sight of our peers playing basketball and other games with kids from the community. Jamie and Alex W were quick to challenge the older kids to a two on two basketball game which took a concerningly long amount of time to win (the kids were 13). At the same time Elena and Anahi and Aylin played games such as tag and frisbee with the younger kids.

The games were stopped for a moment as we brought the kids to the flower mural, where they dipped their hands in paint and placed them on the wall. The final product was a beautiful yet simultaneously adorable mural that had many of the older community members stopping to admire. The hand painting was not done for the day however, as the glimpsers went to a separate wall to place our handprints.

We then gathered everyone at the basketball court where Nick and Alex P (us), read Thank You speeches in Spanish and English respectively. We cannot take credit however, as Sarah wrote the speeches and was also kind enough to help both of us practice our delivery. The moment was bittersweet, as although we had completed our project, this ultimately meant goodbye to the community we had come to love. Looking back on our project, we truly believe that our work will have a sustainable and beneficial impact on the school and the community as a whole.

We would be remiss if we didn’t give one final thank you to all that made our CAP project possible. First to our lovely leaders Connor, Maryanne, Mabel, and Larry, who couldn’t have done a better job preparing for this moment. Next to the community of Rio Grande, for giving us the opportunity to learn from and work with them: they taught us the value of unity and collaborative service work. Lastly, to our fellow glimpsers who all worked extremely hard to make this project a reality.

Signing off,
Alex P and Nick

P.S.

Alex Shoutouts: Hi Mom and Dad I miss and love you both!
Nick Shoutouts: Hi Archie! I’ll be back soon don’t worry (hopefully)!