Imagine it, having the bright opportunity to be inspired by a community where you have no idea where you are, you’re forever lost in a dark tunnel, afraid and lonely. Then, a thin ray of light shows you a small opening. Then the next day the tiny ray of light begins to grow, then even bigger the next day and the next day until finally that once small ray of light, that one small ray of opportunity led you to a bright shining field of inspiration. That light was a mere guide to show us the right direction in which to take that first step. The light getting brighter, the minds of young future leaders realizing the amount of power and influence that they had to change the world is now the sun shining over the world which the young leaders realized was theirs to make a positive difference
Community Action Project Day One: As leader of the day for the start of our final project on this life changing trip, I was nervous. Our project was to place some tiles in kitchen so that the dust and crumbling cement wouldn’t get in the food and to paint a mural that represents hope, inspiration, and many positive messages. Hopefully pictures of the final product will be posted soon. First time being leader of the day, I felt as if I’ve been promoted to a job and it was my first day as the man. I had a lot to live up to. However, knowing this amazing group of powerful individuals, I knew I would have no problem in reaching out for support when I needed it. Starting the day at 6am was a struggle, but I was met with an amazing sign of motivation. Something I was lacking, a beautiful and exquisite creation otherwise known as the breakfast omelette.
After the group was refueled and energized, we split up in 3 groups to go scatter around the city to buy supplies for the next 3 days. It was an interesting journey in that I had my first taxi experience and since the traffic is very fast paced here in Nicaragua. After everyone met up back at the hostal we were set to take off to Sor Maria, the site of our Community Action Project, where we were scheduled to only drop off the materials we purchased prior to the trip to the site. However, the group being made up of a bunch of talented and determined individuals, everyone decided to not only plan ahead, but we started to measure where we would place the tiles, and started to apply primer to the walls so that we could save a huge load of time so that the next day, tomorrow, we can immediately start painting. The day was pretty hectic since we didn’t expect to begin working; also there were different ideas from different people about the design of the mural. But after a quick debriefing, everyone was on the same page and that’s what I love about this diverse group of people. We are all the different and have different ideas but we were able to respect each others ideas and inputs and turn the huge chunk of rock into a beautiful sculpture where we all reached a solution. Quick shouts to Jocelyn for the quick drawing of our final design.
Once the hard work and effort we put into going above and beyond for day one was finished (which was only meant for dropping off materials) we headed back to the hostal for a quick program seminar and ate some dinner which fueled us to get ready for English tutoring. As an aspiring future teacher, I can say that I personally enjoy English tutoring because I get the firsthand experience of being in front of a class and getting the attention. As a student and, as I can proudly say, a high school level advanced English teacher at San Luis High School in the city of Matagalpa, Nicaragua (definitely going on my resume), I can now see the difficulty of maintaining students’ attention throughout the day. A challenging but fun challenge that I am always looking forward to taking.
Resuming through our schedule for the day, we returned to the hostal to commence our nightly meeting where I was met with some very meaningful words with some very meaningful people. The morning of I was very nervous about being leader but as the day went on I felt very confident and my peers were able to see that in me. I was mentioned as “best leader of the day so far” and I don’t mean to steal anyone’s thunder but when you are afraid of being inadequate for a role that is relied so much on and for you to absolutely blow past your own expectations is a very satisfying feeling. It’s like taking a test you didn’t study for but passing with flying colors. I would like to show appreciation to all of our past leaders of the day because they set the example for me to become the leader that I was today and I hope that I was able to be a good model for our next leaders. One of our Global Glimpse Leaders mentioned that he enjoyed working with me today which meant a lot coming from someone I was trying my hardest to impress and knowing that I was a sufficient colleague was absolutely reassuring. That leader happened to be Dennis, also known as DJ Dennis since DJ Stegeman had a very important appointment with a sled, volcano, and gravity along with Ms. Hoang. Shouts to DJ Dennis for playing music from everyone’s childhood on the bus today
As Ice Cube once said, “Today was a good day”, and it sure was. Everyone had a blast, and I know I did. I feel that it is important to enjoy one of our last few days in this amazing city because we all have grown and learned so much from a place that we were not familiar with. A place we were once scared of. A place we have all grown to love. I highlighted that we have all been inspired by this magical city. Our CAP project is our way of inspiring the community the way they have fueled us, the way they inspired us, the way they taught us. This trip has inspired me to bring what I’ve learned from this amazing city back to the states. To bring home a story. The story of the opportunity I had to inspire a community I did not know existed, but have grown to love and cherish. This is the magic of Matagalpa.
Thanks for your report, Brandon. Wow. Somehow I’m not surprised with such an amazing group of leaders that you would get a head start on your project. Great work. I can’t wait to see the final product.
Jessica – Lauren’s back home now. We miss you so much!
I spent the morning catching up on your blogs. We are having a heat wave (100°+ most of the week). They keep telling us it is a “dry heat”, but that doesn’t make it any more tolerable. We should have followed your example and headed to the water for some kayaking, but we headed to the Bay Area instead for a small reunion with some of my high school buddies. One of them is a member of a ukulele group. The town was having a musical festival so we sat in the park and listened to the performance of the ukulele group. Fun! I imagine the local music you are experiencing is quite different. I’m sure you love having access to your familiar songs, but I hope you continue to have opportunities to listen to the instruments and music of Nicaragua. I love hearing how you all seem to be working together. I hope you post pictures of your finished project!
Very well deserve, advance English Teachers. Own it! Live it! Conquer your fears, and before you knew it, all is done and done perfectly. To all other glimpsers who have not been given the task to be the leader of the day yet, take it from Brandon, pressure or anxiety or whatever feelings you may have is fine, but GO! MOVE FORWARD! STEP AHEAD! You’ll be good at whatever you’re going to do and you’ll excel in it. Can’t wait to hear from your leadman/foreman of your construction job. Installing tiles may be a difficult job and is only done by skilled contractors, but I have faith in you all, young contractors, you have your architects who had designed the project, you have your engineers and cost accountants for structural costing, skilled painters, masonry, installers, supervisors, laborers, sweepers, management planners and prayer warriors. Actually you all had experienced to be one of all the fields I had enumerated because you all participated in planning, designing, budgeting, purchasing, painting, and all other jobs needed to start and complete your project. You are all project managers and hands on workers. We’ll wait for the completion of your project.
REBECCAAAA!! Your snakes still miss you dude, like a whole lot. We have a very important question for you though and we need an answer!! We trynna go see Chance the Rapper +guests on October 21 when he comes to SF. Are you in or whu???? Were buying tickets tmo so we need know ASAP!!! Its $45, itll be so worth it though! All of snake pit is going so you have too!!!
Giving importance on someone’s capability in a certain project is a major factor to successfully put it in completion. “The Golden Gate Bridge” with its eye captivating beauty that extends over across the ocean, this majestic structure have good massive foundations that are buried in the ground are what made the integrity of this bridge. So a project with a good foundations will preserve the quality and beauty of your project. From the leader down to its subordinates, the willingness to participate to get in tuned together will be a good foundation towards success. The ground is your heart and the beauty is your mind. Different people, different talents, different ideas, different styles, when they are put together with one accord and purpose means victory. Everyone has its own place to fit in. Let everyone use his God given talent and combine it with each other, the result equals perfect.
Gaby!!
Disfruta cada instante de esta maravillosa experiencia !
Todos te extrañamos mucho!
Tus sobrinitos preguntan por ti!
Estamos orgullosos de ti !
Gaby!
Mihijichis tráenos café por favor !
Nos gustaría ver más fotos!
Todos preguntan por ti!!!
Besos
Tu michis que te adora!!
Pictures here are worth a Million words…
I’m proud of you and I’m glad you had a chance to experience this adventure through a great program where you get to see and live the reality of 3rd world country that is so much diffeeent than what we have today.
I’m glad to see you had fun, learned, prosper, and think of life today in a way you never seen before. Use this experience toward your adult life to understand that life is not to be taken for granted and how precious of what we have today in comparison and be able to give forward later in the future.
Also to a great team in conquering this project together and made a big impact to many people around you.
Great job and we love you very much !! 😉