Hello everybody. This is today’s Leader of the Day, Amy Nguyen.

Today, we worked like a local. Our day began with a rough start because we had to wake up at 5:45! Crazy, right? You are probably thinking, did any of us wake up? No, not really but sooner or later, we did. After waking up, our lovely Licelot provided us with breakfast which was oatmeal, cantaloupe, and bread. Finishing our breakfast, as a group we headed to Bejuco Aplastado to meet the Bridaga Verde and begin working.

Our work was to plant pine trees. We split into groups with the workers and began planting. Working in the hot heat made us sweat like as if we had showered. When a cool breeze would blow upon our skin, we would feel refreshed. After two hours in the heat, we walked towards the shade and began interviewing our workers. Sitting with the workers opened our eyes to how their work truly affected the environment. The effect is how planting these trees could provide them with resources like clean air, water, firewood, and trees. 45 minutes of interviews later, we gave our thanks to the community and then had lunch. Our lunch was rice with beans and chicken.

During lunch, we had to get ready to present our plans for the Community Action Project (CAP). If you were wondering, our CAP proposal passed with flying colors which was making benches and expanding a cafeteria. With the finishing of our CAP proposal, we began to head back to the accommodations to prepare for our second English tutor because the last one was canceled. We were tired by that point, but we still had to push forward and teach our classes full of students for an hour and a half, we finished with no failures. We walked back to have dinner which was again provided by Licelot and it was yuca, sausages, and pineapple.

Now, we are getting ready to head to bed because waking up early was not the highlight of the day and plus on top of that, we had a filled day. For me as an LDD, I learned that working with seventeen years olds who woke up early is very difficult and tiring. I know now that being assertive is good with our group because at times we can stray from the main purpose. I am also thankful to be able to have been a leader for such an inspirational day. Overall, today was a learning experience for all of us and I hope everyone who is reading has a good day and get ready to have us back because we only have 6 days left. <3