Time Capsule Letter – October 2016
Summer Blog Posts
7/13
Written by Alena and Charlotte
First day of service was amazing! We are painting a school and park and working on a bridge. We’re getting dirty with paint, wet cement, and sweat. The locals are super accepting and treated us like friends. We spent the afternoon building with clay and drinking yummy coffee! We then headed back home to watch the sunset on the beach. Everything is Pura Vida!
7/15
Written by our leaders of the day: Emily & Kirsten
Service Day 2 was very fulfilling. We began our very adventurous day with a refreshing breakfast with pinto, pineapple, and mango. We then continued our service work at the different sites around 8am. Despite the strong sun and humidity, all the groups accomplished amazing things.
One of the sites we worked on was the community bridge where one group worked on making cement while the other service group was able to connect with the amazing locals that were working on the bridge. At the other service site we continued creating the soccer field at one of the elementary schools. We also continued designing and painting a marine life mural for the school. One of our other service groups are continuing painting a playground for the school as well with bright colors.
After, we came back to the homebase for a delicious lunch of casado, we later headed over to a beach for snorkeling! It was so fun! The water was clear and a bright blue. There was an array of bright colored marine life and the instrucors found a puffer fish and a baby octopus. After our lovely adventure, we came back to homebase and ate tasty taco salad. We then reflected on the day in our (mentor) groups and later played some games.. to wrap up the day.
It was a great and impactful experience being leaders of the day because we were able to practice skills of leadership with the group.
July 20, 2016
As we say goodbye to this group, our last blog entry comes from Leaders of the Day Emily and Jazmin:
Before the actual day we led the group, I would watch other leaders and think that their job was super easy, and there was barely anything to it. When it was our turn to lead, I began to second-guess those preconceptions. Even simple things like picking a quote or figuring out what game to end the day with were tricky – I wondered if everyone would like the game or if the quote wouldn’t make sense or if I would embarrass myself. Once we began I was impressed by my lack of nerves in the moment. I enjoyed being up in front of the other students, and realized that all of the anxiety I had been experiencing dissipated. My favorite part of the day was telling and explaining the quote of the day to the students because it felt as though it was the most meaningful activity – it gave us a chance to motivate and enlighten the other students, and really exercise the true leadership skills of teaching and inspiration.
Photos: meeting and playing with the local children who will benefit from our two service projects in La Libertad as well as the finished product of one of our service projects: mural and refurbished play area at the school.
