CAP Day 1 ReCap

(We heard that there is a glitch with our CAP Day 1 blog, so we are reposting it so you all can see what we did that day <3 )

Hello family and friends,

We are Valeria, Benjamin and Sara. Today was day 5 and our very first CAP day! We started off by waking everyone up at 7:00am and then headed down for breakfast where we ate delicious sausages and bread, which is a traditional Panamanian breakfast. Shortly after we got on the bus to head down to Parita to get started on our day of work. 

When we arrived at the park, we saw so many people from the community already there cleaning! They are so excited we are doing this project and wanted to support our efforts by cleaning up all the trash, racking the leaves, and cutting the overgrown grass. It was a true community effort to prepare for the day ahead of us! Megan, the Peace Corp volunteer, gave us all of our materials. We are so grateful that she has helped us with all of the logistics. We were on a mission and quickly went into our teams to get started. Our three groups were: sanding and painting the benches, group for sanding, planting, and painting the gazebo, and the last group for sanding, painting, and cleaning the park and soccer field.

We were all motivated and eager to get started. We worked really hard with our teams to create our plan of action and to get it started. Don Jaime, the master painter, was so great and gave us so many tips to be more efficient. Although it was hot and humid at first, it was easier to work because it was cloudy and lightly rained at times, keeping us cool there . We all communicated and compromised when needed, which made it really easy to work together. Although the water drops were really refreshing it restricted us from starting to paint. 

 After a couple hours of work, we took a break and several of the glimpsers started playing soccer with the young kids. So many showed up to see us work and even helped us! At this time, the Panamanian teachers are on strike and students are not going to school, so they are coming to see us make a part of their community space more beautiful. 

After a while of running and laughing, we all sat in the soccer field to eat lunch which was chicken, rice, and pasta. We ate with the children and adults from the community that had come to help us with the project. 

Through their help, this day we got to learn more about the locals and our project. They were very inspiring and made us more motivated to do a good job. After lunch, we continued to work, and finally we did a big final cleanup of the park before blocking it off to let the park dry.

CAP DAY 1 WAS A SUCCESS! It made us really proud to know that when we put our minds together, we can do anything!

In the end we bused back home and had a break before having burritos for dinner. Being leader of the day helped us realize it takes a lot of work to lead and it’s important to have good communication with your partners. 

Sincerely, 

Benjamin, Sara, and Valeria