Day 6: Aid and Development (No. 5)

We woke up around 7 o’clock this morning to eat breakfast. After breakfast, we had a group seminar about our Community Action Project (CAP). This was jumpstarted by an activity where we were grouped into three teams. Each group had certain materials that they started with. We had to make cubes with paper, scissors, and tape. The team with the most cubes made at the end was the winner. The activity started smoothly until one of the groups started stealing supplies from other groups. This made us realize how some countries have to fight for resources to survive. Instead of fighting against each other and creating war, we could all support each other and succeed together. We also learned how different countries can get supplies and materials without hurting other countries. And most importantly, countries or communities can support others who don’t have the ability to sustain themselves.

Once we were done with our CAP seminar, we had lunch that consisted of fish, salad, and sweet plantains. After lunch, we had a guest speaker named Rodrigo Mendez who is an expert in environmental management and conservation in Costa Rica. We were informed about how to make our CAP project sustainable and to make it last for generations. While the guest speaker was here, he had us do an activity where we made posters about sustainable development goals and how to achieve them. After this informational activity, we had dinner followed by our nightly meeting.

The thing that surprised us most was how impactful we can be toward the community by just doing the little things. Being Leaders of the Day was a really fun experience that taught us to be accountable leaders. Today was an informative day that taught us a lot about Costa Rican culture and how they keep the country’s biodiversity healthy.

The day ended with a festive bonfire with our newly-found friends over smores and exchanging of stories with laughter and music!

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