Day 8: CAP Day 1

Hola! It’s your líders del dia: Charlene, Natalie, and Eliana!

We started our day bright and early with a 6:30 wake-up call. We ate a nutritional breakfast of gallo pinto, eggs, fresh fruit, bread, and cereal with refreshing passion fruit or watermelon juice so that we would have plenty of energy for the long and impactful day ahead of us. By 8:30 we trekked uphill to the local school, Santa Rosa Elementary, which we will be transforming for the next 3 days. While we were waiting for Julio and Fabi to gather our materials, we played Slap Hands to keep our minds sharp. Once everything was ready, we split into groups and went straight to work.

I, Eliana, and my group got started painting the office where we had to paint all 3 walls. We met Efrain, who is a local in the community and he showed us his painting techniques as well as talked about his life and how much our help meant to not only him but to the community. Once we finished the office, we then moved on to painting inside a classroom where Efrain was there to help us every step of the way. Once all of the painting was done, we all worked together to clean off all the paint that had gotten on the floor.

I, Charlene, and my group first started off in the bathrooms outside. At first, we painted the edges and corners so we did not get the paint on the tiles, and then we went over with the roller to cover a majority of the surface area. We did this process multiple times to make sure everything was fully covered, in order to do this we stood on chairs and toilets in a cramped area to reach the small details. After we finished the bathroom, we were assigned to clean up the paint on the back of the classroom, despite the tape coming off, this task went fairly quickly because the previous delegation had already painted the first layer. Near the end of our day at the school, we went around to different classrooms asking if they needed assistance since cooperation can allow us to work faster and more efficiently.

I, Natalie, went to a classroom that required lots of love from me and my team needed to sand every wall by hand before any painting could begin. After two hours of sanding, scraping, and peeling the wall we applied our first coat of paint just in time for lunch. At lunch, all groups enjoyed chicken and rice while discussing our hard work so far. Once we finished our hard-earned break we got right back at it, rolling on a second coat and meticulously painting each tiny detail (with much too large brushes). However, as our friends began wrapping up their final coats of paint and taking in their accomplishments, we noticed a slight lag due to the sheer amount of time sanding each wall ate up. Thankfully, our amazing fellow Glimpsers volunteered their skills once more to assist us in the final steps.

Meanwhile, in the fourth classroom, a group of determined Glimpsers were ready to get to it, right after they admired and rehomed their new toad friend. In this room, each Glimpser took great care to paint every lump and bump of the large brick wall that covered their classroom, and we mustn’t forget the hard work of all those who scrubbed paint drips off the floor by hand. They finished the large classroom immediately following lunch and dispersed to assist with other tasks around the school.

Once we gathered back together after finishing our tasks and cleaning up everything, Efrain sent us off with a heartfelt blessing that touched everyone. It was very rewarding to see that our work had impacted our locals in a positive way, especially after hearing how Efrain had personally seen the change.

After we left we split up into two groups where some people headed into the base house and jumped straight into the pool while the others went to the market that was right next to the school to pick up a couple of snacks. Before dinner and our nightly meeting, we relaxed and recharged with friends playing games, chatting, and swimming. Then, for dinner we had one of the biggest hits yet, pastel de yuca with salad, which was spectacular, everyone loved it so much! Finally, we ended our night with a meeting where we went over future plans for improving our teamwork, communication, and positive outlook whilst reminding ourselves of the importance this project holds. Our final act as LDDs was handing over the torch, or rubber chicken, to Belen, Elise, and Oscar.

Shout out to Brandon’s dad’s joke!

Saludos a mi familia. Los extrano mucho y los quiero mucho, los veo pronto <3 – Eliana