Day 8: CAP Day 1! (No. 4)

Today was our first CAP Day (Community Action Project). Our mission was to plant trees and connect the Azuero dry rainforest, which had been damaged by slash-and-burn practices carried out by local farmers. We did a lot of interesting work. Although the sun was blazing on our backs and necks, we were driven by a larger purpose—one that made us feel part of something special.

Our day started bright and early at 5:00 a.m. We had breakfast on the bus to ensure we wouldn’t be late to the work site. After arriving at the site at 7:00 a.m., we followed the reforestation team volunteers into the forest. Reaching the site was challenging for some of us due to the steep hill. Despite the steep, hilly terrain, bugs, dirt, and plants with spikes, everyone did their best to plant as many saplings as possible. We are all very proud to be part of this important mission. Our goal was to plant 1,300 saplings; however, we only managed to plant 500. Despite this, we are motivated to reach our goal on the second day of the CAP project.

At 12:00 p.m., the reforestation team invited us to lunch, which consisted of arroz con guandules and pollo frito (rice with pigeon peas and fried chicken). After lunch, we returned to the hotel. Everyone showered away the fatigue from the long day and then enjoyed some leisure time from 1:00 to 6:00 p.m. Some of us spent the rest of the day reading, journaling, bonding, or simply resting. We ended the evening with dinner, our nightly meeting, and some additional bonding time.