July 8, 2013. As the trip is coming to an end I am starting to think about how I can take what I learned here in Paraguay and bring it back to D.C. Today was truly an eye opener for me. This past week I have been working in the garden and to see the improvement is really inspiring. A skill that I hope to take back after I leave is how resourceful everyone is here. When we first started working on the garden our first task was to separate the trash and rocks. We didn’t just throw the rocks away we used them to create a path. A news reporter came and he seemed really impressed with what we were doing. Hopefully people who watched realize that there is an opportunity for them to make their country a better place.
Another truly inspiring thing to see is that everyone is so happy here. We celebrated Vanessa’s birthday and people who she never met before or only had one conversation with her were so happy to be able to celebrate it with her. People in Santa Anna make the best of what they have and always have a smile on their face. This shows how humble everyone is. Trash in Paraguay is not just thrown away, this week we cut water bottles and used them to hold our paint while we were painting. Nothing here is truly trash because we have found another way to use it.
Before I looked at doing service work as giving back but now I look at it as an opportunity to grow as a person. Overall I feel that I have become a better leader and gained more courage and confidence. Going in to this trip I was really nervous about my Spanish but this morning I had a full conversation with my host mother. “Ambition is priceless” and I have really carried that quote with me throughout the trip.
Krista W., Edmund Burke