July 9th, 2013– The last day of this trip was really exciting, but it was also hard to say goodbye to the people we met. On the last day we were able to finish all the work we put in during the week. We also planted seeds in the garden that symbolize our hard work. People were happy with what they had done in this whole week. Some people thought that we were not going to complete everything that we started before we left, but “teamwork makes the dream work”. During the workday everybody had fun, by then, we had gotten to know everyone and all of the LearnServe participants made good friendships with the people from Santa Ana and San Jose.
I think about the first day of our work, and people were not really paying attention to the work, instead all we did was play and talk, but by the next day it was clear that we had come here to do service and put in our hard work. We were on the Paraguayan News showing the hard work we had done. And when we went back through what we have done in the pictures that San Jose made for us, it makes us really feel like crying.
We also did amazing stuff on our last day that is teaching the community kids about health by hosting a Día de Salud for Escuela Santa Rosa and the surrounding community. The way we did it was we split our LearnServe group into 3 activity groups that included how to wash hands thoroughly, how to wash your hair, and how to take care of your body and teeth. The little kids who we taught were in love with us and they were so nice. There were more than 150 kids and their families who participated and everyone got a certificate and had a good time. We shook their hands, gave hugs, and high-fives as they left at the end.
Leaving my host family was hard for me. I guess everybody feels the same way. I said that because my host mom treats me like I am her son and I felt great for that. I left a gift for her and she was thankful for that. I want to say thank you to my host brother who has done a great job with the community garden, and he took great care of me in the house. He was the one who taught me about the city of Asunción and we went to a lot of famous places. Our time in Paraguay was so short, but we had fun, too, and made a lasting impact. It was definitely not easy to say goodbye.
Robera J., Columbia Heights Education Campus