Danielle's post

Hola friends! 

During yesterday's reflection we were asked to close our eyes and envision and reflect on our experience and our return home. I felt relaxed as I played out the events of the day in my head; it was then that I really noticed my environment and the sounds of Guatemala. 

I was sitting under the gazebo and the sun was down; a cool breeze was present. In the distance there was music and a few dogs barking. Other than that, there was no other sound. At that moment I felt at peace and so thankful and privileged to be sitting under that gazebo with such an amazing group of people. 

Earlier that day we were assisting with a water project. To allow people to live on land higher up the mountain, a community was working together to build an irrigation system that would pump water up the mountain to be supplied to the people's homes. We were guided on a small hike up the mountain to see the progress the local volunteers have made. At the top where the water basin was going to be placed were multiple giant boulders and four men chiseling away at them. With no machinery to carry away these boulders, there is no other option than to break the boulders into smaller pieces to remove them. The men were so happy and proud to be able to contribute to the project. They didn't see the chiseling as tedious, they saw it as an opportunity. It was the most beautiful thing.

We hiked back down and began digging trenches where the pipes will soon be placed. At first the shoveling was easy, but the deeper we dug the more we ran into buried boulders. We worked together trying to remove these giant rocks, and as frustrating as it was at times, we were able to look at the 60 feet of trench we dug and feel proud. It may have seemed like only a small stretch of trench, but it was tangible progress made. It was 60 feet of trench that the workers didn't have to dig themselves. 

Every moment spent here in Guatemala is an amazing blessing, and each day is a new learning opportunity. 

Peace

Danielle

P.S. Shoutout to my family! Miss you and love you!