Day 7: Stepping up to the plate in all the best ways

On Friday, we returned to all five sites for one last time.  While everyone felt accomplished, it was the Papita crew that deserves a special spotlight.

In about 4 hours, the team of about 20 individuals accomplished an incredible amount of work.  They painted both the interior and exterior of the house and finished the sidewalks around the exterior--requiring lots of cement mixing and wheelbarrow pushing.  At the end of their work day, they were able to hand over the keys to the house to the new owners.  For everyone on the team, it was a remarkably powerful experience.

Sal finishing the door for the house with Mike, Jason & Jesse in back

Gabby painting the house's exterior

The Crossons, preparing some cement

The whole team after handing over the keys!!

After work concluded at all five sites, we headed to the beach for one last hurrah.  The waves were a bit higher than usual, as if they too were celebrating all that we had accomplished.

Photo Cred; Ayize 

We returned to Casa Pastoral for a delicious dinner of chicken, mashed potatoes, and broccoli/carrots followed by a few closing activities.  We met in our triads (technically, quads) to discuss what this trip meant to us and how we will talk about it in the future.  Either we could tell people "the trip was fun!" or we could provide an answer that honors and dignifies the people we met and served.  Our reflection activities helped us craft the stories that we want to relay on behalf of our friends in the DR.

Just before packing up our suitcases, we concluded with arguably the most wonderful activity of all: Paper Plate Awards.  Throughout the week, each student had to discreetly stalk their recipient and surprise them on Friday with an award.  The ceremony was rife with excitement, laughter, corny jokes, fond memories, and good cheer.  Most impressively, however, was the behavior I witnessed in the rare moment when the activity didn't go as planned.  In those instances, I watched as high-school students voluntarily crafted impromptu awards to make sure that their classmates felt honored, appreciated, and seen.  These people stepped up to the plate (no pun intended!!) and made this evening truly unforgettable in the most unexpected and wonderful ways.

Best DR Dad : Avi SR

Presented by Emily

At the close of this event, we headed back to our dorms to finish packing for the long travel day back home.