What a wonderful weekend I had full of service projects! That's one thing I do like about the Rotary here, is that they keep us exchange students involved and active in serving the community.
The first service project I had over the weekend started bright and early on a Saturday morning. Thankfully, we had an hour and a half long bus ride to squeeze in some rest before we got started. We were going to a community outside of Lima called Huoarchiri. There, we were going to paint the outside of the school. We got to work right away!
Something that was very encouraging that you often don't see with projects like this is that we were not the only ones working; but the students and parents were also working very hard and there to get the job done. I really like that because many communities are more dependent on volunteers and service groups that come to them, but this group of people was very eager to improve their facilities and very graciously welcomed our help.
First things first, we had to sand everything down. It was not very fun, but it had to be done if we wanted a good and lasting paint job. It thankfully didn't take too long with everyone working. Before long we were able to move on and start painting. Everyone jumped around from area to are finding different jobs to do where help was needed. I ended painting a little bit of just about everything we painted there, as many others did too. It was a good time! I spent the day working hard, but I was surrounded by friends to keep me company. We also had a nice break for lunch. Unfortunately, I did end up getting quite a bit of paint on me. It did stain my skin and get in my hair, taking a while to finally get scrubbed off, but it came off. Once everything was all said and done at the end of the day, we had successfully painted the majority of the school. We were only there for about 4 hours, so with everyone working, it didn't take long at all.
The next day, I had a service project with my Rotary Club. This time we were still in Lima, but it was still really far away from where I live. It was in a more poor and rural area. Our service project there was in the school for the small community of people. We had many used clothes to put up for sale, everything priced at 2 soles each. That's equivalent to about 65 cents in USD. Our purpose for selling the clothes to the community to was to raise money for the school. We sold the clothes in one of the classrooms of the school, and it was very much a school in need.
I actually had a great time with this service project! I got to sort through all of the clothes and talk to some people. In total there, were about 10 of us volunteering. My friend, Lukas, was there as well. He's the other exchange student in my club from Germany. I enjoy how my club likes to get us involved in their projects. We were there selling the clothes for maybe 3 hours. We were kept very occupied during that time as people were coming in and out. For most of these people, this is the only way they get their clothes. They were thrilled to be there and see what there was, as well as knowing that their purchases were going back to support their community. I'm not going to lie, there were some cute things in there that I was thinking hmmm... but I didn't buy anything myself. It was great in itself just to see people find something they like and having that used piece of clothing be their new and exciting piece. We sold a decent amount of clothes and raised money for the school. It didn't take long for us to clean up and get moved out of the building. I had a good time, but I was also ready to go home.
Overall, the weekend was a great way to open my mind back up some and be able to be a part of what Rotary is really all about. I always enjoy my time being involved!
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