Starting off at 5:30AM for day three, we took an hour drive to Para La Naturaleza to begin our volunteer project with nature!
Para La Naturaleza
On the way there, the drive was beautiful, and everyone was catching up on sleep from the early morning. As soon as we got there, we hit the ground running by learning more about Para La Naturaleza and its connections with Puerto Rico. Our volunteer lead, Mariella, was truly passionate about the survival and conservation of native plants. We learned that in the arboretum, there’s a collection of 1,000 documented trees, representing more than 46 families and 160 species from the bank of Puerto Rico. Mariella truly showed the importance of the trees on this beautiful island. Mariella tasked us with the nursery first, which was to transfer fully germinated seed to bigger containers. This is a key step in cultivating more trees for the reservation. This process allows the new young trees to have more room to grow their roots.
Furthermore, we worked on transporting plants from one location to another. As the task of individually moving the plants was difficult, we worked together by forming an assembly line to quicken the pace. Coming together allowed us to utilize the most of our abilities so we could help as much as we could. Pulling weeds was a pretty cool experience. We all worked together as a team to pull up the leaves and make sure the plants looks up to par. Overall, we had a great time at Para La Naturaleza and are very grateful for all that we completed.
Banco de Alimentos
After Para La Naturaleza we stopped for lunch, then headed to Banco de Alimentos to continue our service. At the food bank, our group was split up into multiple sections. Some of us created boxes, and some of us were directed to sort and fill up those boxes. Overall, it was an efficient process for us to create as many meals as possible. Throughout the duration of our time there, we developed many skills from our previous service opportunities and honed in on others. We asked the helpers for direction and interacted with the other lovely volunteers there. It was an incredible experience and we cannot thank them enough for the opportunity to help serve!
Wrapping Up
After the service project, it was time to have dinner at the hotel. The dinner consisted of chicken tenders, sliders, and pizza. After dinner, we enjoyed ice cream or smoothies and shopped for souvenirs.
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Puerto Rico Service-Learning Trip: Day 1 Recap
