Progress!

Progress. My new favorite word. Progress means moving forward or moving towards a final destination. The funny thing about progress is that it doesn’t happen immediately. It takes time to make progress, but little by little things become achievable. Some say that progress lies not on enhancing what is, rather it is advancing toward what will be. But to advance you need patience, because nothing happens from day to night. And being patient can sometimes be a struggle. But again without a struggle, there is no progress… So it’s up to us. Everything always comes back to us, because progress is a choice, we CREATE it. Progress defines our stage in both projects so far. Progress has become our motivation and has pushed us to our limits, to make both projects happen. Progress has become our source of confidence, faith, and hope. This took time, and many obstacles to face, but here we are. Proud of the progress we have made and continue to make. These past 3 weeks have been overwhelming not only because of school work but also because of all that has had to be done for each project. Through it all, Ashley and I, have stayed positive and continue to work hard and plan activities in order to achieve our goals.
For the Yearbook, Ashley and I met with both of Reserva Conchal´s marketing managers to ensure the investment of an add and also to talk about our La Paz and Reserva Conchal’s similarities and differences. We spoke about future collaborations for projects and open the door for this company to integrate into the La Paz family. In this meeting not only did we speak about the yearbook and its purpose, but also promoted our Boston Exchange project as well. Both Marias were very surprised to see how young leaders like Ashley and me, try to make the world a better place and create a change piece by piece. They were very happy to help us promote our projects and asked us to send them all the information and videos. Additionally, they committed to giving our information to Reserva Conchal´s Sustainability and Community Help department, to hopefully donate to our project. If they are interested, which they assured they would, we will be receiving an invitation to present to all the board of directors and to the rest of the team. Now, regarding the progress in the making of the yearbook, we have already received the portraits from Genna and will meet with Willa to learn how to add them into the yearbook in the right size.
Whereas for the Cepia Boston Exchange, we have worked our everything in this project. We have had several meeting to promote our Indiegogo Campaign and continue to think of ways to extend this project around the world and not only in our community. We have emailed friends and family all around the world and have shared the link in many social media platforms. A couple of weeks ago we emailed Westlake and they were very happy to hear back from us and to learn about how we are changing the world little by little. They donated to our cause and connected us to a UNICEF leader. We were very happy to hear this and emailed them to explain the purpose and importance of our project. Dr. Bryson from Westlake also shared with them our links and why she thought this project was important. She said to give them time, they are usually very busy and will respond to us as soon as they can. We are anxious to know what’s to come, but we continue to promote the project here in our community. Now, this week was also incredibly important for the progress of our project. On Monday we met Abby Erdman, one of the reasons why this project happened last year. She was the connection to the School in Boston to which we will be hopefully attending this upcoming December. She is the most loving and sweetest, and she has the biggest heart. I am so happy she will be supporting us through this process, she is truly an angel. Not only did she jump onto the roller coaster with us, but she also introduced us to all the BEP team and shared our link with her family and friends as well. She also helped us figure out our next steps and we will gladly start to take these baby steps with her by our side. This week we have so much to do. We have a couple of meeting with Willa alone for the yearbook, and a couple meeting with Abby and the rest of the team. We have to contact the business to remind them about the ads and also start to add the portraits. Even after knowing there’s so much to be done, I am happy and motivated, because I truly have the best team surrounding me and the love and dedication to keep going. I have learned and grown so much from both of these projects, but the skill I continue to develop is patience. We have waited. We have had to wait a long time to receive the portraits, we have waited a long time to hear back from business, we have waited a long time to meet Abby, we have waited a long time to see progress, but look at us now. It was all possible with teamwork, hope, motivation, effort, but most of all PATIENCE.

This week is our last week before break, but we aren’t taking a break from this project. We are working the double, to keep making progress and to see our small seed start to sprout, to see how our effort starts to flourish and how we continue to walk towards success. There is so much to be done and so little time to make it happen. However, we will make it happen just like Ms. Amy S said once ´´Bird by Bird Baby´´. Because little, by little, by little, a little becomes a LOT. ´