In Lux Mundi, every year, 10th grade has the privilege of building a house for a person who really needs it. It was Doña Niña’s turn this year, she has a son with Down Syndrome and Autism. For her, this house was a big gift.

We went to Bayaguana, Dominican Republic, from February 7-9. We stayed at “Campamento Comatillo”. That afternoon we had a board game’s night. It was so funny, everyone played, and we had a lot of fun. The next day we woke up early like at 7:30 a.m. and we walked to Doña Niña’s house to have a delicious breakfast. Then the engineers explained to us what we needed to do and how. At first, it was so hard, but later we got the hang of it.

That first day we built the “Zapata” and made the spaces to pour the cement and lay the columns. Also, we ate there. After half-day, we prepared the cement. It was a very hard work where everyone worked. On Sunday we woke up earlier like 7:05 a.m. We went again to Doña Niña to have breakfast and place the blocks. By 5:00 p.m. we were exhausted and tired, but happy because we gave all of ourselves and did a great job.

For us to see the happy face of Doña Niña, it was priceless. Ignoring the tiredness and the muscle aches, we were so proud of what we accomplished because everyone had an important job and if someone didn’t do their work we couldn’t go on. It surprised me because we gave everything and set aside the pain, we kept giving 110%. To achieve this we had to learn to communicate and to work in teams. For me, it was one of the best experiences that I had in my life. It taught me a lot. I hope and wish it could be repeated again.