How do you say HACER PATRIA in English?


A former student of mine, Carlos Julio Gómez, asks this one and also proposes an answer SERVE YOUR COUNTRY.
The problem with HACER PATRIA is that many people, politicians in particular, have overused the term and when that happens a word loses much of its original meaning.
HACER PATRIA implies that not only you must serve your country as all good citizens should. You must also go that extra mile and make a difference not only for your family and you but also all the others that share this land with you. It  means we must build where there is no shelter, fix what has been broken, defend if there are trespassers. Perhaps BE A REAL PATRIOT is closer to the real idea of what is HACER PATRIA. 
Perhaps one who summed it up all perfectly was John F. Kennedy when he said: "Ask not what your country can do for you but what you can do for your country."

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