Reports from Vincent Massey were that our students did a great job assisting teachers and EAs in the classrooms, craft room, and gymnasium. Morgan, after overcoming his initial apprehensions, was a hit in the kindergarten class! Hopefully we will have some more stories and pictures from Vincent Massey tomorrow. Well done today!
At the Habitat for Humanity site students got down and dirty with some demolition! Remember those old houses in McNabb Park out by the airport that the city wanted to get rid of? Well, HFH got a few of them, and moved them to Fairhaven. They need to be gutted down to the studs, and this is where we come in (pun entirely intended). Our task was to remove the drywall, insulation, wiring, and anything else in the way. Trust me, you didn't want to get in the way. Ten students, two teachers, one custodian (thanks Mel!), and a lot of energy, sledge hammers, crowbars, hammers, and drywall dust. Once the dust settled it was a job well done! So proud of you team! Looking forward to working on this again tomorrow.
At Farm-in-the-Dell Danika, Annie, and Matt H. worked with clients as they performed their daily tasks. This is an amazing facility, and so much good work is being done here. Many of the clients share stories about finding a place to belong, and where they can feel safe and accepted. Sometimes people with intellectual disabilities are able to express what many of us learn to mask. working with these clients can be both refreshing and challenging. From my brief time here this afternoon I was reminded that we have as much to learn as to give, and that we always need to be doing both: learning and giving. Get a good sleep, it's bowling day tomorrow!
At the end of the day all of us met back at the MCC Center to journal. One of the journaling questions invited students to reflect on a need that they saw, and to write about how they think the church is meeting that need. One need is certainly housing. Shannon, the Habitat supervisor, said that Habitat hopes to finish 8 homes in Saskatoon this year, but they have already accepted 20 families who qualify and could use a home today. In other words, the need is greater than the giving. Let us never think that too much is being done. From what I have seen in the last two days housing is a huge issue facing Saskatoon, and one that is not being addressed adequately. Below is a picture of Mohamed, a qualified HFH applicant who was working on our site today as part of his 500 required hours to receive a Habitat home. He was doing this between shifts at Walmart.
Check in tomorrow to see how our adventures continue!
