ALSO Alabama - Final post for 2015

We arrived back safely to Rosthern on Sunday May 3rd at about 5:30 in the afternoon.  We worked our last morning at Habitat on Friday, May 1st.   The entire crew worked at this site to try to advance the roofing project as far as we could before heading back to the camp to quickly clean up and board the bus for the long trip home.  ALSO Alabama was quite the adventure!  We saw a lot of new sights, met a lot of new people and has a lot of new experiences.  The students all spoke favourably about all of their work assignments.  The Food Bank Distribution Centre was very appreciative of all the work the students managed to accomplish in their time spent working there. They raved about the amount of poundage (12, 350 pounds of donations) the RJC group sorted through.  Our group managed to clear up a back log of 2 months of work!   The Ransom Cafe was a new adventure for us but it fit in beautifully with the spirit of ALSO.  It is an organizations whose motto is 'Giving a hand up, not a hand out'.  The students not only enjoyed preparing the meals at the cafe but especially enjoyed meeting and talking with the local people.  Habitat for Humanity once again went above and beyond to supply meaningful work experiences for our students.  

Many thank you's must be mentioned when returning from a trip such as this.   We have to thank all of the organizations that were willing to work with a group of high school students as large as ours.  Many thanks to the Food Bank Distributions Center, Ransom Cafe and Habitat for Humanity.  We are deeply appreciative of the hospitality and welcoming nature of the Goodwill Missionary Baptist Church.  We enjoyed worshipping with the congregation and sharing  a home cooked meal with them.  Our bus drivers, Les and Don not only safely chauffeured us throughout our trip but also worked along side of us during the week.  Our parent volunteers were just awesome.  Henry, Leanne, Wally, Ralph and Shirley were invaluable, each one added their own unique flavour to the trip! We couldn't not have done all this with out their support and input.  

  

Since returning home the students are now reflecting on what they have seen, done and learned during this week. The hope is that the experiences in Alabama will influence their attitudes and actions when dealing with the people around them in their own communities and the world at large.  

Ocean fun!

Although we had limited time on the beach, we still managed to have fun splashing in the water and playing on the squeaky sand.  

Down time at Camp Christian

Pool fun at Camp Christian

Serving it up at Ransom Cafe

Sorting and packing food products at the Food Bank Distribution Center

Roofing for Habitat

Team work

Roofing

Foam insulation

Working hard to finish the job!

Our favourite Habitat for Humanity Site manager, Marcia with Wally  

ALSO Alabama 2015

ALSO Calgary: Day 4 and 5

On Thursday, the fourth day of our ALSO experience in Calgary, everyone began the day serving at The Salvation Army. Some of us worked with food prep (cutting up onions and bagging bread), others helped with various cleaning jobs and the rest helped with serving food. All of the people who came to eat at The Salvation Army were men, and we had a discussion about why there are more shelters and drop-in centres available for men. We realized that it is because women usually have more connections and supports (during times of need) than men do. Especially since many women have children with them, shelters are a very last resort. We ate lunch at The Salvation Army and then headed to the MCC offices where we had our final debrief with Megan Enns the CASA program coordinator. We discussed what we had seen and learned during the week and which of our perceptions about poverty and homelessness had changed. We had the evening free, so we went out for Vietnamese food and to the Chinook Shopping Centre. This gave us a glimpse of the stark contrasts between those who have very little and those who maybe have too much.    On Friday morning we started the long drive back to Rosthern. Everyone was exhausted from a very intense week, and slept most of the way home. It is safe to say that our experience in Calgary was a very positive one; lots of learning experiences and fun spending time with our RJC peers.

ALSO Calgary: Day 3

On Wednesday, the ALSO Calgary students served at various locations including The Salvation Army, Mustard Seed and Inn from the Cold. All of these experiences involved working at homeless shelters- serving lunch and assisting with other tasks such as cleaning. Our eyes were opened to the different kinds of shelters that exist (some of us served at a family shelter) as well as how many people are living without homes in this city. Those of us who served at Inn from the Cold were saddened by how many families with very young children are living indefinitely in small cubicles with bunk beds. Although we were shocked by this reality, we were thankful that agencies like Inn from the Cold exist to help struggling families, single mothers and children. One of the highlights of the day was going on a street-walk as a part of an activity that we did with the agency 'Steetlight'. The street walk involved sharing coffee and cookies with strangers that we met downtown. We had a lot of great conversations as well as some difficult ones. From talking with so many different people from different walks of life, we realized the varying opinions about homelessness and poverty among Calgary's citizens. One of the most interesting people that Shenyce, Jerrick, Matthias and Emily met was a homeless man named Andy (see first photo). He was a very positive person with many tidbits of wisdom to share. He even played his banjo for us, which was quite a treat.

Dear Canada, we made it back from the lake safely

Dear Canada, we made it back from the lake safely and somewhat healthy. We're all packed up and ready to hit the Tarmac. Yesterday we took a relaxing tourist day and spent some time in the hot springs before our afternoon in Antigua. The windy road proved to be too much for some of us as motion sickness took over.

When we got to Antigua the beautiful scenery and culture seemed to be like a medicine! After our last supper as a group we said our goodbyes to our wonderful guide Nancy Sabas, who was an amazing part of our lives these past few days. Raul once again brought us safely back to Semilla (#InRaulWeTrust!), and we are very grateful for his great driving skills!

Shortly after, we read Nancy's heartwarming Facebook status about how much she appreciated us and will miss us. The feeling is mutual! As ready as we are to go back home, this place will forever remain in our hearts and prayers. Goodbye Guat, hopefully see you again!

So much seen. So much learned. So much more yet to process.

ALSO Reflections at Camp Kinasao

After serving at the MCC Clothes Basket in Rosthern, and at the Lighthouse and United Way in Saskatoon all the ALSO Saskatoon students headed to Camp Kinasao to reflect on what they have learned.  Upon arrival the students almost immediately bonded,  and were all involved in enjoying the sunny weather, playing games and discussing their week. After supper, many students went out to the sauna, after which we had a group discussion about the week. After watching a movie "The Pursuit of Happyness", all (well, most) of the students turned in for the night.

In the morning, we had a nice waffle breakfast, and began our journal entries for the day. We had some free time, most of which was spent outside, and then shared our ALSO reflections: our frustrations, hopes, and stories together, hearing from both groups and collaborating.  This was a great way to end our ALSO Week.

Guatemala Update - ANADESA

In the last three days we have been working at ANADESA Santiago Atitlan.  It is a beautiful peaceful place where people are building hostels and a school for kids, youth and women to have education and sell their beadings. It is situated right beside a peace park which commemorates a massacre in 1990. 

In order to help, our ALSO group split into two smaller groups: one to dig a five meter hole for a grey water tank, and the other to strengthen the ground underneath the nearby lake. We also pulled a rather "grande" tree stump out of the ground. After almost getting it done by ourselves, our driver Raul flagged down a passing truck who happily finished the job for us. 

In 2005, Panabaj suffered from a huge hurricane and mudslide. Hundreds of people were killed, leaving hundreds more without a family. In some places, the mud was piled three meters above the ground. It was devastating; many families were affected, and many more fled across the lake. 

Because of this tragedy, Panabaj has been labeled a "Red Zone" by the government. This means the government does not need to support Panabaj anymore. Some people were scared to return here, so they then relocated across the lake. Considering this tragedy that fell upon this town, everyone seems to remain happy and look forward to the future. This is why Anadesa was created. It was created to help the people who were affected, and to encourage and give hope to the families. Dream and go. 

Yesterday, we did a beading workshop. It was interesting to learn how they make all the beautiful bracelets and the amount of work that goes into it. We also went to the market for the first time and tried out our bartering. Most of us didn't know what we were doing, until Annette came to our rescue. No one wanted to mess with her. 

The last two nights we stayed at houses in the community. We got to experience their culture including bucket baths, traditional food and futbal (soccer) out on the street. We're very grateful for their hospitality.

ALSO Week Blog

On Thursday April 28th I got the opportunity to go participate in a poverty simulation at the Cameco head quarters. When we arrived at Cameco we were greeted by security and brought back to a conference room were United Way, the group who was in charge of setting up and running the simulation had set up this "town." In the room there were many different shops, families, and roles for us to play. Everyone in my group had many different roles in order to make the simulation run smoothly. Some of us were apart of different families, some people were shop owners, and others just ran different organizations. The simulation ran for about an hour with four fifteen minute weeks. After the simulation we talked for about an hour with everyone who participated in the simulation about what we thought about the simulation, then we left. This simulation was a big eye opener as to what life is like when you live in poverty. Later that afternoon we went back to RJC and met up with the other group we left on our journey to Camp Kinasao. KInasao was a great time to reflect on our week, and really just take some tie to relax after our busy week.

Abby  

ALSO Shekinah

During ALSO Week a group of twelve students went to Shekinah to help clean up after the flood last year. One group was helping fold and put away the flood barriers that had been set up in case the valley flooded again this year, which it didn't, and another group helped take apart a storage tent that had collapsed under the winter snow. The 'tent' had to be cut apart and we had to haul away the metal beams that had held it up, and sort through the wreckage to salvage anything that wasn't destroyed, and move it to another shed.

It felt really good to be helping out without expecting anything in return, and there was a positive dynamic in the whole group as we worked together to get the work done. 'Shekinah' translates into "the presence and glory of God," and God's glory was definitely present as we worked together at Shekinah.