Sunburns & Siestas

Hola!
Our second day in Guatemala wasn't packed full but it sure seemed like it! We started off by heading to church at Lo de Carranza, a small town approximately 1 hour from the City. This is the site of our first work project and one where a portion of the funds raised through Pennies for Poverty will end up. The service was full of lively singing and an invigorating message even though it was all in Spainsh. The group prepared some songs and a dramatic reading to add to the service.

Once the service had finished it was only a matter of minutes before people had changed from their Sunday best into their soccer gear to have a match. We had been told last year that the Guatemalan team showed up in their complete uniforms and this year was no different, except that they had some t-shirts left from another group to donate to our team as jerseys. After a round of introductions, it was game time. One and a half hours later, the teams finally called it to an end with the offical score being 4-1 for the Guatemalans, even after we aquired a few of their players.

Those who didn't play enjoyed the day and played with many of the children from the town.

We continued to celebrate together with a delicious lunch hosted by the church. After we were full of mashed potatoes, rice, spiced chicken, tortillas, tamarine juice and special hot sauce for the brave, we listened to some stories from the founders of the church and teachers of the preschool. We also learned about our building project for the next two days and were excited to hear all about the work we will do together.

All that excitement in the sun brought an overall pinkish glow to the group. We'll remember to reapply the sunscreen more often tomorrow as we work in the sun. After a long day playing and worshipping together in temperatures we're not used to for February, it was the perfect opportunity for ice cream and naps. We'll be fully recharged for our day tomorrow, I'm sure!

Blessings,
Carmen

Checking out the markets of Guatemala - Canadian style

We arrived in Guatemala City at 10 o´clock last night after a long day of
travelling. We were up bright and early to learn about the city and prepare
for the exciting afternoon of exploring and shopping downtown Guatemala
City.
The morning was very ¨factual¨ as we took in information about the people of
Guatemala. Then we headed off for the market! We frolicked about the streets
of Guatemala and did a scavenger hunt to help explore and improve our
communication skills. Trying to use Spanish to barter is something that we
are not that good at. Steven is the master at the Spanish and is everyone´s
new best friend!
It was really fun to see all the food and merchandise and to try to do our
best at bartering. The people were all really open and friendly as they were
shouting ¨Buenos Dias!¨ and random welcoming messages that we couldn´t
understand - smiling is a universal language. We are all really enjoying our
time here and can´t wait for tomorrow where we will partcipate in a church
service and will play with the children. Adios!
Danika, Heather and Tswizzle aka Taylor
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Open WebMail Project (http://openwebmail.org)

Guatemala Service and Learning Trip 2010

It's an extremely exciting time of year around the school. This year's International Service and Learning Trip will be departing for Guatemala at the end of this week.

This year, the group will focus on serving different areas around Guatemala. Our planned service
activities include further development of the daycare at Lo de Carranza (an initiative the Guatemala
2009 group worked on), running programs for a children's group at Santiago Atitlan and helping to
promote the newly developing eco-tourism industry in San Marcos by helping with construction of a
cabin. Along the way we will meet new friends and hear their stories about day-to-day life in this
exciting country. We'll also be participating in two home-stays (one in Santiago and one in San
Marcos), exploring ecology and supporting their economy by bartering in local markets. All in all this
year's trip is full of adventure.

The participants of the trip include: Katie Baschak, Samantha Bloomfield, Laura Civica, Callahan Collier, Luke Derksen, Danika Epp, Erik Epp, Heather Epp, Brayden Holman, Hugo Malan, Taylor Roy, Allison Schmidt, and Steven Tetreault. Chaperones of the trip are Carmen Pauls, Jim Epp, and Geraldine Balzer (board member).

We will try to update this space as often as possible and will do our best to share our story as it unfolds.

Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers.

Saskatoon ALSO slideshow

For the report back to the rest of the school, the Saskatoon/PA ALSO group prepared this 10 minute slideshow.

ALSO Winnipeg Days 3-5

Wednesday morning we woke up to some fresh snow, which just make our walk to Siloam Mission a little colder and soggier. Siloam is a soup kitchen that also runs a lot of programs. We were able to meet different patrons and serve them breakfast. Siloam offers shelter for the night (with approximately 100 beds), a medical clinic, an art program, a clothing store and various opportunites for education and work experience to their patrons. The goal of the program is to be a springboard to help get those people from the streets to a place where they can live on their own and support themselves or their families. The facilities and enthusiasm of the volunteers and staff are truly amazing.

After our breakfast at Siloam we went to Graffiti Art which is an place that helps to bring communities together and to allow kids to express themselves through art. They exhibit urban art in various forms in the gallery and kids can take a variety of classes, from hip hop, djing, fashion design and visual art. We were able to spend some time making our own urban art here.

Graeme, Jill and Rachel paint records at Graffiti Art Gallery

Once we got back from Graffiti, Rachelle challenged the students to find teams and to do a scavenger hunt in the north end. The teams had to find various things such as: the place with the cheapest breakfast (the Windmill), how many train train tracks under a the Arlington bridge, the number of boarded up houses, and various graffiti tags.

Train tracks separating the north and south end. (There are about 40 tracks)

Thursday morning we woke up bright and early and went to another soup kitchen, Agape Table. At Agape, we helped to serve the patrons and assitsted the staff and volunteers by preparing food, cleaning dishes and tables and moving food. Here we learned at every little bit helps!

Thursday lunch was spent at the Forks. We learned about the historical significance of the Forks during our Orientation, so we spent a few hours exploring this place.

Rachelle was very diligent in pointing out that in the soup kitchens we went do there was a separation between us and the patrons (ie: we served them). We went to another house, Flatlanders Inn, where this segregation is eliminated. Flatlanders is a place where "street people" and "wealthy people" (for lack of better terms) can live together. We heard from a number of people there and how they came to find Flatlanders. Their stories were also very inspiring and gave us hope. The message that the people from Flatlanders wanted us to bring home was love. They challenged us to love everyone; get to know people as individuals and share love and compassion.

Sharing stories at Flatlanders Inn.

Before we left Friday morning, we had one last stop: the Windmill (cheapest breakfast in the area). The Windmill restaraunt is another truly "Winnipegian" thing. The restaraunt has been open for a number of years and has served a variety of customers, including Robin Williams and Ben Kingsley. The food was delicious and it was a great way to conclude the trip and say farewell to Rachelle.

ALSO Winnipeg -- Days 1 & 2

We spent most of Monday on the road. We left RJC at 7:30 am and were able to reach Winnipeg in time to meet our MCC Winnipeg contact, Rachelle, and learn about the issues in Winnipeg. Like a lot of other places, Winnipeg is segregated into communities of poverty and wealth. The unique thing about this city is that there is a physical divide between the north (poor) and south (wealthy): a row of about 40 train tracks. We talked about the different people in the north end, and learned that they are largely First Nations and Immigrant families. We also talked about a few things that have been done (or attempted to be done) to combat the "problem" of the north end and how some of these solutions were not feasible or were just band aid solutions. We went to bed ready and willing to learn more about the north end and to get to know a few of the interesting people that live and work in the north end.

Tuesday morning we started off listening to Dale Messyabit speak about his experiences. Dale, a residential school survivor, spoke of his educational experiences and how he survived living on the streets for the greater part of his teens. Dale, with the help of some friends, was instrumental in creating a safe place for street kids to learn and be successful. The facility is still operating in the north end today (it has been going for about 20 years). Dale was very inspirational to us as we started our ALSO plunge.

Tuesday afternoon was spent at Winnipeg Harvest, which is a food warehouse. The food that is donated to Harvest is distributed to many food banks and meal places throughout Winnipeg, including school programs and soup kitchens. We got a fantastic tour of the facilities and had a great time bagging bulk rice and sorting pasta. Nothing makes the job go faster without a little healthy competition either.

The group at Winnipeg Harvest

Eric Lo sorts pasta

Bagging rice
Good work!The Rice Off

Winnipeg citizens have recently been concerned with the actions of the police. We met with an organization, CopWatch Winnipeg, who spoke about what they do to "police the police" and ensure that law enforcers are held accountable for their actions. We learned about what our rights are as citizens and some ways in which the police are being monitored by citizens.

Jezreel and Sarah from CopWatch role play

Thursday in Mississippi

Yesterday was a productive day. We started out with very high humidity and it rained off and on. Halfway through our day it got very dark out and we began to put lights in the houses to see. Little did we know that that is one of the signs before a tornado. Soon after, Cletus, our director, received a call from Stephanie in the office saying that the emergency buzzer was going off and that there had been a tornado watch that had now turned into a warning. Soon it began to rain quite hard and Cletus told us that we were all to move to the fire station in town for safe keeping until the storm was over. We had some conversations with the firefighters and the students lounged in the living room as we watched the weather network. All of the townspeople mentioned that tornadoes usually end up skipping Pass and head northward. This one did as well and after 30 minutes the rain had stopped. It was light again and we headed back to work. We were all very safe and there was no noticeable damage from the rain or winds. It was really quite similar to a Saskatchewan summer downpour. Hopefully none of you were worried. After we finished working for the day we had another amazing dinner (ham, scalloped potatoes, and greek salad -- apple pie and ice cream for dessert!) made by Kristin. We reported on our work and then we headed to the Gulfport Outlet Malls. It was successful for most. Once we were back we hurried to write in our journals and pack up  so that we could get to bed. It was a quite the busy day.
Today was also busy and we had another visit from a home owner which is a major highlight. Willye stayed for quite awhile and  shared her story with us at the site. She had been living in a two bedroom apartment with 20 people. She thought that being there would've been better than taking a FEMA trailer. Her house has made significant progress since we first arrived and we are very excited for her to eventually have it all completed.
We are currently putting tools away and washing the cars. Slowly we are beginning to get cleaned and packed up. Once we load the bus we will eat our last meal here (so sad!) and then head out on the road until North Dakota. Hopefully there will be time to post at the hotel.
We are sad to be leaving an amazing time and amazing people here in Pass Christian, but many of us are excited to get home and share the stories.

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