A Day in the Trenches: ALSO Saskatoon Day 3

Today was a day to hunker down and get the job done in rainy Saskatoon.  On this the third day of our ALSO week all three Saskatoon groups found themselves at their service assignments.

At Vincent Massey students continued assisting in the Pre-K, Kindergarten, Grade 1, 3, & 4 classes.  Some highlights: Morgan is becoming attached to the little ones, Mackenzie and Tandy helped decorate the gym for the airband competitions tomorrow, and Nick discovered his inner teacher in the grade 4 class.  All the students continue to report enjoying themselves, and agreeing that taking care of young ones for an entire day can be exhausting! 

At Farm-in-the-Dell it was a rainy day, but that was okay because it was bowling day!  The clients and students continued to interact with one another by showing off their favorite bowling moves, and playing Bingo!

At Habitat it was muddy, so muddy that the site shut down at noon.  Johnathan M. slipped in the mud and somehow Keita, who worked like a beast, didn't get dirty at all.  The rest of us got trenchfoot  (History 20 students should get this WWI allusion).  the build site is right beside an electrical station complete with barbed wire fencing which added to the trench warfare ambiance.

With our plans changing a bit for the day we travelled to the Habitat Restore and toured their office building in the afternoon.  What an amazing organization!  I would encourage anyone to volunteer here.  One of the day's highlights was presenting the $1,000 cheque that RJC students and staff collected earlier in the year in our Change for Change fundraiser.  The Habitat staff was touched by this gesture, and the Executive Director even met with us to thank us.  She also shared about how Habitat uses all the donations to fund families, not for administration costs (these are paid for by the income from the Restore).  The volunteer coordinator brainstormed with the students about how to make the experience better for future groups.  She said that if she wants to get things done she likes to work with motivated high schools groups because they are keen to see change, and willing to try new things, and are open-minded.  What an encouragement!

Tomorrow we are back in the schools and attending the Youth Unchained conference in Saskatoon before heading up to Camp Kinasao to debrief. 

 

That Rain Cray & Sunburnt and Givener

Hi. It's Mookey Mike and Carrot Step Eric Epp. This is Alabama blog for day 2
and day 3. The team was a bit stranded when the bus broke down L but that's
okay because enterprise saved our souls, we rented out a beast of a van that
even our tallest friends could fit in. Jordan Nickel we are looking at you.

When we finally got to the site, there were many jobs to go around for all.
The sun was shining and beating on our sweaty backs. After the first day we
all got an idea of what we were there to do, we cut, we placed, we washed, and
we cheered YAY! Everyone was really getting' givener especially our new buddy
Jack of Americorp and his alliance of peeps. During lunch we got a nice cold
house to eat in, we had sandwiches and the works it was awesome. Afternoon
givener consisted of much of the same stuff except it got a bit toasty which
burnt our sensitive skin. After work we took the van back to the camp but had
to wait for there were only 15 seats. So in the meantime we watched our buddy
Jack go for a couple laps around the block. When we got back to camp we went
to the mall Yay, shopping! We got a lot of stuff but maybe a bit too much.
Everyone could agree that Koozy looked extra cutalicious in his new threads.
We got back a little late but everyone was fatigued and went off to Snoozy
land to visit Mr. Sandman.

In the mornin' we got our not so trusty bus back and Les was looking extra
happy. When we got to the site that weather wasn't looking so promising. We
took most of the same jobs except some people got drafted to different teams.
It seemed that everyone was floored by how much flooring was getting done son.
It started to rain late in the morning which left everyone a little
unmotivated but after lunch we kept pluggin' on. Les showed up early and the
house down the street was getting a lot of attention. We couldn't make it to
the ocean due to the weeping of Mother nature. We got back to the camp and ate
some dogs which were deeeeeee-licious.

Sincerely, Your good pals: Monkey Mike and Carrot Stepp.

Edmonton #2

Day 2 and what a day it was. We started the day bright and early and headed off to the native healing center. We talked about native religion issues and learned a lot. after the native healing center, we headed to a campsite run by the healing center. there we gathered firewood and had a contest to see who could start a fire with only three minutes to prepare. Mike "Mikey" Ayam and Hope "hopey baby" Barilla won. after spending a few hours out in the bush, we came back into the city to enjoy some Ethiopian cuisine. very tasty. Our trusty, Native, Edmontonian, Dave then proceeded to lead us on a tour of downtown Edmonton to see how some of the poor live. it really helped open our eyes to see people look at us like we were aliens and to feel like we just didn't belong in that world. What was really quite amazing was to see how a single street divides the poor and wealthy of parts of Edmonton. all in all, today was a great day and we are very excited for tomorrow when we get the opportunity to work with Habitat for Humanity.

-Paddy  

oh. one more thing. Mr Josef Beug turned the big 16 today. Happy Birthday! 

Tuesday in Saskatoon: Getting our hands dirty!

Today our group split into three.  Nine students volunteered at Vincent Massey Community School, ten at Habitat for Humanity, and three others at Farm-in-the-Dell, outside Aberdeen.

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!
   

Calgary D2 - shelter from the wet & cold

      The fact that the rain was dripping down on us steadily today made it more enjoyable for me. We actually had the chance to be wet and feel a little frigid, instead of being pampered with dry, suitable weather.

A cold and rainy day in Calgary.

     We stepped out into the rain early this morning, took public transit to the Dream Center, and helped out with a few small tasks. For the most part, the staff educated us about what they did to help the homeless. In order to stay at their facility, participants had to be clean of drugs and alcohol. We heard the testimony of a man who had been addicted to drugs and alcohol, cleaned up on 11 different occasions, and was now taking residence at the Dream Center. The theme in it's entirety for this ALSO week is "Looking Beyond Labels," as we are encouraged to look past all stereotypes and negative connotations towards those experiencing homelessness.
     During this man's testimony, he made all of us realize that the labels can be flipped on us. When he heard that we were members of a faith based school, he said "Oh, so you're all a bunch of Christians." This statement is a label based off assumption, that is not entirely true, as not all participants are of Christian faith. It did make us realize that we are not the only one's who are taking a group of people and placing a single judgment upon them.

Sorting hygiene packages at the Dream Centre. So awesome to have RJC Alumnus Megan Enns coordiate our week as part of her work with MCC Alberta!

     At noon, we went to a very upscale mall in downtown Calgary, where we ate our bagged lunches in the food court. I took a look at about 90% of the people strolling through the mall and noted that the whole percentage were wearing dress clothes. Our rag-tag RJC crew received a few odd looks as we walking around the atrium, and up to the food court. I tried counting the number of suits, but gave up after 46.
     I, in my dirty skateboard shoes, makeshift shoelace belt, and baggy 25 cent sweater from the MCC Clothes Basket in Rosthern, walked past a man on my way to the washroom, who grabbed the wallet from his coat pocket and held onto it for dear life as I strolled by. Perhaps it's wrong to say, but it felt good to have someone judge me based on my looks, to learn the feeling.
     Our intern tour guide, David, mentioned that some shirts in that mall can be sold for $2000. "My van is half the value of one of those shirts," he told me. Downtown Calgary also has some poor area's as well, so it was interesting to see the ephemeral line between to two vastly different lifestyles.

Downtown Calgary has a very public facade of opulence. The agencies we worked at are not far away from where we had our lunch.

Riding the C-Train (LRT)

At the Salvation Army where we cleaned some rooms.

The view of downtown Calgary from the Salvation Army building.

In the kitchen at the Salvation Army.

     We worked at the Salvation Army for the afternoon, and Luke commented, "Most of these people don't even look homeless," thus, realizing the stereotypes that we make against the homeless.
     We prepared and ate supper at the Salvation Army. As we ate, we spread ourselves out in hopes that we could "make new friends." Most of the homeless were not willing to force association like we were, but that's their own choice, I guess.

Public transit in Calgary.

Wet hair - there was a lot of rain!

Modeling the hair nets required in the kitchen at the Salvation Army.

     The highly anticipated "Night On The Streets" was cancelled due to poor weather conditions. I suppose it makes sense, but I think it would be a good experience to be stuck on the ice-cold streets, in a predicted snow fall. The homeless have to tough it out through conditions like that, so why shouldn't we?
     We will, however, make the best of the situation, and educate ourselves further on the topic of poverty being close to home.

Travis Hebert

Calgary, Alberta

May 1, 2012

Guatemala Update

Hello all y'all,

You are probably wondering what we have been up to since we have been here, so here it goes:

The morning after we arrived we went to market in Guatemala City and we all purchased something whether that be a soccer jersey or a flashy pair of short capris. It was different being the minority group while walking through the market being as we are all Canadian and the rest of the population being Guatemalan.

After a long border cross, we ate lunch in La Linea and then explored the community. After suffering through a civil war and hurricanes, the people there live in very basic houses made of sheet metal and wood scraps with no running water or sewer systems. It is hard to explain what it looked and smelt like.

That evening we travelled to the "finca" which is a farm owned by the church of La Linea in El Salvador. The church plans to move 250 families from the squalor of La Linea to this farmland. While there we spent time with the youth of the church working on the farm building a fruit dehydrator and painting various buildings on the farm. We also spent an afternoon at a lake near the community which was "tons of fun" - Jamieson Fitzgerald. Picking fresh oranges and mangoes from the trees was a highlight for everyone on the trip as well. Geraldine led a jam workshop where 30 El Salvadorian women learned how to make jam for the first time. 

After spending three wonderful days in El Salvador we traveled to Copan, Hondouras where we again indulged ourselves in the local market purchasing various souvenirs. The trip took a lot longer than expected taking about 7 hours due to many enormous potholes and a slow border cross. We stayed in an awesome hostel and ate great food. In the morning we visited the Mayan ruins which was a new experience for everyone.

We are now back at Semilla and are heading out tomorrow for a 2 day home stay at Lake Atitlan. All are well, traveler's diarrhea aside, and are looking forward to the rest of the time spent here.

Adios Amigos

-Pablo Ayres, Diego Fitzgerald and Brendan in Spanish Paetkau

     

Taking Care of all the Business

MOBILE ALABAMA

Hey you all! We had an early start in the morning, waking up at a crisp 6 AM
to literally puddles of dew. We thought that it must have rained during the
night because it was so wet. We proceeded to eat breakfast and were on our way
to the work site. We happened to miss a turn going there, and had to pull an
emergency two-point turn onto a gravel road. Unfortunately, the bus happened
to have a meltdown, and stalled, blocking all lanes of traffic. Another
adventure for us! Luckily, we got the bus started right away, and then,
instead of heading to the site, went to the closest car rental agency, which
happened to be enterprise. We rented a 15 passenger van, but rode in the bus
to the work site. Finally there, only about an hour late, we met Gary and
Marcia, the two Habitat workers that were to be our supervisors. After a brief
(not so brief) check on safety, rules and guidelines, we finally started work.
As soon as we started, sweat began dripping off all points on our face (at
least for me), due to the fact that it was 30 degrees C, sunny, and with a
humidity that made it feel like around 87 . Add to that the acute lack of any
type of wind or breeze and you've got yourself a slow cooker, especially since
we all packed into the houses. The houses that we worked on are all
foreclosure houses, and are aimed at low income people, or people with poor
credit, here in Mobile. Though not directly affected by Katrina, or the BP oil
spill, the economy here centers around the sea, and sea trade, and thus, when
these things happened, people in the area suffered. Almost all of the work was
entirely inside, except for an hour or two of siding. We tiled bathroom and
kitchen floors, laid laminate floors down, put windows in, hung doors, and a
few girls, who many would consider a little weeny, went inside to paint in an
indoor house with very strong air conditioning (Sara happened to be one of
them…). We had a lunch of sandwiches and snacks, and worked all day long,
until 3:00. So after a late start, we worked hard and should be proud. Now,
due to the bus being out of commission, we had to shuttle people from the site
back to Camp Christian in the newly rented van. It took a while, but it worked
well. Thanks to Joan for driving back and forth and back and forth and back
and forth. We had our devotions on Shadrach, Meshac and Abednego, and wrote in
our journals. We had a super supper of tacos and nachos, once again, thanks to
Joan for cooking. Now, the treat of the day! Mary, the camp director, hired a
lifeguard for the evening, and we had a wonderful time full of splashing,
football, volleyball and chicken fights. Who knew Darryl had such good
hands…Now, I guess we have to head to bed because it happens to be another
extremely early morning! Goodnight you all!

A comprehensive blog by:
Ryan, Sara and Michael

PS. I have to mention the guy that talked to us from Americorp. His name was
Jack and he liked to talk to all the girls. He also liked to run by all the
girls with his shirt off. The girls also liked to stare at him as he went by,
and were very sad when they had to leave. At least he is "working" with us
tomorrow. We'll see…