After a 7 week tour, the thought of going back home is an amazing feeling. But for a lot of us on tour visiting home isn’t really an option because of how far away it actually is. For us, improvising home has become a reality. For this four month adventure my “home” is our house […]
...continue readingArchive for April, 2011
Day 4, Generations.
Today was a roofing day. I like this day, my favourite place to be is the roof and there is yet to be a build I am part of where I have not been on the roof. I don’t know if it’s the tar that is impossible to get […]
How Many SOL’s Does it Take to Build an Ambulance Station?
Published by April 21st, 2011 in School of Leadership, Other Sites and Featured. Closed 
We aren’t Metalica, but we do have a lot of metal… literally. In the time it took me to actually come up with that joke, we would’ve had two walls built already. While driving back up to the work site this morning, I realized just how much we actually got done yesterday. Still knowing that we had much more to do, I got out of the van, put on my gloves, and picked up a drill. If you knew me, you’d know that power tools are not particularly my cup of tea, but after drilling all day yesterday with only one injury (a sliver to be exact), I was ready for round two. Should I mention that I actually enjoy it?
With the roofing under our belts come lunchtime, we headed back to the house for some food. As soon as we got back to the site, we were ready to put the roof on! A few of us left early on in the afternoon to make 99 bags of popcorn for our movie night at the wonderful school in San Quintin. Trying to avoid work you might ask? I guess I forgot to tell you that this isn’t your regular microwavable popcorn, it was all made on the stove top! After our hours of work, the popcorn was gone in just minutes.
Sitting on a tarp under the stars, watching Megamind on the side of the school, listening to the chomping of popcorn,
and having kids giggle while sitting on your lap. That’s something that is irreplaceable. Much like any building project, in this case an ambulance station, we won’t fully understand how much of an impact we have just by setting aside a week to use our hands and feet to help others out. Today, while on the work site, one of the paramedic’s that’s helping us build this week received a message on his walkie-talkie about a car accident that happened: a car rolled 100 metres. The ambulance came to take the patients to the main hospital, which was hours away, and found out that one of them had passed away in the vehicle on the way.
I will never know how much the four walls I’ve been building mean to them, but it feels good knowing that I’m helping to play my part. It’s not hard to pick up a tool and just do it, and trust me, if I can do it, anyone else can.
Mucholovefrommexico,
-sarah! : )
Day 2 and 3 on the SOL Build
Published by April 21st, 2011 in School of Leadership and Other Sites. ClosedIn the morning we (my famjam) helped the other SOLs with Day 2 of the ambulance build. Day one the SOL’s were very productive building the four walls. I was happy to be back and building. My dad was in heaven, he loves to do projects like this and Luke (my brother) […]
...continue readingGiving to the Community of Vincente Guerrero, Mexico. SOL Build Day#1.
Published by April 18th, 2011 in School of Leadership and Other Sites. Closed
To you, it was Sunday, April 16th, 2011 - jus’ a regular ol’ Sunday. But for us Absolute-rs down in Mexico…it was work day number one! And more importantly, for the volunteer paramedics from Vincente Guerrero - it was the first build day of their new centre. This week, we’re […]
Love Is The Movement
Published by April 11th, 2011 in School of Leadership, Team 2, Road Team Blogs and Other Sites. ClosedI want to introduce to you a very important member of the Absolute Road Team 2. His name is Papi and like most of us, he is a work in progress and growing each and every day. Let me explain. Every time that we set up at a school and put on our Think Day […]
...continue readingSchool Dedication - Penticton Students
Published by April 4th, 2011 in Other Sites and Featured. Closed
Yesterday we got to sleep in so that was a nice change. After breakfast we went back to the build site to dedicate the school. It felt good to be a part of something that could possibly change countless lives. We gave them a better and safer place to be educated and it felt great. After the dedication we got to play with kids for a short while and then we had to say our goodbyes. It was very hard to let go of our new friends that taught us so much about life. We came down to build them a school and a family a house. We built 
so much more than that, friendships and memories that we will always carry with us. We built them a new life. Later that day we went to the orphanage and played games with the kids. Cody and I took part in a game of marbles and got our butts whooped. The imagination and creativity of the children here are so much greater than the ones at home. Everyone has changed a little from being here, all of our hearts have been touched by someone. I will never forget the faces and new friendships I have made. I hope that I can come back one day and see them again.
-Jeremy: Group Participant
Orphanage, Dance Party and Road Trip! - Final thoughts from our Penticton friends
Published by April 4th, 2011 in Other Sites and Featured. Closed
The story of how the orphanage in San Quintin came to be is an inspiring one, a woman turned her life upside down, just to follow her heart and help those in need. Those kind of morals and the passion she had is still displayed today at the mission. We visited the children at the orphanage on Monday, for a few hours we played soccer, jumped rope, painted faces and drew some pretty epic sidewalk chalk masterpieces. It was interesting to see the contrast between the children at the worksites we had been at and those at the orphanage, you can tell that they are in better living conditions and have nicer
clothes. It made me happy to see that they were cared for in such a loving way, and that the people watching over them were there to help and love, these children come to the orphanage with such tragic stories, and have lost their parents through situations that some of us could never imagine. It was a great thing to tour through and see that even though they had been through hard times, they’re in a place of happiness now.
Monday night we had a little bit of a fiesta for Ben, one of the guys who had his birthday during the trip. We broke a piñata, roasted marshmallows and danced to a pretty interesting mix of mariachi and dub-
step. We all enjoyed ourselves, but one of the things that struck me most was the sense of comfort we all found in one another as a group. Coming into this, not a lot of people knew most other people and most socialization consisted of small talk around the dinner table, and shy smiles on the bus. But after just a week and a half together, there was a full throttle dance party happening on the porch, and it was amazing to see.
We’re now heading back, after stopping in Bakersfield Wednesday night, we drove all Thursday night and we’ve finally arrived in Abbotsford. We have duck taped a girl to a seat, given enormous group
goodbye hugs to our newly-made friends and almost made it through a Starbucks drive through in a shopping cart. All in all, we’re a pretty great group of friends now. It’s been really incredible to see how these experiences have affected the people who had never seen or walked through poverty before. Lives have been changed, not only those of the people we have helped, but also those of the ones who have given their time and love to those in need. Its been an awesome trip and I’m so grateful to have experienced it with everyone.
Recent Comments