Today we were so excited to go back to the homes we worked on, as after we leave every day the contractors work on the houses for about 3 more hours and we never know what they will have accomplished in our absence. This was our final day to work on the houses and we […]
...continue readingArchive for the 'Testimonials' Category
Boston Pizza Final Day - Happiness and Bright, Cheerful Paint!
Published by August 15th, 2011 in Dominican Republic, FB, Hero Holiday Testimonials and Hero Holiday. 0 CommentsBoston Pizza Day 4 - Making Friends in the Garbage Dump
Published by August 15th, 2011 in Dominican Republic, FB, Hero Holiday Testimonials and Hero Holiday. 0 CommentsLast nights’ debriefing, unbeknownst to us, was an excellent preparation for today’s experience at the garbage dump. Talking about the sights, sounds and smells was one thing, but actually experiencing was something else. With anxious anticipation we loaded into the back of our open-aired truck, and bumped over the dirty and dusty road. No matter […]
...continue readingBoston Pizza Foundation - Dominican Republic August 7th-16th, 2011
Published by August 11th, 2011 in FB, Testimonials, Hero Holiday and Featured. ClosedDay 1: Awareness Tour
Well the time has come and our 26 participants and 4 interpreters and 4 Hero Holiday leaders boarded the open air trucks and began our 1st annual BPF Hero Holiday.
This afternoon would introduce us to to three families and some other projects that Hero Holiday has worked with in the past. Our first stop, with excited anticipation, was a town that had previously been called Augas Negras, also know as “Black Water”. The town’s name reflects the awful reality of what happens when the rains come and the river floods leaving the community and its inhabitants in six inches of septic water. This community has recently been renamed Nuevo Renacir, which means “rebirth”, and we are so excited to be able to be a part of the transformation in the lives of the families living there. Our three house builds will include raised foundations, providing a safe home for these families we now call friends.
The anxiety of our participants was quickly relieved as children and families welcomed us with open arms. On our quick walk through the town it was not long before every participant was holding the small hand of an excited child or arm and arm with smiling teenagers. As one participant said so eloquently, “we felt as welcomed in this new place as a family member would be welcomed back at home.” In this town we also met Marie, (the mother of one of these three families), and when asked if she had anything to say to the group the only words she could get out were “thank you for making my dreams come true.” As tears were shed we boarded the buses and headed off to destination number two, the community of La Union.
La Union is community made up of Dominican and Hatian individuals who work predominantly in the garbage dump, a one hour walk from their homes. As this is a town that the Hero Holiday teams regularly partner with, the noise of the trucks brought out all the children, excited to meet the new “Gringos” (foreigners). As we exited the back of the trucks each participant was met with open arms, warm smiles, tight embraces, and hands to hold. Young men and women eagerly piggy backed, tossed in the air, and cuddled each and every child that came their way. It was very clear just on day one that this experience would change our lives forever. Shortly after our tour of the village we met the “Mayor” Beto, who welcomed us so graciously and thanked us, even thought we didn’t bring anything but ourselves! This stop also was all too short and soon it was time for us to get on the truck and depart to the next destination. As our truck drove away tears streamed down participants faces as they wrestled with the harsh reality of what they had seen.
Our third and final stop was Arroyo Seco, a town built and proudly led by a saint called Pastor Garica. Arroyo Seco has been the recipient of help and support from Hero Holiday for a number of years and the people of this community reflect a feeling of hope. Arroyo Seco is made up of over 800 people who live in just over 250 dwellings. Pastor Garcia is the ambassador of hope and change and now most in the community are able to read and write and enjoy many opportunities that have been made possible by the love and support of this very giving man. During our short time at the church and community centre, playing on the newly built basketball court, the laughter and the smiles of all the children who had now gathered truly reflects that the community that has strong ties. We played basketball, jumped rope, threw frisbees, inflated beach balls, pushed children on the swings, and we just held hands. All too soon it was again time to leave and as we lined up the children to receive our last small gift of a candy, many familiar with the children exclaimed, they have never seen them sit so well!
It was a very special day and we look forward to many more on this journey!
Emotionally exhausted but happily content, we could tell that this trip was going to be so much more than anyone anticipated and as one participant said, “we have been doing this only one day and it is already more than I had ever thought it would be!”
Cheryl and Michelle
Scout Canada’s Build a Home Challenge!
Published by July 15th, 2011 in FB, Hero Holiday Testimonials, Student Zone, Hero Holiday and Featured. 2 CommentsAn awesome group of scouts and leaders from Manitoba joined Hero Holiday in Mexico this summer for their ‘Build a Home Challenge’! While they’ve been keeping their own blog on www.scoutchallenge.ca we wanted to highlight some of their stories here, but make sure to check out their own site for the full versions!
First Post From Mexico!
Today is our second day in Mexico! So much has happened so far! After 2 days, we have put up the walls and most of the roofs on the houses. Each house is slightly different in it’s completion so far, but we are making good progress. Tomorrow our goal is to shingle the roofs, install the paneling/trim, and re-paint. We still have to build and paint the additional interior wall. The families are great, and have been so willing to help, and have been so happy, it has been just amazing. The awe and excitement in each family member just makes you smile, Even though most of us cannot speak Spanish, it has been incredible how easily we have been able to communicate with each other. (We do have a translator, but he is not always present). The contrast between life here in Mexico, and life in Canada, is just…unfathomable. The sheer poverty here is overwhelming, and the lack of hope can crush even the strongest soul. By building these homes for this family, we are giving the a step up from the deep pit of poverty, and giving them the means to make for themselves a far better life. We are giving them hope.
House build Complete!
We have completed the construction of the houses today! Some of our team members went shopping today for the new beds, mattresses, and other furnishings for the home, all of which we will be installing tomorrow. The plan is to take the families out for ice cream while other members move in all the furnishings, and that way they everything will be a surprise. Each family will also be getting somewhere around 2 roosters, 8 chickens, and 5 fruit trees, each. We also found out today that each family is behind in payments for their land plots, and all chipped in money (about $750) to split between helping each family with their rent. On top of all that we brought a bunch of gifts for the families from Canada, which we will also be presenting to them. One thing that touched me in a special way was how hesitant each family was when asked if they wanted anything extra. Santiago (our translator, sorry if I messed up the spelling buddy!) had to really coax an answer out of them. Tomorrow is going to be a very emotional and overwhelming day for all of us.
Today we also went to a local graveyard. Over half of the bodies buried there belonged to young children. It was very sobering to see the numerous graves of the babies who died on or close to the day they were born. It makes you realize how different life is here than from Canada. Our translator, Santiago, has a child buried there, who passed away 15 hours after it was born because it was born slightly premature. If that child had been born in Canada, it would have almost certainly survived. I heard today that many parents avoid becoming too attached to their children until they are 4-5 years old, because the survival rate is so low. It really drives the term “absolute poverty” home. The line between life and death that they walk in Mexico is a lot thinner than in Canada. They don’t get the “second chances” that we do. The amount of things we take for granted, such as water, shelter, income, hairdressers, shoes, holidays, clothes, healthcare, schools, consumable entertainment, food. The people here posses few, and work unbelievably hard for those that they do.
On the brighter side, it is amazing how happy people are here! They always seem to be smiling and laughing. Everyone wants to put in a helping hand. Kids from all over the neighborhood would come to the job site everyday and try to help out, be it with painting, or hammering, or whatever job we put them too. Some of our members have been spending most of the work day just mingling and playing with the kids. Everybody has utilized their own special talents in this build, whether it be building, entertaining, communicating, photographing, etc. Everybody has been doing their share, which is awesome!
Dedication Day
Here it is! today is the day the families get their new homes!! First stop was both the yellow and green homes, where we dropped off the groceries and got the beds delivered and started building them. There were a few complications like having an important piece missing from one bed and not having the correct bolts for the bunk beds :p in the end it was accomplished! When the families opened their doors and we saw their faces, there were no words to describe the joy that they had! There were tears of joy and it seemed that a huge weight was lifted up off their shoulders all the girls were extremely happy to have their own beds - they showed us where each one was sleeping and they really enjoyed their little gifts we got them! After all the dedications were finished we all gathered, and the families cooked us all a fantastic meal. There were three different kinds of chicken, one was deep-fried, fried, and BBQ. There were potatoes, two different tomato salsa, pasta salad, egg salad, and coke to drink. It was all very delicious! We said our goodbyes and gave hugs and then we were on our way.
Day Five In The Shack - Ceviche and Cinnamon Tea
Published by February 26th, 2011 in School of Leadership, FB, Other Sites, Testimonials, Hero Holiday, Student Zone and Featured. ClosedOur fifth day in the shack began differently than the rest - we got to sleep in! Not only was day five different for having 14 hours of rest, it was also our day off. For most Mexican workers a day off isn’t in fact a day without work at all - they must 
do their family’s laundry, shop, cook, clean and any other work that may need done. We only had to do a few of those tasks.
Like I said, we got to sleep in and then for breakfast we made french toast. Julia came over mid-morning to show us how to do laundry - and luckily she let us use her soap (us silly kids didn’t think to buy any). Washing our clothes was interesting - we used a stone platform with divets in it, water from our water barrel, our own hands and elbow grease. I chose to wash two black items, hoping they would dry faster in the sun. Thankfully the wind took care of the drying quickly. We all thought washing clothes by hand was fun at first and for the amount of clothing we washed it was pretty easy. But to do an entire family’s worth of clothes, with thick fabrics and potentially really dirty? Not so fun. One thing I’ve learned in the shack is an appreciation for all of the small conveniences I’m used to in my daily life. I’ve never had to think about planning when to do laundry or shower based on when there was money for soap or time off from work to do it. But clean clothes are definitely a luxury.
Once our clothes were all clean and hanging up to dry we made a second round of french toast and chowed it down for lunch. We spent some time planning meals for the rest of our stay and then went grocery shopping. We’ve learned the prices down to the peso and buy as much as we can as cheaply as we can.
After grocery shopping we received an invitation from our friend Santiago. He has been amazing to us - he’d do anything to help a friend or person in need and wants so badly to help everyone even though he doesn’t have much himself. Santi isn’t the kind of guy you meet everyday - he’s the special kind. We headed over with our gift of pop and walked into a second lunch! We were all incredibly happy when Santi pulled out the giant bowl of ceviche and instructed us to eat up. So eat up we did! We stayed to watch a movie - a real treat after five days without technology. Santi also made us cinnamon tea which we loved. (To make tea boil whole cinnamon sticks in water for about 45 minutes, add a hint of sugar and enjoy.)
In the evening the Hero Holiday group from University of Alberta joined us around the campfire. We all ate the s’mores they brought us and talked about why we are each in Mexico and our experiences. We shared about our shack experience so far and what we have gotten from it. Hearing from the others in my group was really interesting - we’ve all taken slightly differently, yet similar things from these five days and my hope is that we hold onto them. I know I definitely have a new
appreciation for my produce and the long field days that go into growing it, the piles of landscaping rocks and each bite of seafood. But more than anything I appreciate the opportunities and ideas I’ve been given simply by being born somewhere else. The determination and resilience I’ve been lucky to witness these last few days has made me smile often. And with that smile comes a slight bit of sadness - these amazing people simply don’t have time for frivolity or luxury because everyday they work hard just to stay alive. If nothing else this week has made me grateful for hope and for the opportunity to do something to make our world a better place. If I can show even half as much strength as the people I’ve met in Mexico, I’ll be lucky.
This day of rest has been a thinking day for me - about this entire experience and how hard but how incredible it’s been. (And how incredibly kind our friends have been - thank you to everyone, you know who you are!) Now think about ways you can make the world better - and do it while making cinnamon tea and ceviche why don’t cha?
P.S. One huge thank you to Rosa for putting up with us, guiding us and flexing her muscles when she has to - this experience would never be possible without her. You’re one of a kind Rosa!
Written by Leah Thygesen, a School of Leadership student
Day Two - The Shack Experience - ‘Whole New World’
Published by October 23rd, 2010 in School of Leadership, FB, Other Sites, Testimonials, Hero Holiday, Student Zone and Uncategorized. ClosedIt’s a whole new world in Mexico when you wake up at 5am. There are people walking to work after cooking breakfast and lunch for their families. There are buses driving up and down the streets to pick up the workers and take them to the fields. Who knew this was all going on while […]
...continue readingDay One - The Shack Experience - ‘Generosity’
Published by October 23rd, 2010 in Other Sites, School of Leadership, FB, Testimonials, Student Zone, Mainpage, Hero Holiday and Featured. Closed
It ended up being a beautiful day for the first day of the shack experience which was a relief after a few days of rain at the beginning of the week. The students dropped their small bundle of belongings off at the shack first thing this morning and walked their “kids” to school.
The morning was spent doing odd jobs around the house and yard. After a lunch break we headed off to meet the clamming crew. We were grateful for the warmth of the sun and surprisingly enjoyed the job more than we thought we would. After a few hours we had a total of 43 clams that were big enough to sell for a total income of 120 pesos (10 dollars). 
The rest of the pile that we had worked so hard to gather were chucked back into the ocean.
The students went grocery shopping after work and were pleasantly surprised at what they were able to get with their money and still had some to spare. Some local friends came by to check on them and gave them a hand with some plastic they brought from the ranch he works at; they helped them get a fire going and showed them how to clean the clams they brought home from the beach. Later that evening another neighbor stopped by with fresh tortillas for a snack. We experienced the amazing generosity of the Mexican people. These people have only met us a few times and yet they wanted to do what they could to help us. People pitch in and help each other here, that’s how they survive. Makes me think about what I’d be willing to do for strangers or people I just met.
- 2010 SOL Student living in ‘The Shack’
Banting Memorial High School: Eye Opening and Riveting!
Published by September 16th, 2010 in Other Sites, QQ, School Testimonials, Testimonials and Think Day. ClosedCongratulations!!!
I just witnessed a truly amazing assembly this morning. As a teacher at a high school, sometimes students can be disruptive and rude during assemblies and today that was not the case at our school. I was proud to teach at our school and be wowed by the silence at the correct times and the hype […]
We Finally Made It!
Published by March 7th, 2010 in School of Leadership, FB, Other Sites, Testimonials, Student Zone and Hero Holiday. ClosedHola! We have arrived safe and sound, with a few minor speed bumps.
Friday started out with an all too familiar ferry ride to Vancouver followed by an unfamiliar ride down to the border crossing and then on to Seattle. From SeaTac we endured a three hour long flight, no movies mind you, to San Diego. […]
Westlane Secondary School: Engaging, Uplifting and Inspiring!
Published by March 3rd, 2010 in Testimonials and Think Day. ClosedTo: Whom it may concern
Re: Absolute Think Day presentation
I am writing this letter of reference to speak to the effectiveness of the Absolute Think Day presentation that we booked for our school recently. I was extremely impressed with everything about the show. They were organized and conscientious in setting up and taking down the variety […]
