Unexpected Halo

Mason is a normal, nice guy – kind of like the guy next door in suburban Canada. But he is different from that guy in many ways, and in his own words, Mason has been blessed and gifted. So when the opportunity came to be on a Hero Holiday when he was in Grade 9, his only thoughts were, “Bring it on!”Mason wasn’t a troubled kid, nor was he depressed or suicidal. He just didn’t realize how much the experience was going to turn his life upside down and begin to shape his perspective for good.The first time I went and worked in Mexico I was dumbfounded and awestruck that a nation in which my family unloads so much material wealth into recreationally, in reality is starving just for our leftovers.Society plagues the youth of today into thinking that material gain and social status is the fundamental foundation to providing a long, happy life. But society’s vision is skewed. Prior to the experiences that LiveDifferent (formerly Absolute) provided me I was lost. I was living in a world that seemed sheltering and almost imprisoning. My life was good – do not get me wrong. I have a solid family, amazing friends and a promising future. But there is more to life than the basics.I felt as though a huge component of my life was torn from me; as if some gaping hole had formed in my contentment that I did not know how to fill. I couldn’t ever quite describe the feeling I felt, and this only applies to me personally; not the general public, but I now realize that feeling was more like meaninglessness. I felt as though my life held no purpose and provided no change for the world. I felt as though no matter what I did, my life would not make a difference. Again it is a hard concept to explain, and to the recipients of this they might think I was depressed but this is not true.The trips I have gone on with Hero Holiday have essentially lifted the shadowy veil of reality and have shown me aspects of my own world I had only previously seen on television or in newspapers.The kids I’ve played with, the fathers I’ve built homes for, the communities I’ve built schools for all have changed because of it. They are grateful and truly appreciate the gifts we have provided them with. This is one of the small facts that makes me allow myself a smile. I was a student who had just finished grade nine at a local Junior High. I used my parents’ money for my first trip, but once my eyes were opened I understood that in order for my change to matter I had to earn the right to help these people. For me to even begin to feel worthy of helping them I had to earn it. I worked for every single cent that I put into these trips and brought the leftover money with the intention of donating it for the last three years.Last summer, on his third Hero Holiday Mason suddenly became very sick and was hospitalized. The reason? He didn’t drink enough water during the work day and the lack of hydration caused a freak dip in his immune system that was dangerous. However, thanks to the great doctors at the hospital in the community and with the help of our staff, he was back after a couple of days. The sickness gave him a chance to see life from a different perspective, as he contemplated what it means to be able to have access to health care, clean water, even a clean and safe place to rest.But the best possible thing from his sickness happened to him when he got back to the house build and saw the family that they were working for: he realized how much his help meant to them.I walked in the house and immediately the mother had started to cry. She wrapped her arms around me and I could feel her appreciation with every shake and every harsh sobbing breath she took in. She then showed me a drawing her daughter had made.Her daughter had been with me every day that I worked in that hole that I had been digging for their outhouse. She had ‘helped’ me dig (though usually she ended up pushing more dirt into my half-dug outhouse hole) and she made me smile and feel as though the project was worth doing. She was only about six or seven, and would clumsily walk hand in hand with me whenever I visited the water cooler or other students. She provided me with motivation to keep swinging the pickaxe into the devastatingly hard clay even when I thought my muscles would burst from exertion. Anyways, her mother showed me a drawing that the little girl had made while I was in the hospital. Apparently they had heard that I was hospitalized because I worked too hard and they understood it was serious. The drawing was of her and her family holding hands in front of a brand new house. They were unskillfully drawn stick figures but the picture was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen. Her family and her stood happily in front of their home and I was drawn above them… with a Halo and angel wings.Mason’s story isn’t really about how good it feels to help someone, although that is true. It isn’t a life lesson about staying well-hydrated, although we really do insist on that. It’s about friendship. When you cross over from seeing people as needing your help to seeing them as your friends and part of your life, that’s where your life is changed. We live our lives in relationships, and a true friend is one who loves people where they are at and believes in them, no matter what.To find out more about Hero Holiday Mexico and how you can get involved, check out livedifferent.com. You belong here!

From Naivety to Insight

The Self-Realizing Journey that is ‘Hero Holiday’-Mason There are many facts and insightful quotes that are recited to the youth of today, but these facts often ring in the empty heads of teens and lose their essential value. But I read one fact that I found riveting and eye opening. The fact that twenty-seven million slaves exist in a world I have prided myself with helping literally offends and disgusts me. I mean if you think about it, my city which has more people than I could ever hope to meet or understand in a hundred lifetime, is one twenty seventh the population of the world’s slaves. I cannot judge others and say they should be helping when they are oblivious to the cause. I can however, tell factual stories of my own encounters in various countries and hopefully sway the decision of these people from indifference to action.I have been blessed, and gifted. This ability has granted me the ability to have profound insight on all experiences that shape my life. The first time I went and worked in Mexico I was dumbfounded and awestruck that a nation in which my family unloads so much material wealth into recreationally, in reality is starving just for our leftovers.  Society plagues the youth of today into thinking that material gain and social status are the fundamental foundation to provide a long happy life. But societies vision is skewed. Prior to the experiences that LiveDifferent (formerly Absolute) provided to me I was lost. I was living in a world that seemed sheltering and almost imprisoning. My life was good, do not get me wrong. I have a solid family, amazing friends and a promising future. But there is more to life than the basics. I felt as though a huge component of my life was torn from me; as if some gaping hole had formed in my contentment that I did not know how to fill. I couldn’t ever quite describe the feeling I felt, and this only applies to me personally; not the general public, but the felling I now realize was essential meaninglessness. I felt as though my life held no purpose, and provided no change for the world. I felt as though no matter what I did, my life would not make a difference. Again it is a hard concept to explain, and to the recipients of this they might think I was depressed but this is not true. The trips I have gone on with Hero Holiday (this summer will be my fourth) have essentially lifted the shadowy veil of reality. The trips have shown me aspects of my own world I had only previously seen on television or newspapers. The kids I’ve played with, the fathers I’ve built homes for, the communities I’ve built schools for all have changed because of it. They are grateful and truly appreciate the gifts we have provided them with.  This is one of the small facts that makes me allow myself a smile. I was a student who had just finished grade nine at a local Junior High. I used my parents’ money for my first trip, but once my eyes were opened I understood that in order for my change to matter I had to earn the right to help these people. For me to even begin to feel worthy of helping them I had to earn it. I worked for every single cent that I put into these trips and brought the leftover money with the intention of donating it for the last three years. The way I see it, I could spend money here in Edmonton on clothes, fancy food, or expensive clubs or movies… or I could literally keep food on a table that provides for three children. It was an easy choice. Last time I interned in Mexico I got very sick. There was some sort of virus not allowing water to get into my cells (the doctor explained). And it was explained to me in broken English while I lay there alone in the hospital that I might not make it. The thought terrified me. Even imagining never seeing my friends or family again makes me shudder. The reason I had received this lovely virus is because I worked too hard, sweated too much, and in my ‘brilliant intellect’ did not drink nearly enough water. I had no one to blame but myself, and that may have been the worst part. It’s a long story but nevertheless I got through it, and was allowed to leave the hospital later the day after.At first I was brought to the project in which my digging of the outhouse provided my sickness. A few of the other workers had happily finished the nearly completed hole in my absence out of respect to me; which was an amazing compliment. However the biggest compliment I have ever gotten was when I went in the family’s terrible shanty of a home. Sheet metal attached to chicken wire and cardboard built up a small box-like frame. My house is three stories, with a vast backyard and a hot tub. I say this not out of conceit or arrogance, first of all I did not earn it, my dad did, and secondly because I know that I would give all this extra space, and all these extra materialistic innovations up if this family was given even an un-leaky roof to sleep under. I walked in the house and immediately the mother had started to cry, she wrapped her arms around me and I could feel her appreciation with every shake, and every harsh sobbing breath she took in. She then showed me a drawing her daughter had made.Her daughter had been with me every day that I worked in that hole, she had ‘helped’ me dig (though usually she ended up pushing more dirt into my half-dug outhouse hole) and she made me smile and feel as though the project was worth doing. She was only about six or seven, and would clumsily walk hand in hand with me whenever I visited the water cooler or other students. She provided me with motivation to keep swinging the pickaxe into the devastatingly hard clay even when I thought my muscles would burst from exertion. Anyways, her mother showed me a drawing that the little girl had made while I was in the hospital. Apparently they had heard that I was hospitalized because I worked to hard and they understood it was serious. The drawing was of her and her family holding hands in front of a brand new house. They were unskillfully drawn stick figures, with crazy hair and misinformed coloring… but the picture was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen. Her family and her stood happily in front of their home and I was drawn above them… with a Halo and angel wings.Hero Holiday provides an amazing opportunity for people. Whether they are happy but need something more like me, or depressed and need to realize the beauty of their own lives, Hero Holiday works. The main thing it does is provide homes, schools, shelters, food, and general affection to those in the world. I understand that and I see the amazing beauty in that. We are helping those who essentially are not able to help themselves. But Hero Holiday does so much more. It provides hope, purpose, and the sense of feeling whole to people. This is a lesson that has changed my life.When I first got back from the hospital I couldn’t work .I ended up writing a small note down as an attempt to organized my mixed thoughts.                   “North American Society is plagued by malcontent and misery in direct contradiction to the amount of the worlds wealth it has obtained; wealth that is supposed to naturally create the byproduct of happiness. In hindsight of its material fortune North American Society has lost sight of the essence of life’s true beauty. To the wealthy the meaning of life is to compete, impress, achieve, and sustain wealth for their eventual use as they age, or the eventual use of their children. Understandably, however, countries that do not have that fortune and wealth have held on to something of much more intricate value: the true meaning of life, which is to enjoy it. In absence of our material superficial goods they retain a philosophy of intimate satisfaction with the simplistic things in life, ergo causing them to enable themselves, and guarantee themselves a general contentment throughout the entirety of their lives.The poor will always envy the wealthy for their material goods, yet the wealthy once exposed to the world’s poverty will always envy the poor for who they are as people. Which is more valuable?

Countless Laughs

Today was our last show as a team and now we are back in our temporary home; the bus. Behind me I hear loud music, horrible jokes and Luke’s snoring as he is always the first to plant himself on the bed. Tour has been such an unbelievable 3 months. Western Canada treated us well; the billets, the landscapes, the students, and of course Saskatchewan, which the band enjoyed the most. We went whale watching/wave jumping while staying on Vancouver Island, boarding the slopes of Whistler (where I showed up the guys with my mad skill), and many days inside schools. For me, tour has been a learning experience as I found out that patience really is a virtue. I have also become a stronger person, a person that is confident in both my strengths and weaknesses.

I got the opportunity to MC our shows, and being one to take on challenges, I dived in. I also got to share my Mexico Hero Holiday experiences during the shows. At first I doubted myself; the MC is the face of the team and I didn’t think I could be that person. As we completed our first week of shows I remember being so happy I got through it, and within the second and third week I was starting to interact more with the students and be me on stage. Sharing my story about Mexico was the most remarkable feeling in the world. While in Mexico I met a lady named Maria. Her family was the first house build we did and she is such a strong lady. She really made me realize the important things in life. I got to share her story; a story of perseverance, love and hope. Knowing that I was able to take her with me along my journey, allowing others to get to know her and give her a voice meant so much to me. Every day I got a reminder to be thankful for the things I have, and to push hard for those that don’t. I was reminded how Mexico has changed me and that my heart will be there with Maria and her family forever. Although there were many early mornings near the end of tour where I didn’t want to tell my story anymore because it got repetitive, I had to remind myself that people deserve to know Maria and it was my responsibility to share her story. That’s when I sucked it up and put my all into it. After some of the shows, students would come up to me and tell me that they had been moved and they want to help others now too. When I heard that I knew that I had done my job for the day.

Now you might think traveling on a bus for hundreds of hours with 8 guys might suck, because I know I did at first, but I had the best adventure of my life so far. We became a family; fighting and loving as a family. We soon found out the secrets of one another, the habits of one another and how to push each other’s buttons. The other girl on our team and our fearless leader, my lovely Dee, made the bus brighter. Her laugh and easy going attitude made our team happy, even when we were hungry, and in the -30 weather in Alberta. With that, I would like to thank the people of Team 1; you guys have made these past 4 months an epic journey with more laughs than I can count. It will be a big change not seeing you guys every morning, but know I will never forget our time spent together.

Kelsey

School of Leadership Student

It’s hard to describe, the first time I spoke on stage my forehead was sweaty, my mouth was dry and I would tell a joke that nobody, including me, thought was funny but I told it because I couldn’t think of anything else to say. I tripped over my words and forgot tons of my story, but when I was finished I felt like I had done a great job just because I shared my experience with a group of students and conquered my fear of public speaking. With time I got better and I lost sleep over the stupid joke I told that first day, but eventually it became almost second nature. The students loved me, they were lining up afterwards for pictures and autographs which was cool. I felt more important than the Jonas brothers, but always in the back of my mind I would be thinking ‘Did my story impact those students?’ ‘What did they take away from what I had to say?’ Then it happened, a boy from a junior high came up to me and said that I did great job. I thanked him and asked him how he liked the show? He said it was the best show he had ever seen in his school. He then started telling me about his home life and how I had impacted and inspired him to find someone to talk to about his problems at home. That was most definitely the greatest day on the road for me because it really showed me the difference that LiveDifferent (formerly Absolute) is making by sending teams out to do these presentations and it makes you feel like you are actually making a difference, especially when you see a student reaching out for help.AdrianSchool of Leadership Student

Why Did the Chicken Cross the Road?

Have you ever met a chicken that hated it’s life? Me neither. But, I have definitely met a lot of chickens that, if I were them, I would hate my life. What is there to love about being a chicken if you live in the developing world? You spend all day dodging traffic, trying to find food for your chicks, hoping that your number hasn’t been called.The first time we ever walked through that village in Dominican Republic, I remember trying to process what was going on around me – but there was too much. Vaden and I were there on vacation, to be honest. We had worked hard traveling all year with our road teams, and now that school tours were done for the year, we found a cheap deal to escape to the Caribbean sun for a week, completely oblivious to what we were about to encounter. But life in paradise was proving to be boring and after the third day we were tired of looking at the same drunk, sunburned people around our resort pool. We needed out. It was at that point that we remembered that we actually had friends in Dominican Republic who were missionaries in the local area. Why not give them a call and see what they do? As their little white pickup pulled up to the door of our resort, our lives were about to be rocked and we were completely oblivious.An innocent question changed the future of LiveDifferent (formerly Absolute), and consequently, our own lives: “Would you like to see a little bit of the real Dominican Republic?”It was a 7 minute drive from our resort gate to the entrance to that village. I got out of the truck and began to walk among the homes and families that lived there. Wide smiles, kind eyes, endless calls of “hola!” greeted us – all of them in the midst of, what was for me at that time, the biggest concentration of poverty I had been exposed to. I will never forget that day: the smells, the sounds, the collision of realities. All of it is etched in my mind because it is where my life changed – for the better. And when I met that lady, the deal was sealed.We sat on the hard dirt floor of her tiny house – not even the size of my kitchen – and she began to show me what life was like from her perspective. She told me of how the rats nibbled on her children’s fingers if she didn’t have all 5 of them on the one saggy, dirty bed at night, how her house flooded every rainy season because of the deforestation behind her on the hill, of how hard it was to be a single mother, and of how scary it is to be in a country that is not her home and where neither her nor her children have identity papers. She taught me about life that afternoon on that dirt floor.As we left her house and walked back through the village, a tiny, fluffy chick raced in front of my feet. A little boy’s laughter followed behind it, as he raced to pick it up and play with it (much to the little chicken’s angst!). As I watched that little chick and all the other scrawny chickens that were wandering around that tiny street, I couldn’t help but laugh and say, “Now I get it! He really is just trying to get to the other side!”At the end of the day our friends dropped us back at our resort, and I walked back through the resort, past the same drunk and sunburned people. But I was changed. My heart was broken and my sense of justice was enraged by what I had experienced. As I sat on the floor of our hotel room and cried, I came to the conclusion that tears are not enough. Tears won’t change lives, and tears won’t help fight back at poverty. But people can, and there was a reason why LiveDifferent (formerly Absolute) had such a huge influence in Canadian high schools. That influence could be used to write history.Exactly 14 months later, LiveDifferent (formerly Absolute) returned to Dominican Republic with our first Hero Holiday group of 180 people. Together we built safe housing, dug trenches for fresh, clean water to be delivered to a village, met people we would never forget, and had our lives imprinted forever by the experience. We have never looked back.To date, LiveDifferent (formerly Absolute) has taken over 2500 people on Hero Holidays to Dominican Republic, Mexico, Thailand and Haiti. We do this because of one reason: we believe in the potential of this generation to change the world and we want to give them the opportunity to prove it.You can be a part of what we do! To find out more about Hero Holiday, check out www.heroholiday.com.

Staying with Strangers

A stranger is a person that you see on the street, on the bus or in a coffee shop. Unfortunately you don’t get the chance to really get to know them, and its easy to just overlook a person and judge them for who and what you think they might be. Though these strangers look foreign to you, they are familiar to other people and like any other person they are impacting other people’s lives.

The really cool thing about being on the road is that instead of staying in ritzy hotels, we get billeted out and stay in people’s homes. At first it may be a bit awkward but slowly and surely you find common ground. It’s amazing the things that you learn about these people, and it’s funny because they start off as complete strangers.

Just recently our team had the privilege of staying with a family in Rosenort, MB. Right off the bat we were greeted with big hugs and showered with warm smiles. They were a part of the Hero Holiday trip that went to Mexico this past Christmas. By just talking to the family they really show a bit of insight into how they truly care about helping others.  Constantly showing us videos of their experience from Mexico, they would talk about their vision of bringing their entire community to a developing country, to get the experience of seeing poverty and realizing the power we have to cause change.

Now, this is only one experience. Can you imagine moving from house to house and getting the privilege of meeting people just as amazing as this family? I am still shocked that I get to experience getting to know families just like this one. All the billets we have stayed with have been so unique and amazing and have offered us with the utmost hospitality. The fact that people are willing to take us in without even knowing us and providing us with shelter and food is incredible. All the people we have been privileged to stay with have shown me the true meaning of loving others (strangers) as your own.

-Laura, SOL Student

p.s. This is an amazing shirt that the mom from Rosenort bought for JP. They have incredible fashion sense down in Rosenort…wow!

Eight weeks worth of fun…and still going!

Doing something that is designed to inspire or teach has a funny way of returning the favour.

As we are getting closer to the summer, the number of performances we have left start to look smaller every day. Looking back to the start of the four months and hundreds of events that were scheduled, I remember feeling that this challenge was daunting. Never had we been on the road for so long as a band, without family and friends, without our own beds, and removed from the comforts we may take for granted everyday. We were ready to be doing something exciting as a band, and meeting students across Canada along the way, but it didn’t come without a few sacrifices. I am sure anyone who has had a mission and a goal for something larger in life can identify with the challenge of making sacrifices for something you believe in.

We started by becoming a team; meeting the team-leaders and students who we would be traveling with, learning our jobs on the team, figuring out what problems needed to be conquered while traveling across Canada. We played a few local performances while being based in Hamilton, helping us get our feet on the ground. Then it was time to hit the road full time. Using the USA as a short-cut, we traveled from Ontario to Manitoba straight, stopping only for food and gas. We had experienced sleeping on the bus over-night a number of times before, but that first night is always an adjustment. Our bus has a bunk that can fit two sleepers, a futon that sleeps one, a floor that can sleep one person on a pad, and a number of bus seats that are first-come-first-serve. Regardless of the sleepless night and irregular schedule, there was something exciting about being on the road again.

By the time we arrived at our first destination three full days later, we were excited to have some space. A non-moving, stationary, quiet couch became our sanctuary at our billets homes and we enjoyed being able to call their place “home” for a week. We had performances everyday, sometimes two or more. We knew we had signed up for a lot of hard-work, setting up and tearing down, but those days we’re challenging.  Our Billets we’re the biggest reason that we were able to feel ready to take on the next day.

After nine days in Calgary, we spent another week each in Edmonton, Northern Alberta, Vancouver Island, and finally Surrey, BC. Along the way we performed almost once a school day, and heaved our gear past many miles and through many school hallways. Our reward for the hard work came from a number of places. Trust me, it certainly was not any money.  We gained so much from meeting students, traveling to awesome places on our days off, and making friends outside of our performances. Our favourite places that we visited were Whistler, Banff, West Edmonton Mall, Downtown Vancouver, and random bowling alleys along the way.

The next two weeks were spent touring in Saskatchewan. Before we arrived, some of the team members “beaked” Saskatchewan for being flat, boring, and dumb. It was equally praised and stood-up for by one of our team members, Kelsey. When we arrived at her house where we were staying for the first weekend, people’s opinions suddenly changed. It’s still flat and boring, but the amount of caring and heart that Kelsey’s family, community, and province shared with us while we were there made even the skeptics fall in love with the “Skatch.”

We have returned home from the west now and are still performing across Ontario for the next couple of weeks. The schedule is still heavy and we spend a few nights away from the things we love, but being home on weekends and enjoying our comforts make this part a little less challenging.

Looking back to that moment that felt so daunting, there was one thing I knew from the start would make it worthwhile, and something I learned along the way. Knowing that when we were finished, we would have traveled to the farthest end of Canada completed a national tour for us. I knew we would feel the satisfaction of persevering through a challenging time, and we would have the opportunity to meet so many students along the way. As a band, you want people to hear your music and to feel a connection with your audience. Doing it in a way that allowed us to support inspiring people added that extra little something to the experience.

What I learned along that way is how important the people were that we met! We had many highlights along the tour; good shows, beautiful scenery, and great meals. The biggest highlight of them all was the level of kindness and care our billets and schools showed us along the way. Opening your houses to us made us feel like we were at home, and that is the only way we made it through eight weeks of touring in one piece.

Thank you!

Tim, The Ocean Buried

Reflections on the Shack Experience

The shack is a memory I will never forget. The rock picking, clamming, field work, and everything in between. Doing something like this builds you up so much, and it most defiantly changes you. I was so happy to have my friends (or now i guess you could call them family) with me. I know now that having people with you to encourage you can make the world of difference. I don’t know if I could have made this journey without them. I now truly understand why family is so important down here in Mexico. It’s beacuse it has to be, it’s because you couldn’t face all these challenges without support, without people helping you on those tough days. The days you don’t wanna get out of your shack to go work another 9 hour day, when you have those thoughts going through you head like ” why, is it even worth it?”From all my experiences down here in Mexico, the shack experience has been completely different. It showed me things I could have heard or learned about but not actually fully understand until experiencing it. Waking up in the morning was quite peaceful in my little cardboard home, that I was most definatly attached to, for about a 30 seconds. Then I started to think about everything you’ve gotta do to survive. You start the daily process with “gotta wake the rest of the family up, gotta go start the fire, hope the woods not to damp, gotta start breakfast, hope the pans are clean, hope we have enough torttias..” and so on.I found myself thinking for the first time, in my perfectly protected easy life, about how money is really most important when it comes to feeding yourself and your family. Life in the shack doesn’t allow you to think about new stylish clothes, or about “drama” in high school, or how much better your life would be with that new “thing”. You live day to day, paycheck by paycheck. This semester we were only paid 300pesos (30 dollars) with deductions for bills and medical we were left with 175 pesos (17.50 $) for food for 2 girls and 3 always hungry teenage boys ( that’s a lot of bellies to fill). We learned that you should eat as much as you can when you had the 3 meals you did , because you never know if the next meal might be smaller , and might not fill you up.There will be so many things from the shack experience that I will take with me, and hope to remember for the rest of my life. One being that food is very important. I don’t think many people I know, including myself appreciate food as much as we should. That was constantly on my mind. Food to me in Canada is ” oh what will taste the best” “what’s the biggest” or you just open the fridge and there it is. But here, as well as most of the world think about if I can afford the next meal, and if its going to fill me, your taste buds are of unimportance.Another thing I know that I take for granted is our health care. For example, a member of our family on the second day got heat stroke, but lucky for us he just got to walk across the street and sleep in our real house and got better. For most people in developing nations, you don’t get to go to a nice bed with cold/warm showers, good food, and clean drinking water to get yourself better. You either have to go to the hospital which is usually 50 pesos (in Mexico) which sometimes isn’t feasible. Or you have to miss a couple days of work which means missing out on pay for is needed for food, bills, and everything else necessary to live.It was unfortunate that we lost a member of our family for a couple days in the shack but I know this realization wouldn’t of hit me as much as it did.Although there was a couple rough patches throughout our experience, what felt like a never ending week, there was a lot of good times and memories. I had some great laughs playing cards at the end of each day, singing in the fields, trying to finish 99 bottles of beer on the wall (never ended up happening), and just being together as a family. I know I had fun, eating, breathing, living Mexican!~ A School of Leadership Student living in Mexico

Get ready for 2011!

Get ready for 2011! Our Hero Holiday dates are confirmed and ready to go for 2011 – all that is missing is you! Check out the calendar and get ready to join us for another awesome year of bringing hope and being changed.2011 Dates are as follows:

• Mexico Christmas / New Years: Dec 26th 2010 – Jan 3rd 2011
• Dominican Republic Christmas / New Years: Dec 26th 2010 – Jan 3rd 2011
• Haiti – May 1st – 10th, 2011
• Dominican Republic Summer Internship: July 1st – 26th, 2011
• Dominican Republic: July 2nd – 12th & July 16th – 26th, 2011
• Dominican Republic Medical: August 21st – 30th, 2011
• Mexico Summer Internship: July 31st – August 27th, 2011
• Mexico: August 1st – 10th & 15th – 28th, 2011
• Thailand: Aug 1st – 14th, 2011

Remember, all dates are subject to airline availability. Applications for 2011 trips will be available at www.heroholiday.com by September! You belong here!

Shack Day 6 and 7

Sunday was a day off for the students in The Shack. The goal of that day is for them to feel what its like to go through a day with nothing, not having an income for a day but still having to buy food and water and to go for a period of time with none of their regular entertainment items. As I am not sure if many of them have ever gone without their computer Ipod or Xbox for very long.The day before, they knew they were going short on cash, because they were not working, so they went to a neighbor and asked him if he had any work for them. He did, so the next day, instead of taking the day off, they got up bright and early did what they had to do.  They started working on what he had for them. Detailing some vehicles and cleaning out a shed. That kept them busy for the morning and after that they went back to their shacks, had a Sunday afternoon nap, sat around for a bit and made supper.Monday was another day in the fields. A friend of a friend has a small field just out of town that needed to be de-weeded. They got up early that morning not knowing what to expect. All they knew is that it was another day in the fields and they were not looking forward to it. When we got out to the field it was a small bean field and the “Rancher” showed up in an old beat up Suzuki Samaria. A little different than the typical F-350’s the other Ranchers have. We soon realized that we are helping a regular guy weed a piece of land that he would have normally done himself. The guy gave them some hoe’s and they went at it. It only took them a few hours to weed the field but our new friend was extremely thankful for helping him out. The students felt good about helping him out because they realized it probably would have taken him days. They were done early, so they came back and finished up the day doing some yard work and then got off a little early. Later that night they invited the neighbors and their boss over for a feast. They saved money for a few days to be able to do that, but I think by the end of all of this they really got the sense of what it might be like living in poverty. They realized some of the stresses involved, unpleasant living conditions, and the value of a community and sharing the little that you do have with the community. I believe they have grown a lot this week and I think they will take the values they learned from this experience with them for the rest of their life.Brett: Mexico Facilitator – School of Leadership