The Shack Experience

The idea is to try and get a slight glimpse of what living is like for most of the world.  TJ, Nikki, Tara, Josh and Kristi have created a scenario that they are willingly putting themselves though in a desperate attempt for better understanding.The shack is made of cardboard, plastic, and an old truck canopy and has a dirt floor.  Their ‘shower’ is an old torn blue tarp, a pail and a small cup. Each student will stay in shack for four days.  While there they will be:

• working hard labor jobs for nine hours a day
• making 100 pesos ($8) per day
• buying all their water and food
• cooking everything on an open fire with wood they find in the neighborhood
• paying rent and other misc bills like (repaying a loan shark and medical expenses)

They have no electricity, no entertainment items, some simple dishes and one luxury item… a small can of bug spray just in case the earwigs, spiders or snakes decide to move back into their shack with them.  They will be ‘showering’ at least twice in the four days as well as doing their laundry by hand on the final day.This morning at 6am was Kristi and TJ’s departure to the shack.  What you see in their hands was all they were allowed to take with them.Here they are settling in to their new home!  And look… a stray dog has all ready befriended them.Their first job of the day was to clean up all the garbage around the property where they are staying.Stay posted as we will update their progress a couple of times each day.  I am looking forward to seeing what supplies they will buy tonight with thier first day’s wages.  Stay tuned later today, we will check in with them around supper time again.

Better to Give

Gift Day Hey all, it’s Kristi again and I have to say I have really enjoyed getting to meet all the participants this past week and I am honored to have the privilege to report back to Canada what’s been going on down here. =) The house’s are all built and the families are all itching to move in, so on Monday it was time to turn these house’s into homes. And how we happen to do that is to make every girl smile, and head out…SHOPPING! Shopping day is always an interesting one as the teams get to try out their bartering skills, and hit up local grocery stores to buy all  the goods any family could hope for. Some of these items include kitchen tables, cooking stoves, beds, mattresses, propane, dishes and food. Everyone split up and headed in different directions looking for certain things to finally finish off this amazing project. I started off my day at the used furniture store with 2 different house groups, looking for some beds, tables, chairs and dressers. Let me tell you, this was an interesting experience. A hand full of people wandered around and with a list of what their families needed, selected what they thought would be then nicest options. While this smaller group was finding our furniture the rest of our group played on the exercise equipment, chilled out on the chairs for sale, and one of our leaders (cough-Jim-cough) even got distracted by a few fancy toys. This was a pretty quick trip, the groups gathered up their furniture for a reasonable price and even got delivery thrown into the deal. We all headed back to the sites, where the furniture was very quickly being delivered. When it arrived, the families already smiling faces lit up. They knew this was for their new home, and they could not look more excited if they tried. One of the families sat by and watched as the group unloaded their new furniture.When one of the staff gave the father a thumbs up and called out “Bueno?” the father replied with a huge smile, an exaggerated not of the head and a loud “Si!” This was a good thing, and no one was about to try and deny that.I can not begin to imagine what it must be like to sit by, and watch a bunch of Canadian strangers unload a better life for your family, out of the back of a truck. And all simply because they truly care for you.All the participants were very excited to be able to present the gifts to their families, knowing that they were offering these amazing people something they probably never would have been able to give themselves. Or at least not easily. Smiles, laughter, and excitement were abundant in the air on Monday. Not a single person on site could keep from seeing the good things that had been done this past week, and the families gratitude shows clearly on their faces.It’s been an amazing week, a lot of live have been touched and I am truly grateful that I have been able to be a part of it. The house dedications will definitely be the cherry on top of a great time, and I know all these beautiful Mexican families could not be more thankful for the compassionate young Canadians and the time they have spent with them this week.Buenos Noches, Good Night.Kristi

Stronger bonds and greater memories…

Fourth day of the build and all the teams headed out to the work sites, excited because all the houses are nearing completion. Everyone was getting excited after watching and helping put the walls up, raising the roof and watching the piles of wood and nails begin to look like a house. As some of the students were busy adding finishing touches, like fixing up the paint and building shelves and counters, the rest of their teams spent some more time with the families and local children. The local kids have all fallen for the teams, looking forward to a little healthy competition and time dedicated just to them. As I jumped from site to site I seen some groups letting the kids help with the painting, some groups starting up a soccer game or two, and some groups simply enjoying the children’s company. Nothing is more exciting for the little ones than to get a “capuchi” (also known as a piggy back) or play a ongoing game of tag. Whether they spent day 4 playing with the kids or working on the house, everyone put in a lot of hard work and a lot of love to make these house builds the best they could be. These teams work together amazingly well, proving that nothing can get in the way of their goals. In conversation with leaders and hero holiday staff I have found that every team is made up of kids from all different age groups, friend circles, and all have completely different personalities. From the outside looking in, I never would have guessed that these kids were not best friends who had spent their entire lives side by side. They are all friendly enthusiastic young people, their compassion for these families bringing them together in laughter and hard work. Whether they came here as friends, or only acquaintances I have no doubt that everyone will leave here on Thursday with stronger bonds and great memories together. All of our houses are almost finished, one more day of touch ups and furniture shopping to turn them into a finished house. (Shopping day on Monday) The families all have big smiles on their faces, knowing that the new friendships they formed this past week, have not only brought them joy this week but also a brighter future.  And the participants all have big smiles on their faces, knowing that they helped out a deserving family on their holidays.Buenos Noches.Kristi

The second day…

Hey, my name is Nikki and I am a school of leadership student this year. This week I have been lucky enough to be a part of the 2009 Penticton annual trip to Mexico.  I have spent the last couple of days working with a few students who are a part of something so much bigger. While getting to know and chatting with a lot of students, who I am sure I will come to call great friends, I have been able to watch the full construction of a house. Although,  we are building a house for a family who was previously living in what could be called by Canadian standards, shambles,  we are building so much more, a future,  and a sense of hope. Within our group we are also building, friendships and for many students we are expanding their pool of knowledge about the world surrounding us. It is not difficult to see the process coming along, not just the walls going up but smiles growing on the faces of family members and children from the community.One the second day of the build, my job was   ‘site photographer’, what that meant was the I spent the day on the roof of the bus taking photos and admiring the progress being made on the house. I found it completely incredible to watch a very diverse group of people, some of whom have never been to Mexico before, or even held a hammer before working alongside those who are on one of many house builds. Together, the group went from nothing to something basically overnight.  From the roof of the bus, I watched the walls go up, and the roof carefully placed on top. It was a great way to see the entire build take place as well as work on a pretty solid tan. It is pretty safe to say that we have a very cohesive team because we are flying along,  we were even able to take the afternoon off of work for a little relaxation and a soccer game, Mexicans vs. Canadians. Inevitably, the Canadians lost haha.

I feel so lucky to spend time with so many amazing people. The students in our group are so enthusiastic about everything going on, well except painting, but the point is that their thirst for knowledge about the family and the Mexican people encourages me to learn more myself.  We have spent the last couple of days playing soccer, painting a few houses, nailing, putting tar on the roof and all over ourselves as well as shopping at the mini-Mexican market, long story short we are immersing ourselves into what is around us.

Penticton Youth arrive safe and sound.

  After a long, but fun bus ride, the youth groups from Penticton, BC, arrived to sunny Mexico. The team of approx 70  students and their leaders left Canada on Saturday and made the 36 hour bus ride along the scenic Pacific coast line. They arrived late afternoon on Monday afternoon. They may have only slept a few hours on the bus ride but you would not have guess this from the excitement that was written all over their faces!The School of Leadership students and myself, Nettie, greeted the students as they piled off the two 56 passenger coach buses. I was amazed at how fast all the tents went up. Some groups took more time than others and even one group forgot the “fly” for over top their tent. Not to worry, there was a larger army style Hero Holiday tent set up to which they have placed their smaller tent in and now have the sweetest pad on site.That night, we went over what life in Mexico was like with the group as well as some work site safety. The School of Leadership students had a “Mexican Jeopardy”skit prepared to make this training time as much fun as possible. The skit was a success as everyone was laughing at the characters: Candy and Spike as they tried to explain that toilet paper goes in the waste bin beside the toilet, dirty side down.We can tell this team is going to be a blast and they are ready to work!~ Nettie Brown

We make them Disposable People

Since we started this year’s tour and the new class for our school of leadership started, we have been reading books alongside the students on our teams. One of these books was called Disposable People and while reading it I started to think about my role in supporting the process of disposing of people. We are all directly involved in this disposal, whether you believe it or not.

 We have to recognize that money shouts where pleas for human rights go unheard

P.147 Disposable People: New Slavery In The Global EconomyKevin Bales

If we are going to effect any change in our world, we first need to be educated on what injustices are going on and where, and we need to make our money speak louder than words.

We are citizens of an ever shrinking globe, and we need to become aware of that. I want to recognize that the problems in countries like Thailand, Brazil, China, Mexico, Haiti etc. are our problems. They are my problems. We, in the Western world, are causing or supporting the ongoing exploitation of people around our world. People, real people. We are the richest people in the world. Our consumerism  supports every industry that exploits people. Whether it is the shoes we wear or the cars we are driving or the houses we live in, it is fairly safe to say that someone was exploited somewhere along the lines of production. Whether it is the steel in our houses or cars, or the rubber used to make our shoes, or the cotton used to make our shirts, almost nothing is exempt. We must make our money speak louder than our words!

Media mixed with many voices lobbying huge corporations to act instead of turning a blind eye could have major influence. Making your voice heard in Governmental circles could, by extension, make those corporations listen. Ignoring the exploitation of human beings to maintain a huge bottom line is one of the greatest sins of our corporate history, and we have been a part of it. We have demanded lower prices which in turn has “forced” companies to lower production costs. And where do they get this cheaper production? From cheaper labor, by moving factories to countries where they can find people who will do anything for a dollar a day. People who live in situations so desperate that it becomes easy to exploit them, stateless and faceless people who are ignored or unknown by their governments, the UN, and us. And there are so many people who are desperate that if this one doesn’t work out you can just go out on the street and pick up three more to replace her. Let’s demand something new. Let’s demand to know where our money is going. Ask people “do you know where that dollar just went?” Ask Steel workers in Hamilton, Boutique owners in Toronto, corporate associates in Vancouver, Oil rig workers in Alberta. Canadians wouldn’t buy what they buy in the quantities they buy if they knew the cost to other individuals.

“The people back home wouldn’t buy a ring if they knew it cost someone else their hand”      Maddy Bowen in Blood Diamond.

We need faces not statistics (see One: A Face Behind the Numbers) and we need to see these faces first-hand. We need Canadians, ordinary Canadians like me and you, to travel to these places to see with their own eyes the things that plague the people of developing countries. We need education on so many levels, not just the education for nations that can’t afford to put their children through school, but also for us. We need a life education: an education of experience.

What can we do? From home, we can try to get corporations to knee jerk react to a violation of human rights in a production supported or owned by them. Then Lobby our Governments to put in place and sustain effective policy makers and keepers. We can research and put a little work into finding out where the clothes you are about to buy come from. What hands touched this fabric? Were they free or slave hands? What you buy can define what you care about. From abroad? Just go! Mother Teresa used to say “just come!”. So go, see, and experience with your own eyes and life what is going on in these places. Meet and talk with the people, get to know a family and then come back home and try to live according to what you saw.

If we realized that the problems of our Global community are also our problems, things would inevitably change. This is my problem. If we truly understood that our consumption of goods really did place or keep people in slavery, would we consume the same products in the same way? In the same quantity? Would we be more inclined to do something about this Modern Slavery? We have the Fuel, we need a Fire.

Nikki’s Canadian Travels…

So we have been on the road for just about two months, and let me tell you it has been quite the experience. We have had an incredible time so far! 

Canada is about a million times more beautiful than I could have ever expected and the funny thing is that I live in Canada. Our team has been touring the east coast and my favourite place by far has been Newfoundland. The northern part of Newfoundland is not like anywhere else I have ever been, especially with no cell phone service for three weeks. Everyone there is so welcoming and friendly all of the time, even though it is almost impossible to understand their accents. The point is that we have made so many amazing memories and friends. We have had the chance to meet a lot exciting people that have opened their homes to us, including a very sweet man who happens to keep dead squirrels in his freezer.  It amazes me how kind people are and how willing they are to offer us a place to sleep and a fridge to eat out of.  Between the ten of us that is A LOT of groceries.

  It seems like the bus is becoming a lot like home, only my home doesn’t smell as much like feet and farts.  It’s all part of the experience : ) Our group is becoming more like a family everyday. The first part of tour has been completely amazing, and we are so lucky to have been able to spend it with our friends from New Zealand, All Left Out and Mama Gem. It is sad to say goodbye, but also exciting because there are a lot more fun times to be had on our gorgeous yellow school bus. I have been more than lucky to start this adventure with LiveDifferent (formerly Absolute) and am so excited about everything that I see with a new perspective.  I know this experience is helping me to learn what I want to do with the rest of my life.

Nikki ~ School of Leadership Student

Team 2’s first week of Tour!

Well, it was our first week of touring. We had 5 Think Day Presentations at 3 really great schools. For some of us it was our first time speaking and running sound and lights which was quite nerve racking but that is why we had loads of practice time before hand(2 weeks of hard core set ups and story prep). We also got to work at a youth centre in Hamilton which was awesome, the people were really nice and we helped them set up an auction were they could buy things with money they had earned by doing good deeds around the centre. Our first shows went really well, the kids loved the band and the presentation was overall a great success. I share about me Hero Holiday experience to Mexico this past March 2008. By the end of the week we were all getting really comfortable with the show and it just kept getting more exciting. Our first three shows were around the Hamilton/Toronto area but we are all looking forward to getting on the road and making our way over to Newfoundland. Look for us in a school near you, if not have your school call our office and set up a Think Day. Josh – School of Leadership student and member of Road Team #2

SOL’s First Community Project

Our first project to help out in the community was at the Living Rock Youth Centre, just a block away from the LiveDifferent (formerly Absolute) offices.  We went last Thursday for the initial tour and explanation on how the drop in centre began. We also ended up helping out with breakfast and hanging out with the youth that were there for the morning meal.  There weren’t very many people, but we did get to talk to a few which was nice and met an adorable little boy who was the cutest thing ever! We also met a youth that helps out at the centre, he was a pretty cool and really funny guy, he knew everything there was to know about sports. While cleaning up in the kitchen the Whittney Houston s” came on and we sarenated him. I don’t know if he enjoyed that much… The following Tuesday we were back at “the Rock” to help set up for an auction they were holding for all their members using Rock bucks. Rock bucks are money the youth can earn when they help out around the center.  I thought that sounded like an awesome program, and there was some really nice stuff in the auction that was donated from local stores. We set up all the auction goods and there was tons of items that we wanted to bid on. After the set up we helped serve supper and met a few more people. Our friend from Tuesday was back and it was fun to talk to him again and hear how all his favorite sports teams had played the past weekend. Sadly, we couldn’t stay for the auction because one of the teams had a presentation the next morning and had to be up by 4 am! haha, it wasn’t my team though:) We all had a great time at the Rock and we were all asking about the next time we’d be helping out down there. Nothing had been set up but perhaps when we’re back from our road tours we’ll be back lending a hand.  The center has a very inspiring history, hats off to all the founders and volunteers, they are all doing an amazing thing for some amazing people.~ Tara

Tara’s First Think Fast Presentation

Well, yesterday was our first show and I thought it went awesome! Set up went smoothly, we were kind of slow but that will improve:)I felt pretty confident, (well sort of,)I had been going over my story (about my Hero Holiday to Mexico last summer) a lot in the past few days, so I hoped I could pull it off. The nerves were definitely showing when I left my post at the sound box and went backstage. The girls were trying to encourage me but I was just concentrating on what I had to say. I did have a moment when I forgot what I had to say in a certain part of my story. There is always a spot where I draw a blank, but Kait whispered “cute pig tails, big smiles” and it all came back. I stepped out on stage and I guess it went pretty well, I didn’t blank out and seemed to keep a pretty good flow. I tried not to breath to heavily into the mic when I had to catch my breath and I missed a few parts, but no one in the audience knew that. always have to tell myself that:) The rest of the show went really good, band played awesome and the crowd seemed to enjoy it all.We met Corporate Saturday, the band taking over for team 2 in Nov. and they all seemed like pretty nice guys. crazy and fun, just like our Beauti boys, haha!We were feed a great lunch in the cafeteria, thank you to the ladies putting that together!We had a “Think Global” session at noon, and the turn out was pretty good. Christal and Kait talked a lot about humanitarian issues, poverty, hunger, and slavery.  They are both really great speakers and its always interesting to here them talk.  It was our first think global so it was a bit of a learning experience. There were quite a few students interested in Hero Holiday as well as the School of Leadership, I think one girl had the forms all signed by the end of the day! Which is pretty cool.  All in all it was a great day and I’m really excited to start touring this Saturday! off to Saskatchewan! My home province!Tara – A student in LiveDifferent (formerly Absolute)’s School of Leadership