Mi Familia

Hop on a plane; no seriously run through customs and hurry up and get on that plane because it is close to the time that that little ticket displays at the top corner. Now sit in the pit of the bird’s belly, shoulder-to-shoulder with girls you just met two weeks ago as it reaches up to cut through the clouds with its wings. Laugh, tell stories, and get to know the girls beside you to pass the snore-worthy trip by. Cry a little as the ringing and popping makes your ears and brain feel like a punching-bag used in a professional wrestling gym. Then walk out (clenching your jaw and swallowing constantly to bring your hearing back to its normal ability) to the hustle-bustle of the airport. The solid ground is a relaxing moment for your body to realign itself, but the travelling was not over. Prepare yourself for about a 5 hour drive through military checkpoints and an air-conditioner-wind that will wind your stomach into an angry turmoil. Now, finally, welcome to Mexico.    

I guess you could say that I sounded a little more traumatic- it was only a plane ride and drive really – but my love for travel and adventure doesn’t seem to hit my stomach, ears or nervous mind sometimes. Either way I was in a new country with new people that little did I know was about to come to be my second family. And a new house that has now become a home of zingy-fresh foods, ab-crunching laughter, and a space of pure adventurous learning. I guess you could say that it was home, within a school, within a community of accepting and generous people. With a blank paper, crayons, and this idea my childhood mind would re-surface and the page would be filled with heart-warming colours and a home filled with people of all kinds embraced by a large red heart. So now, welcome to my family – my very…very.. extended family, but just as loved. 

The family that I am most excited to introduce you to is a dedicated, and ever-smiley Mexican family of five. Three young girls with two loving parents who easily opened their hearts to the six teenage girls that spoke little of their language and I am sure did not look equipped to build a chair – let alone a home in 4 days!  We met them and told them the date that we would start building them a new home – a home with space, painted walls, and a leak-proof roof (as the scrap-wooden one they had suffered from a lack-of all of these.) The father, Timoteo was a field-worker and worked hard to bring money to the family whenever the work was available, as was the mother, Ricarda. The girls attended school. The youngest girl (age 3) Maite – who wore a purple velvet-material dress that reached down to her ankles – had a smile that could steal your heart and a shy nature. It is not hard to love this girl and soon her shyness disappeared and her tiny hugs would wrap around me when the day was over. She was an artist at heart as she would pick up the paintbrush everyday and help us paint their house a bird’s egg blue. As a young artist her canvas expanded form the walls of her soon-to- be-home to her arms, face, and hair. The two other girls, Karen and Rocio went to school most days while we worked, but when they came home they did not hesitate in picking up a brush and adding their hard-work to the building of their home. They both wore their hair in straight ponytails with a coloured band and were most excited when we brought them funky hair accessories and stickers to stick all over our faces and theirs. Rocio loved to giggle and take pictures of us by her side. Karen was shy, but extremely ticklish (not so shy when it came to tickling back either). Ricarda was a quiet woman who did as much work as possible on the house and was excited to attempt her hand at hammering a wall together – I think she was better at it then most of us! It is not a forgettable moment when her shy smile and laugh looked down on her successful nail as it lay perfectly in place, unlike mine which seemed to be somewhat sideways and bent in a forceful shape. She was a very happy mother who smiled and listened carefully with a silent respectful manner. Timoteo was full of life with a sense of humour so strong that he could make you laugh without a single word leaving his lips. All day he would work beside us, hammering away. He would come up beside you and gently urge you to let him finish your nail – as you came no closer to getting it in on what seemed to be the one hundredth swing of the hammer. Following that he would hit it once and it was right were it needed to be. A version of the saying “I loosened it!” became the new joke.

The building in my mind seemed to go impossibly fast, as if a movie set in fast-forward was my reality. Before I knew it the house was together and we were rushing around on day 4 to do some finishing touches. And then we were filling their new home with furniture, toys, clothes, and food. 

And then it was there. All there to hit me – 6 inexperienced, Canadian teenage girls had built a home in less then a week. I had built a home for a family – my family. And as we all gathered around the front of the house in a large circle tears prickled the back of my eyes and my over-stretched smile threatened to push them out. It was time to hand the family their new set of keys and let them see the finished project of all their hard work. The home that keeps them safe and dry. We call this dedication day – and we slowly went around the circle telling the family the impact they have had in our lives. I was the third one in to speak. I had thought long and hard the night before about all the things I wanted to tell this family. I had so much to say; I wanted to tell them about their inspirational strength and hearts, and about the experiences we had together. But as I stood there, maybe silent a little too long as everyone stared at me to share my thoughts, looking into the faces of everyone who had worked along side of me and the beautiful family those words failed me. New ones took their place; better ones. Although I stuttered and the tears biting my cheeks made me far from a professional speaker, every word I said was true and were a lot more than words. I couldn’t repeat to you the words I said, my tears seemed to have wiped them clear from my mind. But I still have words in my mind that spring forward at the thought of this amazing family: Strong. Funny. Warm. Loving. Worthy. Dedicated. Beautiful. Fearless. Silly. Family. My Family – Mi Familia. 

It was hard-work, building was. But I don’t remember the sore muscles. I remember tilting my head back in laughter. I remember the hugs that were long, but not long enough. I remember seeing the smiles of the people I loved. 

-VIctoria, LiveDifferent Academy, Fall 2013

TEAM 2 VS. THE WORLD

One sunny day in the in the brisk air of autumn, in a province known for its rolling landscape of hills and mountains, known as BC; British Columbia there was a team of nine people who much like Christopher Columbus were discovering new worlds that they did not yet know of but were having an overwhelmingly exciting and educational time learning and exploring the newness of these lands. It was not only in the province of BC that they were expeditioning as for they had also been located earlier on in the previous hours in the lands of Saskatchewan; the flattened part of this country in which you can watch your dog run away for weeks, and Alberta; place of the big trucks, cracked wind shields and big oil farming industries. On this fine day they had adventured from Saskatchewan to BC with their great leader and captain, Father Jamie on their shipbus Black Cheta, the infamous yet trusty vessel that brought team 2 from place to place and journeyed with them as part of their team. It was the furthest towards the tip of the earth, known as north, which the team had ventured so far and the views surrounding Black Cheta were miraculous views of their fine country that some had not thought to be possible. The world was molded into a variety of shapes that would fit any idea a person could have; from the waves of an ocean to the imitation of the clouds, it was really quite the sight.

Now that the scene and the atmosphere have been set out it is time to address the activities of this time frame as much occurred in the several hours surrounding these days. They had performed an informational presentation at an institute for youngins to learn, and had a rather amazing experience at this location. Several members of team 2 had stellar conversations with the students of the high school after the show and they really sparked up some great talks that both participants will remember for years to come. As proof to this our other leader, Navigator Brittany, reconnected with students with whom she had become acquainted with the previous year. The impact that we had on the school was astounding to see and inspiring to all members. The students were well riled up during the time which the three boys in our team known as the Half Singing Chancers got up and made jams, that is music as they call it. Whilst Father Jamie was harvested into a new being known as Animal Master and lead an excersisional routine the crowd was right rowdy and just loved it. When other members told their stories the students leaked from their eyes with emotional connection. Overall the crowd was a jubilant jumping expanse of people seated on the gym floor, what an inspiration!

Another adventurous situation that occurred in the town that was quite confused as to what province it is in, known as Lloyd, is known as The Great Flood. One preposterously interesting day the team was wonderfully constructive; the girls got stuff done with Father Jamie and Half Jordan such as shopping for items and off-road cart racing and the Singing DJ and Chancers Ryan killed zombies on a screen. Our fearless leader concluded that Black Cheta needed an automated bath, but the machinated location bath which he decided to cleanse our tranporter with had it out for the two. As the bath started and the two were stuck in it the water from the showerbath started to pour into the bus! Father Jamie gunned it out of the bath and into the sunny world, only to realize that the innards of Black Cheta were wet and the vocal system for our ship was broken. Oh how would we have our sing-alongs and dance parties during the long hours in which we traveled from town to town?! Have no fear! Our leader’s motto/most said saying is “I can fix this!” and so he did. He healed the vocal cords of the bus and that evening we had a noise record breaking dance/sing-along party. It was a fine day in the realm of team 2’s world and all was well in their part of the universe.

Taken from this blog story informational piece should be that team 2 is awesome. And BC is best experienced the same way as life; driving through it and seeing it all from a close up distance. Also please realize that we do not intake any substances that will affect our wellbeing and are thus known as illegal.

The end.  

Beth, LiveDifferent Academy Student, Fall 2013

Hit the Road

There’s one “Chelsea” in every crowd

Hakuna Matata

This is It!

Overture, curtains, and lights – this is it the night of nights. No more rehearsing and nursing our parts for we know every part by heart – at least we hope!

It’s been 2 weeks since Thomson and I bounded into the Magill house here in Hamilton and what a couple of weeks it has been. There are 13 Academy students (all girls) along with three road team assistants (2 girls, 1 boy), and two bands (6 boys). If you lost count that’s 22 people in total. We have 2 kitchens and 3 bathrooms, which makes the morning routine quite an interesting one. All of the Academy students are amazing women from right across the country and together we make a really dynamic team of young people ready to create change.

Our first night together before we tackle the grocery store

The staff here in Hamilton didn’t wait to start to get us involved in everything LiveDifferent. On the first day together we were teamed up and put to the challenge of an epic photo scavenger hunt. Throughout the afternoon we ran around the downtown of Hamilton looking to make new friends, dance the hokey pokey with children, and complete random acts of kindness. We made complete fools of ourselves but it was an amazing time and a great way to be introduced to all the culture Hamilton has to offer.

Scavenger hunt item – fit all your team members under a bench

Later in the week the co-founder of LiveDifferent, Christal Earle, sat all of us down and encouraged each of us to share what life event had brought us to this program. After crying our way through almost two jumbo boxes of Kleenex we had all spilt our guts. You could tell very quickly the dynamic of the group change – these ladies were no longer friends, they were family. No matter what each of us had or hadn’t been through we all came together to support, encourage, and empathize. No one was left out, no one felt alone. It was a tough day but we got through it – together.

Working on stories with the ladies.

Most of my time over the past two weeks has been spent at a local church in Burlington that used to be a popular nightclub. Although it’s a little rough around the edges it has become our second home here. We spend hours each day setting up and tearing down stage sets, learning all the parts the make up a show, and practicing speeches. All of the storytellers have written and memorized their story and the show is looking amazing. Jamie, Johnny, and staff have worked really hard on all the videos that are in this year’s production and they have all turned out really great. I can’t wait to get the students’ reaction to them on Tuesday (that’s right – we start our GTA tour on Tuesday). I’ve been amazed and impressed these past few days as I’ve watched my fellow students really strive towards excellence and because of that make huge leaps and bounds in everything that they’re doing.

Our stage all set up ready to begin rehearsal.

As I sit here tonight listening to kids play in the backyard next door, the chatter of giggly girls from downstairs, and airplanes overhead, I can’t help but feel different then I did when I sat on my own back deck in Barrie just two weeks ago. With the help and support of these girls I’ve gained the courage to share publicly parts of my story that I have spoken to very few people about. I think for the first time in a long time I’m starting to recognize why I was put on this earth and that there is much more to my story.

Last night with the Mexico girls at a local hangout spot

Stay tuned for so many more exciting adventures!

XOXO

Michelle & Thomson – LiveDifferent Academy Volunteer and Awesome Seeing-Eye Dog, Team 1, Fall 2013

LiveDifferent in the News: Powassan debates money for international charity

Read the story of how one of our LiveDifferent Academy Student’s got support from her hometown!

http://www.northbaynipissing.com/2013/08/powassan-debates-money-for-international-charity/

Coffee, Rock Stars, and Thrift Stores

A Day To Remember

The LiveDifferent Academy students have spent two days working in Mexico in the raspberry fields as part of their shack experience. They got up at 4 am each day and worked long days alongside the locals picking berries and weeding the plants and then went home to their shack in the evening.  Keep reading to find out more about what they thought and felt and to hear some stories of a few of the amazing people they met along the way!

The field was an interesting experience.  I don’t want to imagine what it’s like getting up every single day and doing that kind of work.  After two days I was done.  My knees were toast.  I am truly thankful to have had my eyes opened to how hard people work for such little money to feed, clothe, and provide for their families. Unlike yesterday, today we were able to keep up the pace with the rest of the workers and got a chance to work in rows beside the locals.  When I think about how much time the locals spend in the fields, it’s overwhelming.  It’s cold here in the morning, gets very hot in the afternoon, and the work is very physical.  Yet somehow, they manage to get up and do it everyday with a smile.  I was unprepared for how welcoming the local fieldworkers would be.  They not only shared smiles among themselves but even with us.  They happily helped us learn our jobs and didn’t hesitate to share their lunch at mealtime.  Not only were the people I worked alongside determined, but they were so many other things as well.

We met many people today.  Here are a few of their stories:

I met Eva, she has four teenage daughters who are fifteen, sixteen, seventeen, and eighteen years old.   Today she was working with the youngest one.  They were sharing one pair of gloves between the two of them.  They were so sweet and  I ended up giving them my pair of gloves at the end of the day.  Eva asked me lots of questions and I told her that next year I will be going to university in Canada.  She got really excited when I told her this and started asking me what I wanted to study.  I told her that I wasn’t sure yet and she gave me a strange look and started listing all the possible choices: doctor, lawyer, construction worker etc.  I just smiled and nodded.  Wow.  That was a big “aha” moment for me.  It really put things in perspective and the contrast between my life and Eva’s life was unbearable.  Living in Canada I have the incredible, amazing opportunity to study whatever I want so that I can have a job to make money and be successful.  Eva is stuck working here to provide for her four children who are destined to a similar fate. I can only imagine her greatest wish is to see her kids go to school, get an education and build a life for themselves that is better than the one she is living.  I am no different than any of Eva’s daughters, yet I seem to have the world at my feet simply because I was born in a different part of the world.  And even upon knowing this, Eva and the rest of the workers treated me only with kindness and grace.  I have gained a whole new respect for field workers and their families. 

I also met Jose today.  After talking with him I thanked him for helping me so much with the berries and teaching me what to do.  He simply said, “That’s what we do.  Help others.”  And it made me realize that raspberry picking and the people that I met at the field have taught me so much in such a short time.  I learned about teamwork and how everyone can’t move on to a new section without finishing the prior section completely.  Even if you have finished your row, you go back and help someone else with their row.  And so we help each other and there is a joy from being helped and helping others and seeing their eyes crinkle up in a smile as they acknowledge this.

I met Rosio and Anna when we were picking alongside each other and they were arguing over who was going to ask for my name.  Finally one got the courage to ask me and they asked me many more questions.  It was refreshing because it seems that we as foreigners always initiate most of the smiles, waves, and “Holas”.  But at the fields, everything felt different and I felt so much more like myself and I truly experienced what I’ve heard everyone say about Mexicans being helpful, sharing, and happy.  I found out Anna has worked here for a year and Rosio for 2-3 years.  We talked about music and when they asked who I listened to, I told them I liked Taylor Swift, and guess what, Anna loves her too!  They also like Justin Bieber.  It took some time for me to understand who they were talking about because they pronounced his name “Hoostin”. 

It was a little sad saying goodbye today because I knew we wouldn’t be back again. I won’t forget those who are at the raspberry fields.  When I wanted to just stop working under the heat and the strain of my back I remembered that those around me do this everyday.  At one point, Rosio and Anna asked if I liked working here and I said “Yes” because I could not bring myself to say otherwise.  I asked them back and they said “Yes” as well.  I can’t help but wonder, there must be something else they would rather be doing with their lives.  They have so much potential.  It was truly an honor to work alongside these people today and get to know them.  They show such perseverance and strength and are still able to find joy in life.  It was definitely a day to remember.

LiveDifferent Academy Students, 2013 Spring Shack Week

Hamper Shopping in Mexico

The first weekend that we here in Mexico, “hamper shopping” was introduced to my vocabulary. The Give Different Campaign over the winter holiday had raised enough money to give every family that had received a new house in 2012 an opportunity to receive a generous amount of groceries and other household supplies.

We picked the families up in our mini-bus and brought them to the local supermarkets. Our role as Academy students was to follow a family and help keep track of the amount that they were spending. Even though grocery shopping seemed like a very mundane task, I wanted to learn something from it. My passion in life has always been to connect with others through empathy (the ability to identify with another person’s situations or feelings), so I set a personal goal to be an interested observer of how a Mexican family’s shopping list might differ from my own.  If nothing else, I would get to see what constitutes the ingredients for Mexican food!

Armed with a calculator in one hand and a shopping cart in another, I followed the families as we navigated the narrow aisles of the crowded store. Fifteen families later, there were some noticeable winners of the “most sought after items”. Flour was incredibly popular because tortillas are such an integral part of their daily meals. The majority of the houses were without electricity so few of the families bought meat and milk because there wasn’t anywhere to store them. I never stopped to think about the role that a fridge played in my life but it allows me to keep foods fresh, whereas that day, the shopping carts were being filled with mostly nonperishable items.

Other than the basic necessities of food, the families also got to buy things that might otherwise have been more luxury items. So many loaded up on cleaning supplies and I reveled in each item’s potential to add more comfort and health into their lives. I was told that the price of eggs had recently gone up thus making them less affordable. But, on the bumpy ride home, most families kept safe a tray of eggs in their laps.

At the end, we helped unload bags and bags of groceries into their kitchens and each family expressed the most sincere gratitude. I tried to imagine what must have been going through their minds as we shopped.  How did they feel having more groceries than they could carry? Do they have more pressing things in life that they are now able to pay for like land payments and other bills? My mind worked frantically wanting to get to the bottom of exactly what an impact receiving a hamper made to these families.

In retrospect, I realized that the entire experience was made up of moments of shared gratitude. It was the perfect way to get right into the community. We got to visit the family’s houses and took in the additions that they had built to make them their own. We shook many, many hands, and played with the kids. Our newly learned Spanish phrases were put to the test. Finally, we smiled as the families told us how their lives have changed since living in their new homes.

Throughout it all, I could hardly wrap my head around how lucky I was to be a part of the shopping process. Food is such an essential part of a human being’s daily life. Thanks to the generous donors of the Give Different Campaign, we were able to be with the families as they picked out exactly what fulfilled their greatest needs and desires.  I witnessed money, something that is so commonly associated with greed and consumerism in our society today, being put towards helping people who are now the first friends that we made in the community. I held on to their names and faces because even though I could not absorb quite what this gift means for the families, I felt joy knowing their stomachs will be more satisfied and that their houses will be cleaner. A week into Mexico, I already felt so at home because of the people that I have encountered. These are the people who made an ordinary, everyday process seem extraordinary.