Carson Graham – Day 6 – In Their Shoes

Today was a hard day. As a group we saw a lot of difficult things and worked alongside some very strong people. Today we went and worked in a garbage dump to pick out recyclables. This activity is called In Their Shoes, because it is able to give us a bit of a glimpse at how some of the people live. 

When we drove into the dump the first thing I noticed was the flies. Then the smell. And then the size. And then the people. I had never been to a garbage dump before, so I had no idea what to expect. The dump was much bigger than I had pictured, and very flat with most of the ground covered in trash. When we got off the buses a couple kids came over and stood by us. One little boy walked over and grabbed my hand. He became my partner for the next few hours!

Before we came we were told that many Haitians and Dominicans worked in the garbage dump and that it was hard labour. These are the types of people that you may think of when you think about poverty. But seeing it in person was so different than hearing a number or a fact. These people have names, faces, families, and stories. The boy I worked with was only 10 years old and his name was Manuel. What we needed to do was to search through the garbage for plastic bottles that he could trade in for money for his family. 10 year old is so young to have that kind of a responsibility. When he told me his age I thought back to my brother at home who is almost the same age and I couldn’t imagine him being in this place. I hate that, how there is such a disparity in the world. How some kids can live easily and go to school and play sports, while others like Manuel have to work in a dump. From the dump you could also see a beautiful view. This made me think of how often we go on vacation to places of poverty but don’t see beyond what is in front of our eyes. There is so much beauty, but there is also so much poverty. And this is something a lot of people can’t see or choose not to acknowledge. 

What stood out to me was how young and innocent this boy was and how fast he had to grow up. While we were working he seemed so sure of himself and confident. We were waking down the road when a military man drove by. Manuel stood very close to me and held my hand again. I hope that today I was able to show him that people care about him and that it’s ok for him to still be a little boy. But at the end of the day we went back to our resort and Manuel went back to his home. I may have helped him a bit but this will probably be his job for most of his life and that hurts. 

Finally The moment the stood out to me the most, and made me the most sad and angry about this life was when the translator was asking him some questions for me. I asked him what he liked to do for fun, and he didn’t understand what that meant. This broke my heart. How could a 10 year old boy not know what fun is. After a lot of explaining he told me that he liked to listen to music. This cheered me up because music is something important to me too. This is also something he can have forever. While we were working so many people were singing and it really helped make the day a little bit better. I think this experience was one of the most eye opening I have ever had. I really loved being able to help out Manuel and really feel what it was like to be a Haitian or Dominican in poverty. 

Sarah – LiveDifferent Hero Holiday Volunteer, Dominican Republic, 2013

Carson Graham – Day 5, still on the worksite!

Today was another eventful day on the worksite!  After breakfast we loaded back up on the trucks and headed out. The worksite is surrounded by beautiful forest and palm trees, and there are chickens running around everywhere!

We picked up where we left off yesterday creating long assembly lines to bring “caliché” and sand into the house mixing endless mounds of concrete. It’s hard work but everyone works together and smiles through the tougher times with the motivation that we want to finish the house for Mama and Freddie. They are really amazing people and it seems that they are sort of the heart of the community.

The team has really started to become closer and better friends over the course of this trip as well.  After a few hours we drove up to meet the other half of the group at monkey jungle for lunch, and once we were refueled, we went back to the worksite and continued. It was hotter today, but we were briefly relieved by some cool rain in the morning. In the afternoon we were visited by some local kids and we played frisbee and soccer together, despite the language barrier, which was fun. So far this trip has been an amazing experience and I’m looking forward to the rest!  

Taylor – LiveDifferent Hero Holiday Volunteer, Dominican Republic, 2013

Carson Graham – First Day at the Worksite

Today was our first day at the worksites! 10 of us were at Monkey Jungle, working on a dental clinic, and the rest of us were building for Mama, a woman in one of the villages that LiveDifferent partners with. I was building for Mama, and boy, was that hard work. We made cement, carried cinder blocks, and had endless assembly lines of various rocks, sand, and something in between the two.

I thoroughly enjoyed working and giving my all, but it was Mama’s beautiful, radiant smile that kept me going. Seeing the people that our blood, sweat, and tears are going to help makes it impossible to give in to fatigue or pain.

After working, we hung around the resort, ate dinner, debriefed, and did some karaoke. It was a ton of fun and I definitely over-stayed my welcome on the stage, that’s for sure! Nevertheless, it was a great day full of work, smiles and laughs, leaving me to fall more in love with the Dominican Republic. The country is stunning, the people are incredible and I couldn’t be happier. It’s only the first couple days and I cannot wait to see what else this beautiful place has in store for us all!

Chloe – LiveDifferent Hero Holiday Volunteer, Dominican Republic 2013

Carson Graham Awareness Tour

Today was an absolutely incredible day. First we visited a school LiveDifferent built and played with all the students. They were so happy to play with us, even though they were much better than us at basketball! Afterwards, we took the bus to the village of La Union, where the people who work at the garbage dump lived. As our bus pulled up, tons of kids began running after our bus, so excited to see us. I felt so welcomed. Once we got off the bus, kids grabbed our hands, wore our sunglasses, and climbed onto our shoulders.

We began to walk through the village, and a little girl named Samantha saw me and came running into my arms. I carried her through the village as she sang and laughed. When the sad time came to leave, I attempted to put her down and she locked her legs around me. It took me pulling and one of the translators tickling Samantha for her to finally give in! As we pulled away on our buses the kids once again ran behind and it was such a warm, welcoming feeling. I will never forget how welcomed and joyous those children made me feel!

–  Isabella – LiveDifferent Hero Holiday Volunteer, Dominican Republic 2013

In Their Shoes…

Yesterday’s visit to the garbage dump was quite different than what we had experienced before. Maybe it has been one of the most intense for me. The mixture of emotions that I felt there is difficult to explain, but I’ll try my best…Before leaving, we had a meeting with Nettie, where she explained how we needed to prepared for the day. The people who work in the dump are mostly of Haitian origin and are adults and some children who live in a nearby neighborhood. Because of their illegal status, gathering recyclables in the dump one of the few jobs that they can do, but they make very little money out of it. On that morning it was going to be our job to help these people collect as many recyclable plastics as possible, adding even a little to their daily wage. 

As we were getting close to the dump, the smell of the garbage made me nauseous. I told to myself : “Eliana you need to control yourself. You are here to help this people and give your 100%!” As we got out of the truck, one of the first people that approached us was a kid who everybody calls “Chichi,” who Nettie had told us earlier was the youngest person working at the garbage dump. He choose me to work with, and I was really happy to help him. We started to walk, and we were able to talk back and forth a little bit in Spanish. I felt so much respect for that kid. Just to see him there, so young, only 7 years old, very focused on what he was doing, showing me which bottles were good for recycling. While we were searching for plastic bottles, Chichi found a small plastic yellow ball, and close to that, a wood stick. He was very excited about it, we played some baseball there. It was so strange how in the middle of this chaos, he still was a kid, eager to play, eager to have a good time! 

In one of the garbage bags, Chichi found a zip-lock bag containing two bread rolls and one croissant. He gave it to me to put it in the bag with all of the other recyclables. I really didn’t understand why but I followed what he ordered. Minutes later the big bag was full and it was time to deliver it to where he and his family kept all the collected recyclables. When we got there, an older woman was sitting on a plastic bucket, trying to have some shade under a triangular tarp. Chichi told me she was, “mi abuela,” his Grandma. He opened the bag and rummanged inside until he found the zip-lock bag with the bread. With such a proud on his face Chichi gave the bread to the grandma. This was something that touched my heart.

When it was time to get back on the truck, I remember how my eyes were getting full of tears, and I was trying very hardly to hold back from crying. That was the moment that everything came together in a mix of emotions. What about Chichi, I wondered, what would it be his life in a couple of years? Would he be able to live the kind of life that every kid deserve? Would he be able to go to school? Would he be a healthy kid? Will he have dreams and ambitions? Will he have more opportunities to have a better life one day?  Will he have hope that things could change? And moreover, how many Chichi’s are there or will be there very soon? How many will have the same future? I left that place with a feeling of high respect for these people, and I realized that a plastic bottle is never going to look the same to me again. 

Eliana – LiveDifferent Volunteer, Domincan Republic Christmas 2012

Indescribable!

One day earlier this year, I was searching the web for something special to do with my daughter over the past summer. The link that came up for ‘LiveDifferent’ completely caught my attention, and I had to click on it. The more I read, the more interested and enthusiastic I became to participate . The ideas and concepts that were demonstrated on this website were something that my husband Carlos and I have been looking for for a long time. We have always wanted to make a difference in the world, we just didn’t know how. One of the things we considered was to travel to Venezuela, the country that we are originally from, to help the poorest people there. However, since Venezuela is one of the most dangerous countries in the world due to criminal activity, we decided it wasn’t a good idea. This is why the discovery of LiveDifferent was awesome. The next day I showed the website to Carlos, and he seemed very  excited about it too. Days after we talked to the kids about it, they felt it was fantastic. We were very proud about their reactions.  A week later, we started to come up with ideas about fundraisers that could help meet our goal to collect as much money as we possibly could for this project.

That dream became a reality and today we are in Sosua, Republica Dominicana, on the Hero holiday program, and I can honestly say that this has been the most spiritual and meaningful trip of my entire life The sensations, feelings and emotions I am experiencing are indescribable. It is one thing to watch a short commercial or documentary, showing  how poor people are living, but it is entirely another to experience it in reality. This experience is something tangible. You see the faces, you smell the dirty garbage all around you, and you try to interact with these people as much as you can to make them feel important! I have realized with this experience, that although it is true that we are giving these families a  wonderful gift by building them a nice home, that for me it is also a wonderful gift  knowing that my family, other volunteers and myself, are making a difference together for the lives of these people. 

Today I had a very joyful moment with Carmen, the woman whose home we are building. As I was smoothing concrete on to the wall, I couldn’t help but notice Carmen, in her future room, walking around, with the biggest smile that I ever saw on her face. I asked her what  was on her mind and she said, “this is something that I’ve always been yearning for . Every time that it rained, the river close to my house would overflow and all the water would barge into the house. Some rainy nights I would stick my finger on the floor and in that moment I knew that as soon as I woke up my house would be flooded with water, not knowing how I’d be able to get out of bed. I lost everything, my bed, my clothes, my furniture. Everything!  Now with this new house, I will be able to watch the rain through the window, feeling calm and safe, knowing that water won’t ever barge into the house like that ever again. God bless you all for everything you are doing for us.” I told her how glad I was and she gave me a kiss on the cheek. We gave each other a big hug. Her smile and the hope in her eyes made my day! Carmen’s son Juan Carlos, will be in the room next to hers. I also had a short conversation with him. He also talked to me about the whole water situation and the struggle that they’ve had trying to keep the house together. Juan Carlos proudly expressed to me his love for math and how he’s studying in the university to become a math teacher. He also said how focused he is to meet his goal . As he was explaining all his dreams to me, the hope in his eyes were priceless . The look of joy and gratitude on his face were indescribable. My best wishes to Juan Carlos!

It is only the second day participating in this project of  LiveDifferent, but I feel  that my soul and spirit have gratefully enlightened themselves, not only for the new hope we are giving to this family and for the difference we are marking in their lives, but also for all the beautiful children in Aguas Negras that receive us with open arms and gorgeous smiles:)

– Eliana – LiveDifferent Volunteer, Dominican Republic Christmas 2012/2013 

Christmas in Dominican!

Right now I’m sitting on the bed in my hotel room at Sosua by the Sea, faintly hearing Nicolas (one of the servers) singing beautifully as he cleans the dining hall. Hearing him sing makes me love the Dominican culture and love this country even more. It makes me relax and want to sleep after a hard day of work. 

Changing The World One Heart at a Time

It all started when I got an email at work saying that Westjet had partnered with an organization called LiveDifferent, and that they were sending 50 lucky Westjetters on an amazing journey called Hero Holiday. I have never heard of them before, but it sounded great! I wanted so badly to apply, but with two small kids, and with the first trip being held during Easter Vacation, it was just not the right time for me. Fast forward about four months, there was another email “We are going again!!“ I decided that I would apply this time, thinking that out of about 200 Westjetters that applied, I would never get picked, but at least I would know that I had tried. So, when I got the call from my manager saying that I got picked I was in shock – I was so incredibly happy, and yet terrified at the same time! What had I gotten myself into?  

Before I left, I had an idea of the hard work I was in for, and knew that I would make some good  friends while we got to spend 10 days in a beautiful country. I thought I would come back feeling refreshed and have a great story to tell. Wow, I could not have been more wrong about how I would feel. I came home with so many different emotions that I was not expecting when I left. I was so happy to be home, but also so sad at the same time. I was angry and frustrated at the many, many things that we take for granted here in Canada. I was homesick for my family and friends that I had just developed such an amazing bond with. I was exhausted, not just physically, but so completely emotionally and mentally exhausted. I remember having a conversation with my husband about a week after I got back where he said ‘I feel like not all of you came home.’ Up until that point, I couldn’t really put my finger on how I was feeling. I realized that so much of me didn’t come home, that a huge piece of my heart had stayed in Dominican, but it is also spread itself 50 different ways all across Canada, from Yellowknife to Newfoundland, with all the amazing new friends that I had made. I did not expect to make the incredible connections and wonderful friendships that I did. I have to say, I was a bit nervous heading into this trip with not even one person that I had met before. It was a gigantic step out of my comfort zone, but I soon came to realize that it didn’t matter. We were all there for the same reason, and we automatically had a connection with each other.

A Haitian Vacation – Frantzo’s first visit to Canada

This November 15^th Frantzo Begin left the island of Hispaniola for the first time to see the vast country of Canada. There were many firsts on this trip for Frantzo…his first time:
 

• seeing snow

• flying for longer then 45minutes (Did you know that Vancouver is further from Toronto then Puerto Plata?!)

• eating sushi

• being up as high as the CN Tower

• having a surprise party!

• seeing an Imax movie: James Bond – Skyfall

• going to a hockey game (no not NHL but a great game! Thank you Jon and Christy!)

• attending the WestJet Christmas Party

• visiting the Stanley Park Aquarium with our friends from Boston Pizza

• seeing the rocky mountains in Banff and riding up in the gondola

• doing the flight simulator at WestJet and landing the plane (Cole and I make a good team)

• viewing a LiveDifferent presentation

We asked Frantzo a few questions about his visit here, and wanted to share his answers with you.

What did you learn about Canada on your visit?

I learned just how friendly and welcoming Canadians are. The road systems are so much more organized than back home. I loved the food and think I gained some weight! I also learned that it can get very, very, cold (Calgary brrrr!) Canada is so big and every city I visited was very different from the other. 

What was your favourite experience?

I had so many experiences on this trip and don’t know how to pick a favourite, but if I have to pick just one I would say going to the WestJet Christmas party. There were so many people there and the circus performers that were the entertainment for the night were amazing. But more than that, I loved seeing everyone I had met on past Hero Holidays. It was so nice for me to visit them in their own country, and I felt so loved!

What did you think of SNOW? How will you describe it to your family back home?

Snow seems to be a normal thing to accompany the cold. It kinda makes the cold seem ok. I will tell my family to open the fridge and look at that ice that collects in the back when it gets cold. Maybe I will break some off and throw a snow ball at my son Gracely!

What have you learned on this trip that will help you as you continue to work with LiveDifferent in the Dominican Republic and Haiti?

It was amazing to come to Canada and I felt very blessed. Seeing the LiveDifferent office and getting to see one of their presentations at a high school really helped me understand more of what we do as an organization. I am so happy to belong to such an amazing organization like LiveDifferent who loves and takes care of their employees and it makes me want to work hard to represent them in the best way possible. I am proud of my job and love doing the work we do!

Anything else you want to say?

Honestly, many papers and pens would be needed to describe my happiness and my thanks to everyone who make my trip possible. There are no words that can express my gratitude to you all. You made me feel so welcome and cared for. It was an honour and a pleasure for me to be around each one of you these past three weeks. I hope to return the hospitality if you come to visit Haiti or the DR. If I didn’t get to see you, don’t worry, I will be back in January (8 – 17) for the LiveDifferent staff retreat and to visit some more. I’m excited to see Niagara Falls and do some skiing for the first time too!

– Frantzo, Nettie, and Cole – Hero Holiday Dominican Republic and Haiti Staff

Rainforest respite

After an emotionally charged morning spent at the Sosua garbage dump, an afternoon in the Dominican rainforest offered a well-deserved break, as well as a great opportunity for some team bonding.