Shack Day # 2
Today was day 2 of the School of Leadership shack experience, where the students had the opportunity to work a common local job, rock picking. Have you ever been to public places and noticed the perfectly smooth black rocks that are often found in planters and in other for other landscaping purposes? There is a good chance that those rocks have come from this part of the world.The students woke up this morning, made some eggs and tortillas over an open fire, then met me at the highway at 7:00 am. We drove down to the beach and met up with about fifteen other workers to pick rocks for the next 8 hours. They had to dig through the rocks, find all the similar rocks of the same size, same color and with few blemishes. They loaded 20 bags of black rocks throughout the day. Each bag is worth about 80 cents, so therefore they would have earned a total of $16 for the whole day. Not a great daily wage divided by five people. Talking with one of the workers that was on site, he normally fills about 25 bags per day, which is still not a great wage. 
By the end of the day the students were exhaust, with worn out finger tips. Most of the students found that the hardest part of the job was staying focused and motivated on the task. They found a great respect for the workers that do this for a living day in and day out.
Today was the first day of The Shack Experience. This is where the School of Leadership students try to simulate a first hand physical and emotional experience of living in poverty. For seven days they live in a shack that they built themselves out of cardboard, sticks and other scrap that they have found on the streets. The wake up early in the mornings, start a fire, make breakfast, make a lunch and head off to work for they day. They walk to where a bus would normally pick up workers, and that is where I meet them and take them to their jobs. Each day the students have a different job that is 
typical for the local Mexican people. All jobs are hard labor and offer very little satisfaction upon completion. They will be spending a day working in the fields picking strawberries, a day sorting through river rocks and packaging the nice ones, a day clam digging in the ocean and also a day cleaning out a bean field.Today was their first day, they woke up at 5:00am, prepared for the week and were at their shacks by 6:00am. They walked 3kms to drop of their pretend children at school and then met me at the highway. I took them down to the beach and they spent the first few hours loading the truck full of rocks so they could later place them in different areas around the yard. After a few loads of that, they were able to have a lunch break and then right 
back to work. A few of them swept our large drive way, others sorted through nails, others dug a trench. At 4:00 pm, I drove them back to the highway, gave them their pay and off to the grocery store they went to buy food for supper, breakfast and lunch. After all of their pay deductions for the day, like rent, school supplies, and water bills, they were only left with approximately $15 for food for all five of them. They ate a bit of spaghetti for supper and then got ready for bead. They said they were pretty worn out from the day. Partially due to the heat but mostly they were not used to the work. I think they are looking forward to the challenge that is ahead of them. They seem pretty excited about the days to come.
Today we woke up after a late night of pranks and stories to a gentle sound of our door flying off its hinges thanks to Brett, telling us to get ready for another day of loads work and great fun. I slowly climbed out of my top bunk and noticed that the sun was shining, it was going to be another beautiful day in Vicente Guerrero. My roommates hustled to the kitchen because they have now gone 4 hours without ramming their guts with some food. I slide on my Daisy dukes and slowly slip the fruit of the loom undershirt on thanks to the lobster colored burn we received in our first battle against the scalding sun in quest for the perfect tan and make my way to the kitchen.We all fill our water bottles and file into the wagon and I sit in the back with my 5 amigos. We manage to finish our 384ounces of Redbull in the last 3 days which would account for the 10 hours of sleep since we left our homes in Canada. We arrive to the work site with eagerness and a sudden 2nd wind from the late nights and over consumption of Redbull. We quickly meet the family with a strong hand shake and an attempt at the Spanish they only understand.
We jumped right in the work and threw the walls up all thanks to our great leadership and great workmanship. The kids see the pale skinned Gringos and instantly we get a smile to our face no matter how early it is, another new face turns up on site and they set up shop to sell us Mexican sweaters and jewelry. When we started putting on the roof Hurricane Javier decided to blow strong, but the fierce winds are defeated by our perseverance and team work; we were not going to let those young children see any weakness from our Canadian spirit.We quickly break for lunch and drove to the Pemex so the ladies in the group could use the facilities; even though we have 2 on site both of which are perfectly acceptable..Arriving back to the family we didn’t let any time waste we got right to work…… playing with the lil’ tykes and trying to communicate with them but we quickly notice that they don’t take our Spanish serious at all. Some of our team pushed the kids on the swings and some started handing out chili watermelon suckers that were LiveDifferent (formerly Absolute)ly disgusting to our virgin taste buds but the kids loved them. We ran out within seconds but with their warm community spirit they shared with their brothers and sisters. One angel in our group thought she would spoil these Mexican bundles of joy a little more and told the couple kids she’d buy them ice cream.Word spread round the village and $40 Americano dollars later all the kids were happy and filled with cold cream.
We then busted our behinds and got the roof tarred and shingled and called it a day. Standing on the roof with Kayla, Cory, Rory, Deborah, Justice, Corbin and Kira working hard and having more fun then the board game Trouble. The feeling of a day’s job well done, laughter from the children, team bonding, and the sticky feeling of tar all over your body and beautiful clothing filled my heart and spirit.We all loaded the bus and thought of the wondrous day we just wrapped up.Now we sit around this computer screen reflecting on our day and listening to lightly played Jimmy Buffet we have some laughs and have some good reflecting time, drinking Redbulls like they are going out of style and planning our pranks on the first guy to fall asleep in our room. Today was awesome, everything from the opening of the school to piggy-back rides to the ice cream man selling out within minutes. Just another day for our holiday of heroes.~ Jordon, Justis, & Corbin (Hero Holiday Participants in Mexico)
Saturday April 3rd
else. They were grinning ear to ear and 
for the walls o
March 31, 2010Today was our third day on the work site of our school build. It was definitely our most productive day so far as we put up all the walls and roof. We also painted and placed the play ground structure, which was a hit with all the kids. The kids loved having us push them on the swings and there were many times when the kids would give me distinct directions in Spanish. I pretended as if I understood every word they were saying but I had no idea! Despite that fact, it was amazing to see the kids just having the time of their lives as they smiled from ear to ear. The trip started as just building a school for these kids but it’s safe to say that playing with the kids and the excitement they bring to our trip is constantly a highlight to of each my days here in Mexico.~ Brock
Today was pretty cool. We actually put together a whole school! How crazy is that? It felt so good to do something so substantial, or visible for lack of a better word. I know all the little menial stuff, like painting and nailing, is important too, but actually putting together all the pieces really lets you see all the hard work that was put into the process. It is a good feeling knowing that we are helping to educate future generations in this community.~ AlisonToday was a big day! It started off with chocolate chip pancakes and bacon (Mmmm!) I got the fun job of painting for the entire day. Painting all the beautiful bright colors on the play ground has been my highlight so far. It was super windy again today so paint was flying everywhere. Because of this, we were covered in paint at the end of the day. It was oil based so we had to wipe it off with paint thinner. Sorry Mom, I’m gonna need some more shorts when we get back home. Then we painted the inside of the school, slowly people left to nail on the roof, and it was only me and Anders painting. It felt like it would never end. When we finally thought we had finished, we were told it needed a second coat! Overall it was a great day ending with yummy flauttas (Mexican meal).~ Janelle
Tuesday March 30, 2010 
