Hero Holiday Medical Team and Hurricane Irene

Today was very gut wrenching! (to say the least). As some of you may know, Hurricane Irene hit the coast of the Dominican Republic last night (August 22nd). While all of our team members stayed safe and sound in the resort, which is a strong cinder block structure built to withstand hurricanes, we couldn’t help but think of many of the families in the community of Neuvo Renacir where we’d been working.

These families live in conditions that are difficult at the best of times, and during hurricane season, many of them lose or sustain serious damage to their homes. As we compared stories in the morning, the team found that most of us did not sleep because the rain, wind, and waves were so loud. I myself kept thinking about what it would be like to be a mother with children in either Nuevo Renacir or La Union, villages where many of the houses are made of wood and metal scraps fashioned together that simply cannot withstand extreme weather. It would have been truly frightening.

This morning our team leaders thought it would be better that we all stay in while people were cleaning up the streets and any power lines that had fallen. We cancelled the clinic we had scheduled for the day, as most people were not in the frame of mind to attend it, as they were more focused on cleaning up the streets and their homes.

In the afternoon we headed over to the village of Nuevo Renacir to see how we could help. Most of the community was fine and the rain water had receded but as we turned the corner to get the ocean all you could see was garbage and debris everywhere. Some of the houses we had seen just three days ago were half gone. The waves were still really big too, most of us got splashed once or twice by them and got soaked. We divided into two groups and helped to move three families’ belongings out of their destroyed homes and into a dry church around the corner. Everything they owned was wet and dirty. They had all the garbage that was washed in from the storm by the ocean in their houses too.

I got to sit down with the mother of one of the families, Margalina, and asked her how she felt about what had just happened. Margalina, her husband, and two children, have lived in their ‘ocean view’ house in Nuevo Renacir for the past three years. Whenever it rained their house and belongings would all get wet and ruined. There have been times when the waves have gotten close to their home in the past too. She said that the storm had started around 8pm for them, and a cousin later came and got the family to stay in his home during the storm, as it was further away from the water. They did not sleep the entire night because of the noise and fear for their home. Now that their house has been destroyed and all their belongings damaged, Margalina seemed like she was in shock, and yet said that the family plans to fix and clean the house and move back in when it is ready.

Our team also spent some time moving large logs, rocks, tires, and other debris that the ocean had washed ashore in order to build breaks so the waves would not wash up into the homes even more. Water logged branches are heavy!! By the time we left the waves were being held at bay. I am so proud of our team, they worked their butts off!!! On the bus ride home everyone was pretty sober. One team member, Alex, had this to say:

We all struggled to hold back tears as we transferred anything salvagable to a church near by. Were are fortunate enough to be able to return to a comfortable hotel after a few hours of work but the people of Nuevo Renacir never have that option.

Hero Holiday is committed to the community of Nuevo Renacir, and while we are happy to say that all of the homes we built this summer are still standing safe and strong after Hurricane Irene, there are so many other families in this village who constantly live at risk of devastation by natural disasters such as this. The silly thing is that it’s entirely preventable. If families have homes that are well-built, with proper materials, and are located far enough away from shore, they would be able to avoid all but the most extreme catastrophes.

Hero Holiday is determined to give the people of Neuvo Renacir that chance. Right now, we’re going to do what we can to meet the immediate needs of this community as they clean up and salvage what is left. But we will continue to build homes for deserving families in this town so that they won’t have to face the next hurricane in fear, and we need your help to do it! Please consider supporting us by clicking on the ‘donate’ button above, or think about attending a Hero Holiday trip yourself! You can bring hope, love, and change to this community!

– Nettie Brown, Hero Holiday Adminstrator

Dominican Medical Trip – First Medical Clinic

We woke up this morning a tad anxious but full of excitement about our first clinic of the trip. Knowing that we only had a certain amount of time to be able to run our first clinic, we left the resort with determination so we could be back with ample time before the weather started turning bad. This clinic’s location was a new one to Hero Holiday and was somewhat more remote than what previous trips had experienced. The community members were predominately Haitian, which created an excitement in our team as some of them are bilingual in French and could converse with some of the patients. The day started off smoothly with a little rain and because of our organizational skills plus the respect, positive attitude, and patience of our staff and the patient’s, our first clinic was a success. The community was very gracious for the medcine that they received, while the children got to enjoy the company and fun that our team was only too happy to give! The children loved the stickers and suckers they got after seeing the doctor (some things are the same in all cultures!).We would have loved to keep the clinic open all day but due to the weather we had to head back to the resort early. However, this didn’t stop the overwhelming help, hope, and appreciation that we exchanged with this Haitian community. ~ Megan, Emily, and Amanda

A Day In The Fields

Working in the tomato fields was probably the most emotional and hardest thing that I’ve done in Mexico this year. It began with the 4:30am alarm going off in the guys room. From the moment we got off the bus I could tell that this was going to be quite the culture shock. I took my first few steps on the dusty, dirty road and looked up to witness a sea of green with the occasional red speckle. There were around 75 Mexican workers ready at 6:00 in the morning to make the money that they needed to support their family, but little did they know they would be joined by some excited and friendly gringos. We were directed towards the area where we were to get our buckets and we couldn’t help but notice all of the glances coming our way. By no means were they stares of anger or frustration that we were working alongside them, but looks of interest and curiosity. Once we got our buckets it was time to go to work. Our job was to carefully pick through the rows of plants (known as homeworks in Mexico) and collect tomatoes that were beginning to ripen. The work was not physically demanding at first, but it soon became a lot harder than one would expect bending over all the time. You could see the agony and suffering on everyone’s faces as they went up and down picking up tomatoes. All of the workers were suffering from the pain and it began to slow them down.I shared a moment with one Mexican worker that was relatively the same age as me. I was cracking my back and I simply looked at him and he sighed showing that he was feeling the same effects as I was. I wish that I could talk to him about what I was feeling and express how sorry I am that he works in the fields all day. It makes me think that just because I was born in Canada I automatically have a higher standard of living. Canadians tend to take what they have for granted and I cannot stress that enough. I am 17 years old and I DO NOT have to work to provide for my family. I DO NOT have to prepare dinners while my parents are out working in the field. I DO NOT live on a low daily budget, making sure that I have enough money for food. These people get paid 120 Pesos a day, which is roughly 10 American Dollars. The minimum wage in Canada per hour is right around what these people make in a day. There is no other way to describe this other than ‘crazy’. How do these people live comfortably at all…the answer is they don’t. They struggle everyday to get by, but they always have a smile on their face and they are always the friendliest people.Towards the middle of our morning shift we began to struggle pretty hard, but our spirits were still up. As lunch was coming everyone was just about fried. We began to sit on the buckets while we were filling them, which took double the time per bucket. As lunch came along we piled onto the bus, finally thrilled that we had could rest. Santi came on the bus and asked us “How are you all feeling?” We heard the same response from everyone basically “Tired, sore, exhausted”. We had worked six hours, and even though we were not finishing the full nine hour shift, we were relieved to be going home.Later that day in debriefing we had a long discussion about what we had witnessed in the tomato fields. It was filled with lots of emotion. When you do something like that for 6 hours and realize that these people pick tomatoes for 9 hours a day everyday of the week, it is hard to put that into words. It was especially hard hearing that there were 13 and 14 year old girls in the fields picking tomatoes as well. Everything about this experience is just so difficult to transfer into words and it is easier to keep it just as thoughts, but when you do get it out, you feel much better. Working in the fields has forever changed my life, I have never had an experience like it before.By Liam McDonough

Boston Pizza Final Day – Happiness and Bright, Cheerful Paint!

Today we were so excited to go back to the homes we worked on, as after we leave every day the contractors work on the houses for about 3 more hours and we never know what they will have accomplished in our absence. This was our final day to work on the houses and we knew that we would be painting … the families had picked the colours of the outside and inside of the houses the day before and once we got there it was like opening a present to see the colours that we would painting the walls. All the colours in the Dominican are so bright and cheerful so we couldn’t wait to see the beautiful colours that would put the finishing touch on their home.Starting the day we filled up our water bottles, loaded up our backpacks, and jumped on the truck for the ride to Augas Negras. When we arrived we checked out the progress that had been made on the homes – once again we were amazed at how much was accomplished … the houses were ready to be painted! We each went into our homes and discovered the paint cans waiting to be opened, the brushes, rollers and trays. Before we could get started we had to sand down the walls… we were given a quick demonstration – go out and find a rock or piece of cement that is flat and in a circular motion go over everything that is going to be painted – who knew you could use cement to sand cement? Next – how to open the paint cans? We were handed a nail – and to our surprise it worked perfectly! With no stir sticks it was important to shake the can before we opened it. Since the floors were already finished and painted – we asked about drop cloths – this brought a smile to their face and we were told to look for cardboard, cement bags or plastic out and about the job site that we could use… and it is amazing at how creative you can be when needed, and it works out just fine. When we did get any paint on the floor it was important to wipe it up right away…from house two there was frequent cries for “Michelle” to come running with the sponge and water to clean up yet another paint drop on the floor!Throughout the day the crowds at the worksite increased…everyone was so excited to see the final product. The daughter that is going to live in one of the homes with her Mom and younger brother kept coming in the house and talking to her friends through the windows. She helped by holding the paint can and kept saying “Gracias” – she is so happy. Her family will live in this house – two rooms plus a bathroom – in total the house is about 20′ x 15′ – and they couldn’t be happier!The day went by so fast, and before we knew it, it was time to pack up and leave. We were so close to being done – two coats on all the walls and the outside of the house. What a transformation! the bright colours made such a difference…these buildings were now homes and ready to be moved into. None of us wanted to leave until the job was done, yet off we went, trusting that the contractors would finish the job just like they had done all week.Tomorrow we will be furnishing the homes, dedicating them to the families and celebrating with the community – what an amazing day it will be!Jacquie & Kathie

Boston Pizza Day 4 – Making Friends in the Garbage Dump

Last nights’ debriefing, unbeknownst to us, was an excellent preparation for today’s experience at the garbage dump. Talking about the sights, sounds and smells was one thing, but actually experiencing was something else. With anxious anticipation we loaded into the back of our open-aired truck, and bumped over the dirty and dusty road. No matter how bad we thought our ride was, it couldn’t compare to the daily walk for those who work at this dump site, as their only means of income.Coming face to face with the task at hand for the morning, we were partnered with many Haitian workers, who tenaciously survive in the midst of this wasteland. I was given the privilege of being partnered with a Haitain woman who welcomed me to join her in search of plastic bags and bottles amongst the rubbish. I now understand the true meaning of “one mans trash is another man’s treasure”. While they are paid practically nothing to collect recyclables, finding a bag of beans, a ripped packsack, or matching shoes brought them just as much hope. As we worked our way through the mounds of garbage, ripping bags, choosing or discarding contents, we began to converse in broken, Creole/French/Spanish – simple words to connect our lives, “Como se Llama?”, “Des enfants? Combien?” While our lives are not comparable, we discovered similarities in our different worlds. We worked companionably together sifting through the trash, deep in stench and buzzing flies, whacking the rumps of the rummaging cattle to clear them off the better piles of offerings. Once we had our bags filled, we would head up the small hill on the outskirts of the dump, where each of the workers made their own personal piles for the day. At one point Roslyn took my hand and led me to a place where she and 3 other women had made a great find – a very large bag of white beans which they gladly shared with each other.Many of us left the site barefoot and hatless, as our socks, shoes and hats were the only material things we felt we could offer under the immediate circumstances. Smiles and tears were shed on the silent bus ride home. After an emotionally draining morning we set off on any afternoon hike to a beautiful waterfall. The day finished up with an evening of kareoke making us mindful of how lucky we are.Cheryl

Scout Canada’s Build a Home Challenge!

An awesome group of scouts and leaders from Manitoba joined Hero Holiday in Mexico this summer for their ‘Build a Home Challenge’! While they’ve been keeping their own blog on www.scoutchallenge.ca we wanted to highlight some of their stories here, but make sure to check out their own site for the full versions!First Post From Mexico!Today is our second day in Mexico! So much has happened so far! After 2 days, we have put up the walls and most of the roofs on the houses. Each house is slightly different in it’s completion so far, but we are making good progress. Tomorrow our goal is to shingle the roofs, install the paneling/trim, and re-paint. We still have to build and paint the additional interior wall. The families are great, and have been so willing to help, and have been so happy, it has been just amazing. The awe and excitement in each family member just makes you smile, Even though most of us cannot speak Spanish, it has been incredible how easily we have been able to communicate with each other. (We do have a translator, but he is not always present). The contrast between life here in Mexico, and life in Canada, is just…unfathomable. The sheer poverty here is overwhelming, and the lack of hope can crush even the strongest soul. By building these homes for this family, we are giving the a step up from the deep pit of poverty, and giving them the means to make for themselves a far better life. We are giving them hope.House build Complete!We have completed the construction of the houses today! Some of our team members went shopping today for the new beds, mattresses, and other furnishings for the home, all of which we will be installing tomorrow. The plan is to take the families out for ice cream while other members move in all the furnishings, and that way they everything will be a surprise. Each family will also be getting somewhere around 2 roosters, 8 chickens, and 5 fruit trees, each. We also found out today that each family is behind in payments for their land plots, and all chipped in money (about $750) to split between helping each family with their rent. On top of all that we brought a bunch of gifts for the families from Canada, which we will also be presenting to them. One thing that touched me in a special way was how hesitant each family was when asked if they wanted anything extra. Santiago (our translator, sorry if I messed up the spelling buddy!) had to really coax an answer out of them. Tomorrow is going to be a very emotional and overwhelming day for all of us. Today we also went to a local graveyard. Over half of the bodies buried there belonged to young children. It was very sobering to see the numerous graves of the babies who died on or close to the day they were born. It makes you realize how different life is here than from Canada. Our translator, Santiago, has a child buried there, who passed away 15 hours after it was born because it was born slightly premature. If that child had been born in Canada, it would have almost certainly survived. I heard today that many parents avoid becoming too attached to their children until they are 4-5 years old, because the survival rate is so low. It really drives the term “LiveDifferent (formerly Absolute) poverty” home. The line between life and death that they walk in Mexico is a lot thinner than in Canada. They don’t get the “second chances” that we do. The amount of things we take for granted, such as water, shelter, income, hairdressers, shoes, holidays, clothes, healthcare, schools, consumable entertainment, food. The people here posses few, and work unbelievably hard for those that they do.On the brighter side, it is amazing how happy people are here! They always seem to be smiling and laughing. Everyone wants to put in a helping hand. Kids from all over the neighborhood would come to the job site everyday and try to help out, be it with painting, or hammering, or whatever job we put them too. Some of our members have been spending most of the work day just mingling and playing with the kids. Everybody has utilized their own special talents in this build, whether it be building, entertaining, communicating, photographing, etc. Everybody has been doing their share, which is awesome! Dedication DayHere it is! today is the day the families get their new homes!! First stop was both the yellow and green homes, where we dropped off the groceries and got the beds delivered and started building them. There were a few complications like having an important piece missing from one bed and not having the correct bolts for the bunk beds :p in the end it was accomplished! When the families opened their doors and we saw their faces, there were no words to describe the joy that they had! There were tears of joy and it seemed that a huge weight was lifted up off their shoulders all the girls were extremely happy to have their own beds – they showed us where each one was sleeping and they really enjoyed their little gifts we got them! After all the dedications were finished we all gathered, and the families cooked us all a fantastic meal. There were three different kinds of chicken, one was deep-fried, fried, and BBQ. There were potatoes, two different tomato salsa, pasta salad, egg salad, and coke to drink. It was all very delicious! We said our goodbyes and gave hugs and then we were on our way.

The Flexico Life!

Tuesday, May 24thToday we lived the Flexico life…(Translation – Flexible Mexicans). The day started off with our bus breaking down on the way to build. But most of us used the time to get to know each other better and some even played in the streets with their football…don’t worry, the elders reminded them of what mom would say. Despite arriving at the house late, we accomplished a lot…painting the interior, the shower room & the bano, putting windows in and building beds. We decided to take off early and head to the beach (despite the fact that it was cool and really windy). It was a nice break from the hard work we have been doing the past 3 days. After that we headed back to have the most delicious fajitas made by Dawn & Julia. Then we headed back out to San Quintin (where we are building)to watch “How to Train a Dragon” with all the children. However, the day wouldn’t have been complete without one last adventure…where Andrew found the one wet piece of land in San Quintin to drive the bus over & get stuck. We have so many young men on the trip that they were almost able to push it out…but we ended up getting towed despite their efforts. Today was definitely a day of unknowns and ADVENTURE!Dallas Johnson

Mme Paul

Piling onto the bus you could tell how close we had all become through the laughter and jokes being thrown around. Today would be our final (full day) adventure in Haiti. Gathering some last minute donations we made our way to the local grocery store. Here we bought detergent, toilet paper and other household essentials for the orphanage we would be visiting today. They were also in need of your basic cooking supplies, so after the grocery store we pulled the bus over and made our way through the crowded streets of Haiti to purchase rice, beans, pasta, oil, etc. Having our bus packed full of donations we continued on our way.We pulled up to a cement wall with a battered red gate separating us from all the children on the other side. Before we could get off Cole told us that today we were parents, that we should love, hold, play with as many children as possible. Then we met Mme Paul, to explain her look would be to say she is everyone’s grandmother. She greeted us with open arms, smiles and kisses. Frantzo was able to translate the story of the orphanage to us.  Mme. Paul started her orphanage 20 years ago with 15 children and today she has over 120 (121 to be exact). It was amazing how this women just bursted with love!Off to the side we could see the make shift classrooms lined up along the outside wall of the yard. Even with a bus full of blanc’s pulling in, they kept their cool and continued with their studies. At least until the bell rang. Then with stampedes of laughter the children quickly found someone to hang on to. As we played it was hot to say the least, but these children, our new friends, didn’t mind and neither did we. Imagine having only a few people to say goodnight to 121 kids…some of my most cherished moments as a child were night time stories spent with my father. How would they be able to share so much time with such little resources? However they managed, these children had a family, Mme Paul made sure of it.There was laughter, crying and confusions throughout the yard as we passed out toys, water and bags of chips. Looking at these kids is unlike anything I could explain. What is their story? There are kids looking after babies and babies learning how to look after themselves. It was a pleasure to see them playing jump rope and have their little faces light up when you play the simplest of games. All good things must come to an end though, and with hugs we said our goodbyes.Before the night could be over we had our final debrief, followed by a slide show of our days spent together in Haiti.Time to pack!By Liz

First day in Port-au-Prince

We awoke early in Cap Haitien to catch our flight to Port-au-Prince. As we took our final drive through the Cap Haitien streets we realized that we were about to say our goodbyes to some people that our trip would not be complete without. Arriving at Cap Haitien airport was a bittersweet moment, saying goodbye to Jose (one of our translators) was very sad but knowing we were such a short flight away from Port-au-Prince was very exciting for all of us. Taking a small passenger plan over to the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince brought many memories of just a few days prior when we started our trip, but little did we know what we were about to see.When we got to Port-au-Prince we quickly got on our bus that took us to our new home for the last few days of our trip. After we were all settled in Cole took us on a tour of Port-au-Prince. The first thing we saw was the Palace which is where the Haitian President is supposed to reside, but because of structural damage caused by the earthquake this is impossible. When we first saw this building it literally looked like it had fallen yesterday because of the small changes that have been done. In front of the Palace there were a bunch of posters, these posters showed plans that the Haitian Government has for the rebuilding of their nation.From there we went to the Port-au-Prince Cathedral, which had been completely destroyed during the earthquake. As we walked through the devastation we noticed all the broken windows that were once stained glass, and the massive amounts of rubble that were once the walls and roof of this building. While we were walking around we witnessed the Haitian community worshiping the one part of the church left untouched, this demonstrates the level of faith they have even when it seems like they have nothing.We left downtown Port-au-Prince and headed to Cite Soleil (city of the sun), which is the poorest slum in the western hemisphere. One of the first things that hit us was a smell that was so bad it’s truly indescribable. There was tent after tent that house hundreds of thousands of people even almost a year and a half after the earthquake. At first glance we were comforted by the simple thought of shelter; but when we really thought about the details we realized how hard it would be to live in that situation. A lack of hygiene, privacy, security, and comfort…not to mention the stifling heat and the amount of people confined to one tent would be unheard of in North America.At the end of the day during our debriefing session, what seemed to be the most common thought was how different Cap Haitien and Port-au-Prince are. We never imagined to be in two different worlds that are so close together. As a group we are looking forward to getting to work in such a vulnerable city.By Chad

Goodbye Cap Haitian!

Today was a busy day. We started the day off nice and early by going to the Citadel, the largest fortress in the western hemisphere. It was not your typical adventure, we had to take an hour and a half honkey ride up a mountain, yes honkey, not a horse and not quite a donkey, but a honkey. As we broke through the forest we looked up and saw this massive structure at the peek of the mountain top. The tour guides, through broken English, were able to give us a lot of interesting information about the site, but also let us explore on our own. Half way through our tour we stopped for lunch; standing on the very highest point of the fort was decided this would be a good spot to bust out the pizza! At the end of our tour we were pretty excited about all the cool things we got to see. Then we remembered about the hour and a half honkey ride to the bottom. With sore bottoms and strained knees we continued our tour to the bottom of the mountain through the rest of the ruins.In the evening we took the bittersweet last walk up the mountain to the school to distribute some of our donations. Said a goodbye to the community we have grown to love and eat some cake. After they thanked us for coming and doing the work that we did we showed off our high class talents by preforming the hokey pokey. When the laughter of confused looks were over with we handed out donations. With never doing this in Cap Haitien we did not really know what to expect. It is truly hard to explain the sheer desperation you witness during these events. People pushing and shoving, dirty looks thrown to one another just at the off chance of receiving something as insignificant to us as a hat. It’s hard to believe these are the same loving people we only met the other day. Once the chaos was settled we had to say our final goodbyes. But we left happy knowing that every family in the community got at least one thing. But most of all we left with them having a school!!!By Chad and Liz