Dedication = a ceremony in which something (as in this case, a house) is dedicated to some goal or purpose. That’s what we did, we built a home for a family for a purpose. A family filled with heart and faith. Seeing the mom’s face when the keys were handed over […]
...continue readingArchive for March, 2011
Penticton House Dedication
Published by March 30th, 2011 in Participant Blogs, FB, Mexico, Student Zone, Other Sites and Uncategorized. 0 CommentsIn Mexico, You Know Everyone
Published by March 30th, 2011 in FB, Participant Blogs, Mexico, Student Zone and Other Sites. 1 CommentAs a first timer, I didn’t know what to expect. I was told all these times, dates, and activities, anticipating what will happen when I get to Mexico. The first day on the bus was already not what I was expecting. When we finally arrived at the Hero Holiday house, it was twelve o’clock […]
...continue readingPenticton Students Head to Mexico For The 7th Consecutive Year!
Published by March 20th, 2011 in Participant Blogs, FB, Mexico, Student Zone, Other Sites and Featured. 2 CommentsIt is a pleasure for us to host students from Penticton again this year in Mexico. For the last 7 years they have been 
faithfully coming and have made an incredible contribution, building over 20 homes and a couple of primary schools in the Vicente Guerrero Area.
One of the unique things about this group is that every year they insist of traveling to and from Mexico on our Hero Holiday bus! They can share countless stories with you about the good times on the road together! They left Penticton yesterday morning and were slowed up for a few hours with traffic at the border in the Seattle area. After getting out of that they spent a few hours of the side of the road this morning in Northern California because one of the mountain passes were experiencing some poor weather. They just texted me from
the road a few minutes ago to let everyone know that conditions have improved and they are on the go again. The delays were insignificant and they should still arrive in San Diego this evening as planned. Stay tuned for more updates of their trip, both here and on our Facebook page (FB-Absolute.org).
Not only are we anticipating another successful year of building and fun, but this group has many local friends in Mexico who are eagerly waiting their arrival!
Second Work Day for Carson Graham
Published by March 17th, 2011 in Participant Blogs, FB, Dominican Republic, Student Zone, Other Sites and Featured. 0 CommentsOn our second day at our work project, I was asked to carry water to the work site from this big brass or iron tank that 
looked like a submarine. This town does not have any waterlines to it so they have to get water shipped in and stored in large containers like this. It’s hard to imagine life like this…we had to dip the bucket in it and sink it to fill it up. After we took our filled bucket back to the work site it was dumped into a metal barrel. From here the workers could use it to mix cement. Surprisingly, I really enjoyed this water transporting job! On our fifth trip back to the water container, Cole told us to place the water buckets on our heads and support it with our hands. All the women who were outside washing their clothes started laughing. I don’t blame them, it was funny! You see Haitian women
everywhere here carrying things on their heads.
In the afternoon we were split into groups of 3 and asked to prepare an English lesson for the local school. My group decided to teach numbers and fruits. Other people taught the colors, animals, and members of the family. It was fun and the students were fast learners. We drew posters and stuff to make our class more interesting. It was cool because some of the students could speak French so were able to speak a bit with them. Over all we had a great day and it is awesome to see the progress our team is making on the washrooms and showers facility.
~ Sophie
The Beginnings of Carson Graham in the Dominican Republic
Published by March 15th, 2011 in Participant Blogs, FB, Dominican Republic, Student Zone, Featured, Other Sites and Uncategorized. 0 CommentsFirst Work Day - Summary by student participant Ella:
This morning we went back to La Union for a sports camp. It was fantastic, we brought lots of toys with us such as soccer balls, tennis balls and skipping ropes. It touched my heart to see how much all the kids appreciated these little toys. When we arrived we ventured down the hill to the field and all the kids came out of nowhere and claimed their “gringo” for the day. It made me feel so special how much they loved us all. Our time there was incredibly eye opening. It is amazing to see how happy these kids are when they hardly have anything and they constantly face tragedy in their lives. This really made my problems seem microscopic. We played all morning and when it was time to leave, all the kids were given some small gifts, pencils, candy and tennis balls. Then we said our goodbyes. Which was very hard….
After lunch we went to Chichigua to start our work project - building a shower and washroom facility for the community. I have to say it was back breaking work! We shoveled dirt away from the hole that had been dug to house the refuse. I 
thought about how people have to do this for 10 hours a day. For $7-10 per day…one hour was more than enough for me. After our work, we rotated and were able to sit with the kids and color in the books we brought or play ball. It was really nice. I have started to see things through a new lens. I am really looking forward to discovering more new things about the culture here and gain a better understanding of the struggles the local people face. Plus to see how much this Hero Holiday is going to change me! At the end of the day we all were very tired. So much to think about so far…
Additional Comments submitted by student participant Lucas:
I just got back from the village where we are building the washroom units. It was a tedious task to shovel a pile of rocks and 
dirt away from around the foundation of the building. We had to use shovels and picks to move large and small rocks.
In the morning, we went to the very first village that we went to yesterday and played numerous different sports. There was a boy that loved me and I got lots of pictures of him and I. We played soccer, basketball, frisbee, and I let him use my camera. I have about 25 pics taken by him.
The morning was amazing because I was surprised of how high the kids spirits are despite living in pretty much a dump. The houses are made of metal sheets that rust and disintegrate, leaving holes in roofs and wall panels. Half the houses have no bathroom and some rarely have a kitchen. Sleeping on the floor isn’t uncommon and a lot of the time people suffer from malnutrition. All of that is 15-30 minutes away from our all inclusive resort…it is a shocking difference.
I have really enjoyed trying to communicate with the kids, adults, and the jefe (head) of the villages. My petite French skills are coming in handy at times and I feel like I’m learning tons of Spanish and Creole.
Today was really tough because I wasn’t feeling well at all. My stomach wasn’t where it should have been and I had an upset you know what. Linda, the nurse, gave me Imodium or something along those terms. Feeling better now but still not great. Apparently it’s from the heat and lack of sleep. I had a tough sleep because Vancouver is 4 hours behind and it is hard to fall asleep at 8:00pm Vancouver time.
Last night was karaoke night…it was…interesting. I was able to get my teachers to sing Stop by the Spice Girls. That was hilarious. I sung Imagine by John Lennon with all the other guys. I thought the song suited why we are here. It is 5:10pm ish here and it is still a very nice temperature. I have been getting some color but mainly on my burnt neck.
Loving all aspects of my trip so far! Hugs!
Carson Graham’s First Day in the DR
Published by March 13th, 2011 in FB, Participant Blogs, Dominican Republic and Student Zone. 5 CommentsMarch 12, 2011
Nothing could prepare me for what I was about to see today. The entire day was a constant wave of emotions sweeping me of to new adventures. The first place the trucks took us to was a poor community that was bursting with friendliness, and surprisingly high spirits. Who would have ever guessed […]