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Thinking of Garcia

Published by christal November 6th, 2008 in Staff Blogs and Mainpage. Closed

Fours years ago, Vaden and I were driving down a road that seemed to go nowhere: it was washed out in places, had almost no traffic except for the odd motorbike or donkey, and it had houses lined along the side of it, full of people who shyly waved at us as we rumbled along. Somewhere along that place we found a man with a dream, and his name was Garcia…

Garcia is a musician, a husband and father, a pastor, and a man with a vision bigger than what was in front of him. He had a community back on that road that we found ourselves on that day, and he traveled every day of the week from his own village, Maranatha, to serve that community and help it move forward in whatever way he could. He came to help out because he loved them and believed in them. They had a local area where they had a church, held community meetings, and one day hoped to have a school. It was a small area, about 20 feet by 30 feet, and it was covered by four posts and a tarpaulin. All around the area, many feet out, was a trench that had been dug at one time, but was now covered in by weeds, grass and life. Five years earlier, Garcia had inspired some men in the community to dream of what a school could like in that place, and so together, they dug the trench, in hopes that someday they might see a school for their children.

In that area, we, like Garcia, saw what could be, but not yet was: a school that could change the future of the hundred plus children in that community. This is what faith and dreams are made of and what Absolute wanted to be a part of, so the following summer, our Hero Holiday teams began to work with Garcia and the people in Arroyo Seco to accomplish this dream. It is a labor of love that has filled our lives with laughter, warm memories, huge community parties, and tearful good-byes. And in some way, it has changed us all.

This past summer, we put the finishing touches on the school. As we drove away, I looked over my shoulder and saw a bunch of children waving good bye, with Garcia and his family in the middle of the crowd, smiling and shouting out blessings…It felt good to be a part of something so incredible. Over the time that we worked in their community, over 700 Canadian teenagers and adults who joined us on Hero Holiday had witnessed the fulfillment of a dream, and it inspired us all.

Yesterday, however, I got an email with an update of what has happened in Maranatha, the community where Garcia lives. This past Friday, while many of us got together with friends and had Halloween parties, Garcia, his family, and the thousands of people that live in Maranatha, his own village, fought for their lives and homes as they faced a flash flood. Many of their homes were covered under two to five feet of water and sewage, and many of them lost every last earthly possession that they had. Garcia and his family lost most of their possessions, but managed to salvage some valuable items such as beds and food. However, the local grocery store, where many of them were only able to buy their supplies on credit, was swept away and food is scarce. Like so many of the world’s poor, they are now forced to rebuild their lives and start over…at the beginning.

Why is life so blatantly unjust? Why do the poor always keep losing, and the rich get drunk on the excess of the world? How is it that our governments can find trillions of dollars to bail out multi-national companies in a financial crunch and still manage to employ hundreds of thousands of people at salaries that keep growing, and yet many of the world silently slips away and struggles moment by moment to exist? What is my part in all of this? How do I live my life in light of what I know to be true both here and there?

I don’t have all the answers, I just have a conviction that I can’t give up: I can’t stop doing what I know I am called to do, and I MUST NOT quit just because things seem difficult where I am at.

So, Garcia, when I see you again, I will tell you this in person, but until then, I will put it in black and white: you are a great inspiration and friend, and your struggle is my struggle, and we are linked by a common faith and purpose that is deeper than culture, skin color and economics. I will continue to pray for you and will do what I can to help ease the burden. You and your family have done so much for a community, their children, and their future, and now it is time for a community of people to do something for you.

If you would like to help us get some money to Garcia and his family, please email me and I will let you know what you can do.

Great Opportunity!

Published by christal September 22nd, 2008 in Staff Blogs and Mainpage. Closed

Hey Everyone!

We love what we do: we get to travel, see the country, create change and bring hope. We also love to be able to pass on cool info that we think students might benefit from…this is one of those moments:

Ashoka’s Youth Venture, recently launched in Canada, is proud to announce their first global competition to recognize and support young changemakers worldwide.

If you know young people with IDEAS or existing PROJECTS for change, please encourage them to enter the Staples Youth Social Entrepreneurship Competition by October 15, 2008.

The various prizes include seed funding to implement their ideas, a free trip to attend the next Youth Venture Summit in the U.S., and special opportunities involving MTV and Nike for environment and sports-related projects.

For more info, check out changemakers.net

D.R. or BUST!!

Published by christal August 15th, 2008 in Dominican Republic and Mainpage. 0 Comments

When we all woke up yesterday morning, we all thought we were in for a little bit of a long, but exciting day. However, no one ever dreamed the day would end up having 40 hours in it!

We are currently back in Dominican Republic with a new first for Hero Holiday: 39 nursing and pre-med students, one doctor, two dentists, and our staff…and after 40 hours of being awake we are still going strong!

We started our orientation last night in Buffalo, after some people driving as far away as 8 hours from the border to join us. In the middle of our evening pre-trip orientation in our hotel, Nettie, our Hero Holiday administrator, received a call saying that our airline had canceled our flight due to weather in Buffalo. In fact, the whole airport was shut down. Now we were faced with a dilemma: we had tickets from JFK to Dominican, but no tickets to JFK…a quick negotiation with a bus shuttle company and two trips later, we found ourselves now sprawled out at 4:00 AM in the Rochester, NY airport, awaiting our new flight to JFK, and on still no sleep…

When we finally got to Puerto Plata, we shuttled to the hotel, dropped off our bags to get ready to go out on our awareness tour to see everything that we are about to be involved in, and out of nowhere: torrential downpours. (Did I mention we were out on open backed trucks?) But then, the crowning achievement of the 40 hours was the clutch going on the one truck in the middle of the road in the middle of the rainstorm, and the other truck getting stuck in the mud trying to get back to them…

So, you may ask, was it worth it? And the answer, of course, is “Always!”. The group that is here is going to be doing medical clinics and working on a building project. Most of all, they are going to be experiencing what it is to make a difference. If today is any indication of what they are going to be like, I am already in love with them! They have not complained once when they were wet, tired, or hungry…they just kept telling us how excited they are to be here!

And so, to all ourHero Holiday peeps that are with us for the next ten days in Dominican, we want to say that we are excited that you are here too, and that there is no one we would rather have join us for no sleep, unforeseen travel hiccups, broken clutches, torrential downpours, and the anticipation of what tomorrow can hold!

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The Power of Change

Published by kent August 11th, 2008 in Front Page, Dominican Republic, Mainpage and Featured. 1 Comment

It is incredible to see what a dream, many helping hands, and a lot of sweat can build! Hero Holiday Dominican Republic has had the privilege of seeing many amazing experiences, but perhaps the measurement of it all is in what is left standing after we have finished.

In 2006, we came across a man with a dream, and realized that we could help that dream come to pass. When our CEO , Vaden Earle, met Pastor Garcia, it was beside a small square trench with a tent canopy over it, and it was a school, church, clinic, and community centre all in one. As he listened to Garcia tell him about his community’s dream to have a safe and sufficient school for their children, Vaden realized that we could do something to help, and so, in July of 2006, hundreds of teenagers set to work to make a community’s dream come true. Today, we can be proud of what we have accomplished together, as we see the results of our hard work, sunburned shoulders, and many incredible memories! There isn’t a Hero Holiday participant who doesn’t remember how to mix cement by hand, thanks to this amazing project! Today, The Arroyo Seco School has 80 students, and the number continues to grow as each year another class is added. Today, we see a building that is build from bricks and cement, but the foundation of it is embedded in a dream to see a community begin to get lifted out of poverty and be given hope for their future. To all the Hero Holiday participants who helped to make this a reality, we want to thank you and commend you for all your passion and hard work!

In 2007, we were introduced to another community with a dream of also seeing their children educated and lifted out of the grip of desperate poverty. As we continued to work on our Arroyo Seco Community School, we also began a second project in Cangrejo, and in true Hero Holiday style, we threw the same passion and fervor into seeing another community being offered the chance to see their children educated and safe. The Cangrejo School project is really unique, as it will also be able to offer unlimited access for physically disabled students, due to the location and construction plan. We are excited to see it come to completion, and as we continue to partner with the community of Cangrejo, we are continuing to grow in our understanding of what it takes to change the future.

This summer, as we have finished up Arroyo Seco, and continued to work on Cangrejo, we have added two more projects that we are proud to be a part of…

In a small community called Nazareth, an organization called Dominican Advance was able to build an amazing school that is seeing 100+ students getting educated. However, in Dominican Republic, in order for a school to be certified at the highest level, they need to have a fence around their property, so Hero Holiday willingly agreed to partner with them for the manpower to get the job done! Starting this fall, the students attending there will now be receiving an education that is certified with the Dominican Government and that will open doors for them that didn’t exist before this. The project in Nazareth also involved helping to stock a clinic called Danica’s Dream, that has been built by our partners Phil and Donna Williams. The clinic serves this poor community with a doctor and with medication that they would otherwise be unable to access. Danica’s Dream is named after a little girl that Hero Holiday had the privilege of knowing for a few short days in the summer of 2007. However, her young life was taken from a simple and preventable disease, that had she not been in poverty, could have been entirely avoided. Danica’s life gave the inspiration for the clinic, and the building now stands as a testimony to how she impacted all of us.

Our second new project this summer has been to help with a housebuild for our friend, Bernard. Bernard has worked with us in Dominican Republic since 2005 as a mason and interpreter, and he is a valued friend of Hero Holiday. Bernard also has a dream that he has been working on: a house to provide temporary shelter for street children and child soldiers. He has been working with orphans and children at risk for the past 5 years, and is now wanting to build a house where he is able to provide a safe place for them as they wait for what is next. Bernard’s project has been MUCH hard work, but MANY incredible memories! As he came to say good bye to our participants, he was at a loss as to how to express to us what it has meant to have this kind of help and assistance with building this house. However, we all understood and could see how thankful he was, because we saw it everyday in his life. As we have worked with him for the past four years, he has shown, time and again, how committed he is to helping the poor and exploited in Dominican Republic and Haiti, and we are proud to have been a part of this project this summer.

Each year, Hero Holidy is full of amazing individuals who have realized the power of making a difference and that there is strength in numbers, and it is because of each of them that we were able to finish what we started. There are many opportunities that will come and go in each of our lives, but the opportunity to make a difference should never be overlooked. Thanks so much to all of you who have helped to build the future for these communities. You truly are heroes, and you really have made a difference!

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Our Dominican Worksites

Published by nettie July 6th, 2008 in Dominican Republic, Mainpage and Featured. 1 Comment

What! Hard work, hot days and sweat could equal fun??… To the students here with us in the Dominican Republic it does. Throughout the trip, our students travel to one of the four work sites and work their butts off and… for some weird reason they like it. I guess you would too if you got to see what a life changing difference your hard work could make in a developing community.

Our first project, Arroyo Seco, is a school that Hero Holiday has worked on since 2006. Three years ago we stepped out of our trucks onto a field where local farmers kept their cows and pigs and now have built a two story school with an on site medical clinic (to be completed this August), a full fence, and play ground for it’s students. This July we are completing the inside and have already witnessed many paint wars and ceilings being put up. At the end of July this school will be fully painted and ready for classes to start!

The second project is, Cangrejo, we started this school build last summer. A few days before the trip started the cement roof was put on the second floor. We have to wait 15 days for it to cure so in the mean time the students have started digging the washrooms. Yesterday, they laid the last cement in the bathroom footings and the walls should go up any day now. We are also moving dirt to even out an area for parking.

The third project is another school, we are working to put a fence around a school called Dominican Advance. Kent, our on staff Kiwi, works the students like crazy and is hoping to get the fence up and around the school. He seams to think that we may have this fence completed by the end of the week. Go Team!

Out last project which is dear to each on the staff and participant’s hearts is the house we are building for Bernard. Bernard has been helping with Hero Holiday since our first trip to the Dominican Republic. He is known for his BIG smile, hilarious personality and generous heart. The student’s are digging through hard dirt to make a trench for the footings and foundation of his home. Bernard is a Haitian and has had to over come many racial barriers while living in Dominican. Despite all of this he keeps a positive attitude and gives back to his community in helping to build schools, providing opportunities for struggling artists to sell their art and he also supports his brother who runs an orphanage in Haiti.

There are two other activities (an orphanage visit and a half day of helping people working in a local dump) that the students participate in… stay tuned for more pictures and stories tomorrow.

I will say, so far our trip has been a success, communities are receiving the help they need and student’s lives are being changed.

~Nettie Brown

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Press Release: Absolute launches character education initiative, sponsors services to Canadian schools

Published by absolute May 23rd, 2008 in Newsletter, Faculty Site, Student Zone and Mainpage. Closed

Hamilton, ONTARIO - May 23, 2008 - Absolute Leadership Development, Canada’s leading student empowerment organization, is a charity that has been partnering with Canadian schools since 2001. Their “Motivational Experience” - a hard hitting mixture of young speakers, multimedia and music - was the most popular motivational assembly amongst Canadian schools. Building upon the success of this presentation, Absolute is launching a new program called Think Day. Remaking the popular one hour motivational presentation with cutting-edge MakeYouThink® character education curriculum, Think Day will also give schools the option of adding workshops and global awareness sessions to create a comprehensive motivational program that will have lasting results in student’s lives. All of Think Day’s content is suitable for both Catholic and public schools.

“We look forward to increasing the effectiveness of our motivational teams, and we believe these additions will do just that”, says Vaden Earle, CEO of Absolute Leadership Development. “Our goal is to continue to inspire this generation with a relevant message that their lives have purpose and value”

The workshops and leave behind video curriculum are designed to facilitate discussion between students on issues that are fundamental to them. Global awareness sessions have a huge impact on the perspective students have of not only the world, but their own lives as well. Together, the package is a vital tool for schools that want their motivational and character education efforts to have a lasting impact.

The incredible news for schools is that in conjunction with the launch of Think Day, Absolute is fully sponsoring their services (that other organizations charge over $5000 for) with a donation based model of payment, so that all schools, regardless of budget or demographic, will be able to take advantage of the best student empowerment opportunity in North America.

Absolute is accepting bookings for the 2008-2009 school year and can be reached at www.thinkday.org or 1-866-432-4464

Click here for promotional brochure PDF! http://thinkday.org/thinkday.pdf

Step One: Care, Step Two: Act.

Published by absolute May 14th, 2008 in Newsletter, Student Zone and Mainpage. Closed

When you go on a Hero Holiday you cannot help but become completely attached to the people you meet along the way. Probably because these people undeniably touch your heart in one way or another.

Around this time last year I applied for a trip to the Dominican Republic; not knowing anyone. Closer to the departure date I found out that a peer from my High School, Sarah Mens, was also attending the trip. At the time we hardly knew each other.

When we returned to Canada, Sarah and I were in agreement that we could not continue living a typical Canadian lifestyle. Together we came up with some ideas of how to get the community involved and raise money for the people we met on our trip.

When September rolled around Sarah and I approached our Principle with a crafty power point presentation and a list of some cool ideas. Unknowing that we were trying to establish a group in our school that already existed, Social Justice. (It’s a good thing too. After all our school was named after Lester Pearson a Noble Peace Prize winner.)

Anyways… we instantaneously joined Social Justice and brought forward our cause. There were many other students with various causes, so we initiated a vote. To our surprise the students agreed with us that this was indeed a superb cause and although each cause was equally important and deserving the votes were without a doubt in favor for HUGS.

We were truly excited and the planning began. We have organized lots of fun fundraisers within our school since. Some examples are Guitar-Hero Fridays, Valentine’s Day Raffle, Easter Raffle, Music Entertainment, Talent Shows, Bake Sales, Pin Sales, A Penny Drive, Awareness Days and the biggest of all our School Charity Fashion Show, which also included a 50/50 draw and a Silent Auction.

The Charity Fashion Show was organized by two very devoted teachers Mrs. Galley and Mrs. Spencer, plus five main graduating students, Krista Sharpe, Nia Pavesi, Alicya Samuels, Michelle Cochrane, and Jen Bozak. We had three great MC’s including Sarah Mens, Rebecca Strauss and Jordan Gray plus a crew of 45.

It was a lot of fun practicing and presenting our work to the community, friends, family and special guests such as Christal Earle, however, it was not a simple production to put together. This event took us months of hard work by both students and teachers. Stress was inevitable because the teachers, organizers and crew were so incredibly adamant that the show would be perfect. These organizers cared so much and spent every last hour tweaking the production and in the end their caring really showed because it was a fabulous show. I thank you all for your hard work.

There are so many ways we can get involved and make a difference as individuals, so many that sometimes you don’t even know what’s out there. You just need to care enough to show up and participate. I encourage everyone, young and old, to get involved because it is the first step to a better future for everyone and when you look back on your life you can feel gratitude that you got involved and took a chance.

-Danielle Clouse, Lester B Pearson High School, Burlington ON

Fergie and the Easter Eggs

Published by christal March 28th, 2008 in Staff Blogs, Mainpage and Uncategorized. Closed

Finally, they had arrived…all 107 of them. We had waited all day to get to this point, and in typical style, they were 2 hours later than we had agreed upon! But, we reasoned with ourselves, the point was that they were here now!
It was the last day of our time with them, and the day before Good Friday. Our Hero Holiday team had spent the past hour hiding 1200 Easter eggs and about 150 marshmallow candies on a one acre piece of land that we were staying on. They hid them for the kids that were coming to say good-bye to us after spending 10 amazing days together. These children had impacted our lives in such an incredible and unique way that it was very difficult for us to quantify what it meant to each of us. They had taught us so much about courage, resilience, and hope- and they had taught us that you can trust again after incredible pain and tragedy. These children and their leaders had become some of our personal heroes.

When they came running down the steps to meet us on the cleared area, we were anxious as we saw the sun quickly fading and worried that we wouldn’t have enough time to finish our plans. As they sat in front of me and the translator, they were completely unaware of what I was going to tell them. For them, it was enough to be able to see us again and be together. The thought of what I was going to get to tell them even got me excited! I began to tell them about the tradition for Canadian children about hunting for hidden Easter eggs. I explained to them that this weekend, all over the world, millions of children would be doing this, and because we loved them so much, we wanted them to have the chance to do it first.
I explained to them where to look and showed them what the candy looked like, and as we handed out the little bags to collect the candies in, some of them started to quiver with excitement and anticipation! A couple of the little girls were holding and squeezing each other’s hands as they tried to contain their excitement. We counted together out loud to three, and then I yelled “Go!”.
It was mayhem! They squealed and laughed and shouted as they jumped over bushes, rolled on the grass, and dove under plants to find the candies they had been promised were there. I actually started to cry as I thought about how beautiful it was to hear them laugh and play like this, and how privileged we were to be able to do this for them.
As I was drinking in the scene of chaos and ecstatic joy, I was brought back to a little dose of bizarre reality: one of the staff at the hotel where we were doing this with the children, in an effort to try to give us some mood music and background cheering thought he would start up the giant, rusty sound system and blare the music at the maximum volume. A nice gesture…until I realized it was the Black Eyed Peas…singing ‘My Humps’!

In the Company of Heroes

Published by christal March 13th, 2008 in Staff Blogs and Mainpage. Closed

I am currently in northern Thailand, working with an incredible Hero Holiday group that is an awesome crew of people eager to make a difference in the world in which they find themselves. Along the way, however, we are finding ourselves in the company of unsung heroes that have impacted us beyond words.

In the beginning of one or our Hero Holiday promo videos, we have a quote that says, “A hero is someone who understands the responsibility that comes with his freedom”. This quote has been ringing in my ears as we continue to meet people who are risking much to do whatever they can. We are working with volunteers and staff who willingly give up all for the sake of a child’s life, and for the sake of their safety. It is humbling and beautiful to be a part of, and it is the reality of the double edged sword that action requires when you want to make a difference.

In our North American culture, we are often lulled to sleep as we are over-stimulated with drama and sensationalism. We create our own romantic view of what the world must be like and we have a hard time grasping that our form of justice is not the justice that the rest of the world is measured by. We claim to believe that every child has the right to safety, freedom, and to be heard, yet our world often leaves the majority of our children living in fear, abandonment, exploitation and silence…is this what justice is? The children that we are working with have faced all forms of exploitation, poverty and abandonment, and yet the thing that is captivating all of us is their incredible capacity to love beyond that. The simple act of holding a small hand in trust can make all the difference in the world. The simple beauty of a smile and loving touch can change everything. My goodness, we have even learned that ice cream can change the world! Yet, despite all of these simple things, the problems that they face are beyond complex - they are astronomically overwhelming! Exploitation and slavery is so deep and multi-tentacled that it is hard to figure out where one problems stops and another one starts. Poverty would seem like it is so straightforward, but it is an insatiable beast that is continually devouring innocent lives around the world, and without us recognizing how late the hour is, it will never be stopped. In the world in which we are working right now, life is unstable on every front: the good guys often turn out to the bad guys, the police take a vow to serve and protect, and then follow through with that vow by owning the brothels and trafficking agencies that exploit the women and children, and most of the population is unaware of what is happening in front of their eyes.

Yet, in the midst of this, we work among a company of heroes: bright lights in the darkness that fight at this monster day after day, week after week, month after month. Every life saved makes it worth it. Every hope restored is precious. Every life that is given reprieve from the pain and continual oppression is valuable. It is hard work, and to make any headways at all, it will require the international community to actually care enough to be a part of the solution, rather than feeding the problem. But I believe it can be dealt with at every level and these people here have helped to solidify that belief.

These next 10 days we are working with over 100 children: we are doing English camps, helping to build some structures at the children’s homes, and even going camping with 100+ kids (yikes!). These two weeks are only really like a ‘wrinkle in time’ but these precious few days can change lives beyond what we see in front of us. So, today as I was lying awake at 5:00 AM and staring at the ceiling (jet lag sucks!) I was thinking about what a privilege it is to be alive, to be safe, and to be loved. And in the midst of all those thoughts, I felt the undeniable, unmistakable conviction that we were created to make a difference, and this is only the beginning of the possibilities!