I do believe I win the award for the most negligent blog-writer. The following has been in my "draft" file for... a long time. I apologize. I will get going on a much more consolidated version. Right now.
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Hang on to your hats, readers... this is going to be a long one. I'm going to attempt to tell you what Team Chile did on Practicum (a test-run at outreach on our own) in Detroit, MI a few weeks ago.
If you're looking for the condensed version, skip to the bottom.
FRIDAY -
On Friday, we packed some lunches, said goodbye to our friends at the RIC, and hit the road at 8am. I was the only person on our team who knew where we were going, and I had devised a little guessing game for my teammates for them to discover where we were going. There was a LOT of excitement in the van when our destination was revealed. On our way, we stopped at a rest stop to eat our lunches, and we found the greatest little special needs accessible playground.
We arrived in the afternoon at a parish/Catholic church/school in Highland Park that afternoon (reminded me a bit of Good Shepherd), met our hosts, Brother Paul and his dog, Brother Joshua, removed some air conditioning units, went grocery shopping, and settled in.
SATURDAY -
Our team had been assigned to work for Focus: Hope, a non-profit organization committed to fighting poverty and racism. We would be working with Focus: Hope from Saturday until Wednesday of that week, in whatever capacity they needed. That morning we met their volunteer coordinator, Bill, who told us our task for the morning was to walk a 4 mile loop around the neighborhood to distribute fliers for the upcoming fundraiser walk (taking place on the very same 4 mile loop the next day). With a box full of fliers and a few rolls of tape, we set out on our journey.
About halfway through, we met a mother and her 3 adult sons standing at a bus stop. We asked them where they were going, and they told us that they were on their way to their church to rehearse for their "musical" that was taking place that evening. As a fan of musicals, I was intrigued and wanted to know more. They invited us to attend, and with the rest of the details we told them we would meet them there.
That afternoon we picked up a nice cake to take with us, and we ventured to the other side of town to the "musical." Now, in my head, musicals have a plot and characters and whatnot. I'm not exactly sure what I was expecting, but it was probably somewhere along the lines of a "Godspell"-esque performance.
What's She Up To?
- bethale
- In 2011-2012, I led a team of 5 college-aged students to serve in Alerce, Chile for 6 months. These are the stories of our preparations and international adventures. Due to the sensitive nature of our purpose in Chile, you will notice some words contain hyphens where letters should be. This was intentional. Please do your best to guess what church-related word fits the text. With time for due reflection, I can safely say that this experience changed my life. The stories that you read here serve as the tip of an iceberg - one whose depths I'm still discovering years later. IF YOU'RE VISITING THIS BLOG FOR THE FIRST TIME, I ENCOURAGE YOU TO READ CHRONOLOGICALLY FROM THE BEGINNING.
Saturday, October 29, 2011
Sunday, October 2, 2011
Visitors Weekend
Happy Visitors Weekend, readers. Also - Happy October... when did that happen?
This weekend the RIC is welcoming just about everyone who wants to know more about the teams and what we've been up to for the past 5 weeks. Here's a run-down of Team Chile's presentation:
This is a picture of Team Chile on our Prayer Challenge a LONG time ago. We walked throughout the city looking for hidden staff members and answers to trivia questions, while meeting and praying for people along the way.
This is the 6th member of our team - reliable Ike. Though he has a few quirks, Ike gets us where we need to go on a regular basis, and has even been known to pull a prank or two onus Jeff.
Each REACH team spends at least 4 hours per week in "Team Prep." which, like it sounds, prepares us for our time abroad, and at least 10 hours per week in outreach.
For Team Chile, we have prepared in a variety of ways. One of our favorite ways to prepare is with our friend (and Program Facilitator) Austin. Austin went to Chile, and our region specifically, through the YES program (very similar to REACH) several years ago. He has been helping us with our Spanish skills, as well as sharing pictures and stories with us about his 6 months there.
We also spent an evening at Rebecca's Place here in Columbus. Rebecca's Place is short-term housing for homeless women looking to get back on their feet. I served at Rebecca's Place each week this summer and enjoyed it very much. While we were there, we got to know the residents, told some jokes, sang some songs, and painted fingernails. It was good practice in simply meeting people and learning their stories.
Our cook at the RIC, Susannah, has a background in nutrition and met with our team to discuss the possible foods we may be encountering regularly, and what we may need to do to balance out our diets in terms of nutrient intake. Did you know that, when combined, rice and beans make a complete protein? Just as good as a meat!
We will also have opportunities in the coming weeks to communicate with a family that lived in Chile as longer-term missionaries, as well as a staff member at International Friendships Incorporated (IFI) who is a Chilean native.
In terms of outreach, my team has just begun to help with English as a Second Language (ESL) classes and child care at a local church, as well as attending a Hispanic church and Bible study in Hilliard, AND our favorite - homework help at the trailer park.
This is our tiny little trailer, owned by a local church.
Jeff - speaking of nicknames... this week at church 2 of our friends were trying to figure out the Spanish equivalent to "Jeff." They said, "hmm... now you are Luiz."
Right across from our trailer is an empty trailer plot that was purchased by the joint efforts of the church, some surrounding neighbors in the trailer park, and the owners of the trailer park itself. A cool story, actually. With all of their cooperation, they have managed to take a plot and a half, fence it off, pour in some gravel, and make a little park area for the children to play in. When the students are finished with their homework, they are eager to go play. Here are some pictures of what may be happening in the late afternoon when homework is complete.
This weekend the RIC is welcoming just about everyone who wants to know more about the teams and what we've been up to for the past 5 weeks. Here's a run-down of Team Chile's presentation:
This is a picture of Team Chile on our Prayer Challenge a LONG time ago. We walked throughout the city looking for hidden staff members and answers to trivia questions, while meeting and praying for people along the way.
This is the 6th member of our team - reliable Ike. Though he has a few quirks, Ike gets us where we need to go on a regular basis, and has even been known to pull a prank or two on
Each REACH team spends at least 4 hours per week in "Team Prep." which, like it sounds, prepares us for our time abroad, and at least 10 hours per week in outreach.
For Team Chile, we have prepared in a variety of ways. One of our favorite ways to prepare is with our friend (and Program Facilitator) Austin. Austin went to Chile, and our region specifically, through the YES program (very similar to REACH) several years ago. He has been helping us with our Spanish skills, as well as sharing pictures and stories with us about his 6 months there.
We also spent an evening at Rebecca's Place here in Columbus. Rebecca's Place is short-term housing for homeless women looking to get back on their feet. I served at Rebecca's Place each week this summer and enjoyed it very much. While we were there, we got to know the residents, told some jokes, sang some songs, and painted fingernails. It was good practice in simply meeting people and learning their stories.
Our cook at the RIC, Susannah, has a background in nutrition and met with our team to discuss the possible foods we may be encountering regularly, and what we may need to do to balance out our diets in terms of nutrient intake. Did you know that, when combined, rice and beans make a complete protein? Just as good as a meat!
We will also have opportunities in the coming weeks to communicate with a family that lived in Chile as longer-term missionaries, as well as a staff member at International Friendships Incorporated (IFI) who is a Chilean native.
In terms of outreach, my team has just begun to help with English as a Second Language (ESL) classes and child care at a local church, as well as attending a Hispanic church and Bible study in Hilliard, AND our favorite - homework help at the trailer park.
This is our tiny little trailer, owned by a local church.
And this is the inside. I wish we could somehow capture how crazy it gets in there some time. This picture was taken on a day that was nice enough to spread out to the picnic tables outside, but each day we serve approximately 20 students. In that teeny trailer.
Jean and I helping Carrie and Mariah.
Clay.
Jean and Maria.
Kirsten - "Yutzy" - "Miss Juicy"
Jeff - speaking of nicknames... this week at church 2 of our friends were trying to figure out the Spanish equivalent to "Jeff." They said, "hmm... now you are Luiz."
Right across from our trailer is an empty trailer plot that was purchased by the joint efforts of the church, some surrounding neighbors in the trailer park, and the owners of the trailer park itself. A cool story, actually. With all of their cooperation, they have managed to take a plot and a half, fence it off, pour in some gravel, and make a little park area for the children to play in. When the students are finished with their homework, they are eager to go play. Here are some pictures of what may be happening in the late afternoon when homework is complete.
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