Just wanted to update after a long silence….great news:

Tijuana 2010 is a go!!

We’re building another house!

We’re taking more school bags and fair trade soccer balls!

We Need your help!!!

Our housebuild fund is starting to get money pledged…we have somewhere around 2600 – That’s almost halfway!!

Check out the link to giving at the top of the page if you’d like to partner with us!

cheers

james

Hi Everyone,

Just wanted to pass along a link to Social Conscience’s website, where we’ve got a feature from our CWAC/ Young Life Spring Break trip.

http://web.mac.com/james.milligan/Social_Conscience/Mexico.html

James @ Social Conscience partnered with us to supply our team with fair trade soccer balls…lots of them! It was a blast giving them away. Read up on it when you get a chance!

cheers,

james

I never knew that a soccer ball could change a child’s life, but over spring break ’09 nineteen other Canadians and I got to see 52 fair trade soccer balls change hundreds of children’s lives. Working alongside Younglife and Love Tijuana our group of twenty got the amazing opportunity to spread God’s love to the people of Tijuana, Mexico. During our six day trip we built a house in Terrazas, gave food and milk to families living at “the river” (poorest part of Tijuana), gave out 76 school bags, and 52 soccer balls.

Something I will never forget was an amazing experience where our group got to give twenty soccer balls to a school. Once the young students of the school saw what we had brought it was nothing short of a mob, who knew that twenty fair trade soccer balls could make over three hundred kids jump and scream to the point where we were all overwhelmed and even a little scared. What was so amazing was knowing that the balls we were giving to these kids were fair trade- no child labour, and the company’s factory is in Pakistan and pays all their employees fair wages. It was great to give a gift that you knew in no way had been part of exploiting someone by not treating them fairly.

There is no feeling like giving a soccer ball to a child who dreams and talks about being a soccer player, but doesn’t have the money to buy a one. To them, every gift we gave was so much more than it appeared to us, it wasn’t just a ball, it was hope that someone cares about what they go through every day and is willing to do something about it. To see the kid’s faces light up when they got a soccer ball and to see the tears of joy in their parent’s eyes brought the trip in to perspective. What does twenty Canadian teens and leaders travelling thousand of miles to come to a place where hope is strong but means are not look like to a family who received a house, to the families that were given food, to the kids who got school bags and to the neighbourhoods of kids that now have soccer balls to share and enjoy together?

The gift we all got from giving joy to those families and children far out- weighs the true fact that our group couldn’t help everyone and that we couldn’t give to everyone we saw, because we just didn’t have enough, but that feeling swells up in you and makes you want to go back and have twice as much to give. So maybe one day everyone will know that they are worth so much more than the property the government won’t let them own, or the food they can’t always give to their children. They need to know and be shown how precious they are, and we need to show them.

- submitted by Cordell W.

On the last day of our trip our group went to the River, a place called No Esperanza, or No Hope in English. It was a shanty, an illegal squat filled with families that technically weren’t allowed to be there. Each year the Government comes in with bulldozers to flatten the squat, leaving dozens, if not hundreds of families to rebuild annually. Most of the adults in No Esperanza work in the massive factories in the surrounding area. These factories hover around the edge of the squat, always visible. I remember thinking what a slap in the face it is to have those factories right there; it is most people’s worst nightmare to be employed in one of those factories, with such terrible conditions and meagre pay, and yet it is the only job most could ever hope to have. The job that they are so desperate to run from is the only job they have to turn to; now with the economy like it is many factories are shutting down and the workers are cut off from what little pay they had. Big corporations like Nestle and Panasonic are just a couple of the companies whose factories exploit the local people in and around No Esperanza.

It seems ironic, but as we were walking through No Esperanza, handing out beans, rice and milk, along with soccer balls and backpacks, I didn’t feel like the situation was so very hopeless. Looking around I felt sad because the living conditions were atrocious, but it really didn’t feel like the people had lost all hope. They seemed strong, like they were willing to do and were doing everything in their power to get food on the table for their families. Some homeless people are in their situation because of choice they’ve made; these people were just born into their circumstances. It’s not at all fair, but I guess that’s life.

After giving out food, etc., we sang songs and did a drama in their small church building, followed by some soccer in the street. I went out and sat on one of the rocks that lined the street, only to be swarmed by a bunch of little girls. We took some pictures together; they absolutely love seeing themselves on camera! Then the simplest, gentlest thing happened: the girls grabbed my hands, held them, touched them, played with the ring on my finger, and kept saying, “Blanco! Blanco!” in reference to my fair skin. We counted both our own and each other’s fingers, 1-10 in both Spanish and English for about 20 minutes. All the while I had at least one girl on my lap and two or three holding on to me, sitting as close as possible with my arm around them. Their mannerisms proved that they were so starved for human love and touch; their eyes conveyed this desperation to be held, to be shown genuine love and affection. As I showed love to them they so freely loved me back. There we were, one white teenaged girl with a group of Mexican children, separated by language, age, race and social class, and yet there was such a connection; there was no need for words. Their love was so pure and unconditional, with such innocence that only children possess. This moment was the most defining point of the trip for me; I kept coming back to the fact that, although building a house is a practical and amazing gift, among the poor, the needy, with the children is where you would find Christ, and that is definitely where I want to be found.

- Submitted by Sarah K.

Just updated our goals page to let you know what we’re up to.

What’s next? Good question…you should expect some excerpts  & pics from some of our team members in the next while – a great chance to read up on our 09 trip from different perspectives…

On the radar -

• We’re aiming to hit (or surpass) our goals for soccer balls and backpacks for the year.
• chill CWAC tees – BOGO (buy one give one) – hoping to pursue this cool idea… more to come on that one (of course, we’re jonesin’ for organic, sweatshop free tees) !

Just an update on the fly – we’ll do our best to keep you updated on the blog, and on facebook. If you haven’t already, please join our facebook group – the link’s on the side…

cheers, and thanks for your support!

james

prayer, originally uploaded by James Matthew.

]]> http://cameraswithconscience.wordpress.com/2009/03/24/prayer/feed/ 0 jamesmatthew http://cameraswithconscience.wordpress.com/2009/03/13/tj-09-two-days-away/ http://cameraswithconscience.wordpress.com/2009/03/13/tj-09-two-days-away/#comments Fri, 13 Mar 2009 01:25:29 +0000 jamesmatthew http://cameraswithconscience.wordpress.com/?p=124 ]]>

Just wanted to update and let you all know that on Saturday afternoon we’ll be pulling into Tijuana in style – 16 fantastic teens, 4 crazy leaders, 52 fair trade soccer balls (a big thanks to James @ social conscience for setting us up with such a great deal!) and 75 school bags to give away to children down there….oh yeah, and one house to build.We’re stoked to see our sponsor child, Gustavo, again, and build a house for him and his family…this is a once in a lifetime thing!!

Thank you so much for your support. Please keep us in your prayers if you are the prayin’ kind of person. It is always an intense trip.

Also, please pray for Ana – we are going to see if she is willing to leave her life of factory work to return to school and get an education. If she is willing, we are going to help her out – some kids from my school (who were on the 08 trip) decided to raise money to help support putting her into a private school after hearing her story last year. I met Ana two years ago, when the team I was helping lead stuccoed her family’s house. Ana wrote the test at the end of gr.7, and didn’t get a high enough grade. Now she works in a sewing factory for 10 hours a day, and rides a bus for about 3 hours to and from work. She probably makes about 10 dollars a day, if she’s lucky. Ana is about 14 or 15.

This is huge, perhaps the most important part of our trip, but Ana and her folks need to agree with the idea before we can act. If they say yes to this rescue, then perhaps we can help break the cycle of poverty in her family by helping provide Ana with an education that could get her a decent job.

I’ll update the blog when we hit the ground again in Canada. Here’s hoping for an amazing trip of spreading hope in practical ways…

cheers,

james

gearing up for the spring break drop – 75 school bags!, originally uploaded by James Matthew.

Just a quick photo of the swag bags I picked up today from the post office… 75 school bags for children who need them in Terrazas, and around Tijuana, Mexico! A big thanks for Mountain Equipment Co-Op for footing the bill for shipping!!! Yahoo!!

Thank you for your support!

]]> http://cameraswithconscience.wordpress.com/2009/02/27/gearing-up-for-the-spring-break-drop-75-school-bags/feed/ 0 jamesmatthew http://cameraswithconscience.wordpress.com/2009/02/21/the-countdown-is-on/ http://cameraswithconscience.wordpress.com/2009/02/21/the-countdown-is-on/#comments Sat, 21 Feb 2009 18:18:39 +0000 jamesmatthew http://cameraswithconscience.wordpress.com/?p=119 ]]>

Just wanted to update as we’re drawing nearer to our Spring Break Trip/drop.

Only 3 more weeks!

As we’re getting closer, we’re trying to tie up loose ends, which means I just got to order SEVENTY FIVE swag school bags to hand deliver in Tijuana!!

A massive THANKS to all of you who’ve helped us beat our goal of having a minimum of 50 bags to take with us!

Another big THANKS to the great folks at Mountain Equipment Co-op for footing the bill for our shipping fees!!

Next stop – ordering those fair trade soccer balls!!

Just a quick update – to say that it looks like we’ve covered the cost of one house build for Spring Break ‘09!!

I sent in the last $25 this afternoon, and, if our numbers are right, that’s it for the $6500!!

Fantastic!! I’m so stoked for the CWAC/Young Life ‘09 Spring Break trip!

If you are wanting to support us, have no fear! We still have a minimum of 50 fair trade soccer balls and 50 school bags to fundraise for…please help us share hope!

A huge thank you to all of you who’ve supported this house build fund- we couldn’t have done it without you!!

cheers,

james