last minute details…
We’re about a week away from the Tijuana 2010 trip…. Just working on the final details. This is when it can get a little hairy – farming out backpacks, soccer balls, random tools and craft supplies to our team members. Here’s some of what we’re bringing:
50 School Bags for kids – from MEC
50 mini school supply kits – my wife got some screamin’ deals on school supplies, so each bag will have some pencils, pens, erasers, a notebook, and one other small item like colored pencils
20 fairly traded soccer balls
our tools for the house build
craft supplies for kids we meet in the street – there’s nothing like an impromptu craft sess in the street.
We’ll try to keep you posted as to what’s coming down the pipes for the trip – and future trips – there’s some cool stuff in the mix!!
-james
pencils, originally uploaded by James Matthew.
Excerpt from the Ground #2: Showing Love with a 13 Dollar Soccer Ball
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.
back on the ground…
prayer, originally uploaded by James Matthew.
Stay tuned…
TJ 09 – Two days away…
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
House build Spring Break 09 is a GO!
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
Quick House Update
Just a quick update on our TJ house x 2 fundraising…there’s currently $ 9,770 left to raise by Jan. 15th o9.
Presenting today @ Bridges Community Church, a small group with really big hearts! Last year, they were our biggest supporters!
Hopefully, more updates to come!
cheers,
james
Giving made easier…
Things are amping up for our Spring Break trip to Tijuana – we currently have a team of 20 students and Young Life leaders, and are working on various fundraisers for our house builds. Next week, we’re hoping for a packed living room for a rockin’ house concert featuring Conor Searl and Colin McTaggart – slick. We’re also finalizing our TJ o9 team t-shirts (on organic sweatshop free shirts, of course).
We’ve also made it easier to give – You can now send funds to Childcare Worldwide for backpacks and fair trade soccer balls, as well as for our house builds. They’ll issue tax receipts for any donations over 20 dollars. Slick!
Click on the ‘give!‘ link at the top of the page to read more about helping us spread hope!
cheers,
james
Notes from the ground 1: House Day – Sept. 24/08
——————-
From my notebook:
What a day! Wow! I’m very tired, so I will summarize:
A house build, in about 7 hours! The foundation was done when we arrived in Lomas in the morning of what would prove to be one very hot day. So we put the house together, from framing to painting, trusses to tarpaper and shingles, trim, drywall, mudding, and electrical.
An amazing accomplishment! I was given the honor of presenting the keys to the family and giving a blessing on the house. A humbling and mind blowing experience – I am blown away!
——————
Imagine, if you will, a group of 28 people (24 crazy grade 12 students, and 4 even crazier adults) converging on a small cement pad at around 900 in the morning in the developing community of Lomas,TJ. We spent one amazing day there, working side by side, sometimes shoulder to shoulder, on a house that is a bit bigger than a two car garage. On a side note, it is an amazing thing that there were no injuries, as we were literally shoulder to shoulder in some spots, swinging heavy framing hammers, moving wood around, etc. When we arrived, the foundation was ready to work on, so our group did the rest of the house build.
At this point, I’ll relate that our contractor usually spends a solid day building this type of house with his professional team. Our group of students completed the house in the same amount of time as a professional team. Extreme Home Makeover has nothing on us!
By the end of the day, there was a beautiful red 2 bedroom house, complete with a sleeping loft and a great room, white trim, 4 windows, and a strong front door. By the end, there was a group outside doing an impromptu children’s program, while a small group was rushing to finish electrical and mudding, with Carley (our guide and host) popping his head in the door every few minutes to tell us how much time was left – it was hard work to the bitter sweet end, with the last few minutes being spent in one very sweaty loft trying to put the finishing touches on the mudding. I think I sweat out a few pounds in that loft.
The most amazing moment was having about 30 people cram into the house with the family to sing to them, and pray with them that their house would be a place of peace and happiness. I (james) was given the huge honor of handing over the house keys and giving a small speech and blessing over the house. It was an intensely raw and humbling moment.
Then there was laughter and applause, and many hugs and tears of happiness for our house family.
It still gets me when I think of this moment.
Thank you so much for helping us make this crazy dream a reality!
What a gift to give this family! Just a little note about them: Dad is a truck driver, and makes about 8 dollars a day. Mom stays at home and cares for their 4 beautiful children.
This house is our way of saying we care for the Reyez family – that we want them to be safe, warm, dry, and happy.
Stay tuned, I’ll post more notes from the ground, and our goals for 09 are coming soon (and I’ll tell you now, they’re pretty mind blowing!!)
-james
A rough breakdown of the trip…
I thought it would help to provide a rough schedule of our week in Tijuana last week. Here’s a quick look:
Monday: Travel day, and overhauling a playground in Pipila
Tuesday: We started working on setting up some houses for stuccoing on a hillside settlement
Wednesday: House build day. One house in about 7 hours. No kidding.
Thursday: We spent the morning lining up visits for the rest of the week, and the afternoon was a much needed rest day at Rosarito beach.
Friday: Stucco day on the hill.
Saturday: Second stucco day, beach in the afternoon.
Sunday: Border and travel day – time to rest on the plane, and talk about what an amazing trip we had!
Of course, mixed in with these things were gift drops to local children, playing, having kids programs, and other happenings. I’ll fill in some details soon.
A huge thank you to all of you who have supported us, prayed for us, and sent messages of encouragement. This trip wouldn’t have been the massive success that it was without you!
a quick update
I received a quick phone call last night and the team has arrived safely in Tijuana. After lunch at the mission they were already put to work painting a playground. Work on the house build begins on Wednesday. – Lydia
the last minute details…
It’s the big week before the big trip/drop to Tijuana! I’m stoked, and the list of little details continues to grow…
One big issue we are currently faced with is the new flight restrictions that many airlines are enforcing. Last year, we were able to take two suitcases per person. That translates into a lot of room for extra stuff…This year, we’re cut in half – only one suitcase per person, which means we are having to cram a lot more stuff than last year’s trip into half the space.
ouch
No worries, we’re willing to pay a little extra, especially with some of the swank stuff we’re taking. The backpacks look amazing – I have a bunch of blue ones crammed into my suitcase- and the fair trade soccer balls…very cool! I can’t wait to start giving those out! Our school group also received an amazing donation of about 2-3000 dollars worth of contractor grade construction supplies (tool belts, framing hammers, some dewalt power tools, the works!) from JVD Installations that we will be able to use on our house build and leave for future groups to use. Totally worth a few extra dollars for some extra suitcases!
This time next week, we’ll be wrapping up our first day. I’m hoping to be able to get updates on the web via phone. We’ll see how that pans out…
very excited, but there’s a lot of packing and prep to do yet!
cheers, and thanks for helping make this trip that much more fantastic!
We’re Workin on it…
“by the way, you can do more with others
then you can alone…” (Erwin McManus- Everyone Gave {What Would the World Look Like if…} Podcast: 16/09/07) Mosaic
We’re workin’ on it: With some help from our friends…stay tuned for more news…coming up: benefit concert??…
Big Change Requires Little Change
“We can do no great things, just small things with great love. It is not how much you do, but how much love you put into doing it” – Mother Teresa
I think this quote represents what we are doing quite well. We know that we cannot enact massive changes, but we also know that through small acts of love, we can really create change in meaningful ways. In some ways, our goals seem very inconsequential when compared to some of the things going on in this world, but I also know that changing one person’s life by giving a small gift of a soccer ball, a backpack, or a bigger gift of building them a house can change that person or family in ways we can’t understand.
change has to start somewhere…
postscript:
If you are interested in reading a challenging book, I strongly recommend Shane Claiborne’s
The Irresistible Revolution: Living as an Ordinary Radical . This is my second read of it, and it continues to smack me up side the head.
house update
Just a quick update on where our fundraising stands on the o8 Terrazas TJ House build…
currently, we’re at $300 that has been donated towards the house.
Our target for Sept. is to fund the whole thing = $5,000.
We’re on our way, but there’s a way to go yet!
Using your plastic to give…
Credit Card Donations for the CWC Mexico House Build:
There are three options for Credit Card (Visa/Mastercard) donations-
1. Fax in your credit card request 604-541-7907 – make sure you note that it is for the Cameras With a Conscience Housebuild.
2. Mail your credit card request to the address above, again noting it is for the Cameras With a Conscience Housebuild.
3. Donate Online to Homes for Mexico on Childcare Worldwide’s website, and then e-mail Pamela Poblacion at ppoblacion@childcareworldwide.ca to give your authorization as there is no place, at present, to indicate for what project the donation is for. In your email, state the donation is to go towards the Cameras With a Conscience Housebuild.
Info on tax receiptable donations for soccer balls and backpacks coming soon –
