Friday, August 8, 2008

Nica 06/08


In June I had the wonderful opportunity to accompany another one of our sponsors on a trip to visit her sponsored children. All four of the sponsored children are from Nicaragua and we planned a four day trip to meet them all. It was an incredible experience for our AOH sponsor and for all of the children as well. We were able to visit each child in their orphanage as well as attend the second Day of Celebration event in Nicaragua where two of the children were present. It was truly a special day for everyone.
This Day of Celebration event was incredible. It was bright, loud, energetic, competitive, cultural, athletic, delicious, and entertaining. I took a break and faced off against a group of the teens in some 5 on 5 basketball. My team won, but it cost me a lot of blood, sweat and tears (literally, a cut on my foot, sweat, and tears from a smaller child that was accidentally knocked over in the heat of the game).
It was truly a Day of Celebration. I particularly liked observing the orphanage staff members at the event. It is a day of entertainment and pride for them as well.
While visiting the children at their homes we had the opportunity to go to the island of Ometepe. We had to take a ferry ride across the lake to the island to meet the home administrator who drove us the rest of the way to the orphanage. It was a beautiful, tropical island covered with lush vegetation. The island itself is comprised of two large volcanos. The home was prepared for our visit and presented us with a dance show and some hand-crafted gifts. Our AOH sponsor even ventured for a quick horseback ride with one of the children before we continued on our way.

Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Honduras 05/08

This most recent trip to Honduras was very short and sweet. I have been pretty busy between all the different events in each country so I was not able to spend too much time in-country on this trip. The event was very successful. It was extremely well organized and exciting. We had 13 children's homes present and many staff and volunteers to help us keep it all in order.




The day's activites included soccer tournaments, Marimba concert, folkloric dances, a play (all actors were children from the different AOH homes), discoteca, carnival games, a snake to play with and a tent decorating competition.




After all the games and contests were finished the kids were literally showered with surprises of stuffed animals, candy, toys, and soccer balls. The bigger children were indoors at the "Discoteca" and all the smaller children squealed and cheered to get the gifts.

The day ended a half an hour early due to rain. We were lucky to have such a beautiful day and it was appreciated that God held off the major rain storm until the late afternoon.

Jamaica 05/08


Here are some of the pictures from the Day of Celebration in Jamaica. It was hosted on Saturday May 10th at a park on the beach in Portmore. Mother nature tested us a little bit with some heavy winds, but we were able to secure the large tents with sandbags and twine.

Also, most of the children do not get the opportunity to swim very often, so we like for them to spend the morning playing in the ocean. This year the water became pretty rough due to the high winds so we had to limit how far they were able to swim. We had a group of soldiers who volunteered to attend the event and work as life guards and security.

Some of the favorite events are the Hula Hoop contest, Tug of War contests, and the Dance competition.

Each child went back to the home with a package of nice toiletries, a gift bag of presents, and lots of chocolate! Each home also received large igloo coolers full of food, paper, and plastic items for general use. The caregivers and administrators were not forgotten. They too received gift bags.

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Nicaragua 04/08

This is what I look like at work...


This Day of Celebration event was unique for a couple reasons. First of all, it is hosted at Zacarias Guerra Boys Home and the home is lucky enough to have a pool. Therefore as part of the day's activities each home had a set period of time that they could enjoy time playing in the pool. This was a first for most of the children and no one wanted to get out when their time was up.

This event also has long standing competition between homes in scooer and track and field. The junior boy's soccer tournament ended in a shoot out that had the entire crowd screaming and jumping around.
The homes spend lots of time preparing for the cultural show. They bring traditional costumes, many of which are made by the children themselves, and dance to folkloric Nicaraguan songs. Some of the homes sang or played musical instruments.


Given the large size of the Angels of Hope program in Nicaragua and the expensive costs of transportation we divided the event into different regions this year. This was the first event, taking place in Managua where the majority of the homes are located. The following events are in different regions of the country. The Angels of Hope program in Nicaragua includes over 20 children's homes and over 1,000 children.

Dominican Republic 4/08



As I mentioned before, the Days of Celebration are in full swing. This trip included the events in both the Dominican Republic as well as Nicaragua. Thanks to American Airlines and their cancellation of my flight, I was actually able to go home and sleep for four hours in between the two trips. Just enough time to nap, throw all my clothes out of my luggage, and repack my bags.


The Day of Celebration in the DR was hosted in Santo Domingo Savio Boy's Home. In one word, the event was LOUD. The children arrived in buses blaring loud music. They were screaming, dancing and singing before they were even off the buses. The talent competitions rocked with loud music and the cheering sections for each home competed with the volume.



Pizza was served for lunch and the afternoon was filled with children's shows, sports, and other competitions.


We were honored to have two of our Angels of Hope sponsors attend this event. They came all the way from Michigan to meet their sponsored child and attend the Day of Celebration event. We were able to visit the child's orphanage and they passed out goodies and sweets to all the children.

Preparations for an event of this size, approximately 600 children and 70 staff and volunteers, takes a lot out of you. By the time the event was over I was so exhausted, sweaty, and ready to go to sleep. I returned to the hotel, packed my bags, went to sleep, and woke up at 4:00 am to catch my early morning flight back to MIA. I had completely lost my voice from the day's activities and arrived in Nicaragua the following day to face another large scale event with nothing but a squeak.

Trinidad 04/08

Trinidad started off our season of Days of Celebration with their event on April 5th, 2008.

In our Angels of Hope program we host an event once a year in each country called the Day of Celebration. It is a day dedicated to all of the amazing children in our sponsored children's homes. All of the homes come together for one large celebration. The day includes food, snacks, gift bags, prizes, trophies and medals, competitions, children's games, clowns, music, dancing, talent shows, parades, and lots more. Each country organizes and plans their Day of Celebration individually, so each event has its own unique touch.

















The event in Trinidad was hosted at our largest Angels of Hope home, St Dominic's Children's Home. The event hosted approximately 400 children and 50 staff and volunteers. The day started off with a parade/march pass. As is customary in Trinidad, the children organized themselves into teams and prepared a coordinated march pass in front of the audience and judges. The passes included some acrobatic tricks and dance moves. It was an exciting, entertaining, and very loud start to the event.




The rest of they day included a magic show, sports competitions, an appearance by a popular Soca singer (Blue), dance competitions, drawing competitions, prize give-away, goodie bags, and tummies full of sweets and fried chicken. Each home received a box of FFP donated basketballs, soccer balls, and volleyballs along with three brand new bicycles.



The children really enjoyed themselves and searched me out all day to ask about their sponsors. They always want to know if I know each one of them individually and they want to know when they will be receiving their next letter. This program is really important for these children and they relish in the attention they receive from their individual sponsors.


I also had the opportunity to visit a couple homes that are new the Angels of Hope program in Trinidad. After a long drive to the country-side I received a warm welcome and a tour of our newest addition. The home was beautiful and the children were truly adorable. They were many smaller children at the home and they all wanted hugs and kisses from the visitors. We evaluated project needs and possibilites and promised a return visit soon.


I love Trinidad for its unique blend of cultures, music, food, and energy. One night I walked down the street and sat in on a pan presentation in a local yard. The band played quite a few warm up numbers of loud, rapturing pan music. Then the judges arrived and arranged themselves at a little table lit up by a gentleman holding a flashlight in the night. The band started up again to play the featured song that was to be judged in the on-going competition. The drummers were jumping and dancing with so much energy, it was impossible to keep your feet still. The song ended and the judges piled back in the van to head to the next yard.

I spent all week eating curry goat and roti, akee and saltfish, beef and cheese patties in coco bread, and all natural juices. I even ventured to try some pig tail. The people are such a beautiful mix of Indian, African, English, and Chinese. The most adorable little children with dark skin and light green eyes. I love visiting Trinidad and I look forward to going back on my next trip.

Thursday, April 10, 2008

Haiti Video

My good friend here at Food For The Poor, Shawn, recently posted a video about FFP in Haiti on YouTube. I wanted to share it here. Enjoy!


Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Jamaica 03/08

I returned to Jamaica again this March. I stayed for a week long trip and visited all 12 of our Angels of Hope sponsored homes and also three children's homes that we are going to be entering into the program this year. These visits took me all over this beautiful island country, from the parishes of St. Andrew and St. Catherine through Clarendon and Manchester all the way up Trelawny and St. Ann. It was my first time passing through Montego Bay and Ocho Rios.


My work at the homes consisted of visiting each home and checking to see that they have been receiving food items as well as additional clothing, cleaning products, hygiene products, etc. Each home sets an appointment once a month with FFP and the Angels of Hope coordinator pre-arranges all of their goods. This allows for the homes to easily collect all the items and have a brief meeting with the AOH coordinator to ensure that all is well at the home.

We also saw the finished results of a number of projects that were completed in the children's homes. They included roof replacements after Hurricane Dean, water pumps, cisterns, Agricultural assistance (tools and seeds), and construction. Each home administrator is encouraged to submit a "wish list" of needs each year. This helps us to search out needed items in the warehouse or look into the possibility of aquiring the items through a donation or discounted price.

On our second day driving through the country it took us four hours to arrive at our destination. The "highway" was incredible. Imagine a primary roadway. Your mental picture probably has at least two lanes in each direction, probably a median in the middle and nice marked exits for the passing cities and highways. This crazy road that we were on was a narrow two-way cutting and bending around the rugged, lush mountains of Jamaica's countryside. The cars were frantically speeding along this winding, slender road with a jutting cliff falling down the mountain to one side and a tall, rough, rock wall covered with flowers and vines on the other. To top off my giddy excitement over this crazy car ride, in Jamaica the steering wheel is on the right and we were driving on the left side of the road.
My co-worker, the AOH coordinator for Jamaica, could not understand my awe about this experience. I kept pointing out the tiny humble shacks that had been built teetering on the peak of a jutting rock formation. The colors of the homes and flowers were vibrant and alive. It was such a contradiction to see such beauty and suffering in the same moment. Its incredible that so much poverty and desperation exists on such a beautiful island, but it could easily be seen along side the road as we passed through.

After the home visit we took the highway out to the coast. This highway looked more like the highways of our imaginations, except it follows the beautiful resort coastline of northern Jamaica. I got to spend about 7 minutes in Montego Bay as we crusied through town. I could see the touristy strip and all the amazing resorts and hotels along the beach. The water is a surreal blue-green and the beaches are perfectly framed on one side with royal palms. I can definitely understand why this area is so popular for cruises and travelers.

We continued on our way and had a similar experience in Ocho Rios. This time we actually stopped at a local jerk shop for some jerk pork and peas and rice.

As if the road trip wasnt already amazing enough, we came back on a highway that wound through an area called Fern Gully. It was exactly that. The road was cut deep into a humid, eerily cool section of mountain. The road was barely open to sky because of the steep cuts of dripping rock on either side. Ivy and vines hung down from the canopy of treetops to dangle over the road. Here and there along the Fern Gully were small areas large enough for craft and food vendors to set up small shacks.