So Much to Share!!! Founders, Greg Kemp & Heather Knox are back from Guatemala for a short visit. This will be their only public event during this trip. Come hear all about the progress that has been made!
Posts Tagged ‘children’
Progress in Guatemala
Monday, May 13th, 2013What Motivates a Volunteer to Come to Project Somos?
Wednesday, April 24th, 2013
I have no overwhelming single answer to the question posed above. In just over two years, Alicia and I have observed a range of motivating impulses that have brought 240 volunteers from age 8 to 79 years old to Guatemala, assisting us in building Project Somos Children’s Village. I will share some volunteering motivations I have observed and make a few recommendations if you intend to be a volunteer.
We have had the good fortune to work with two volunteer businesses based in Vancouver – Stratosphere International Community Education and El Camino VolunTours. They organize volunteer trips with Project Somos and other projects working in the world to improve local social and environmental conditions. Some of our volunteers have been groups coming from high schools offering “service trips” and other volunteers have come as a group of individuals, varying in age and backgrounds. With both types of volunteer groups, we are always grateful for their interest, willingness to spend the time and resources to work here, and their ongoing support after their trip.
I believe it is always a good question to ask anyone interested in volunteering – why they wish to participate. The answer to this varies widely and could be – to visit and experience another culture, to help those in need, to travel, to fulfill scholastic requirements for “service” hours, to learn another language, to have an adventure, to do some environmental work, to use professional skills one has learned, to fulfill a requirement of a particular religion, to meet other people, or to join friends or family members that are volunteering. We have had volunteers with all of the reasons above.
I have observed the volunteer’s time here in Guatemala and I have seen that there is a correlation between the motivating impulse to volunteer and their overall positive or negative experience. There are three main factors, in my observations, to have a positive and fulfilling experience from volunteering. One is that the motive streams from an unselfish concern for the welfare of others. The second is that one abandons all expectations of what one will encounter and the third is that one comes with a willingness to do whatever is needed. These three facets, not always easy to acquire, form a solid foundation to have a very rewarding time.
We have seen volunteers that have tagged along with volunteering friends and they found themselves unhappy and resentful – not what they signed up for. We have experienced some members in school groups unable to engage perhaps because they came for only their service hours and we watched them complain and count the days to their departure. Some volunteers have great professional skills that cannot be directly transferred to the Guatemalan culture or our work site and have had very specific preconceived ideas of how to exercise their expertise – frustration arrived soon after. The good news is that the vast majority of volunteers that we have hosted at Project Somos have had an exciting, wonderful, trip of a lifetime, never to be forgotten.
It is our wish that all our volunteers have a rich and profound experience, but Project Somos cannot engineer that. Even with the comprehensive cultural and travel orientation that the volunteer organizations conduct, it cannot guarantee a positive experience. The best way to have a great experience is to check the motivation, leave your expectations at home, and come with an open mind and heart, ready to do anything.
Good Travels,
Greg
Gabrielle Dubland Guest Blogger on Kids Day
Thursday, March 28th, 2013Once again I feel completely blessed to be here at Project Somos.
Kids on the monkey bars
We had another Kid’s Day for the local children in Chrivabal, hosted by Southridge and Saint George’s school in Vancouver. We didn’t know how many children to expect, because it was an open invitation for all, not just for certain grades like in the past. The day -scheduled to start at 9:30- began instead at 8:50 with 38 children coming early. This was a day they weren’t about to be late to! The final count was over 150 local children with ages ranges from 2-16.
Kids lined up for the slide
The kids instantly fell in love with the playground, especially the slide, because here they don’t have the chance to play nor the resources to have a playground. For most of the children it was their first time on a slide, first time on monkey bars. And they loved it.
Me helping the two girls on the bamboo
For me personally, I have a new favourite memory. The bamboo barrier around the playground acts very well for a balance beam as well. Once the kids found out, it became all they wanted to do-walking back and forth on the bamboo. Seeing girls that needed a hand walking I helped them up and held their hand as they walked across the bamboo. At the end of the bamboo the girls, Leidi and Cindy, would yell “Otra vez!!” “Again! Again!”. So we’d walk back to the beginning and begin again. After walking back and forth about 5 times the girls tell me that its my turn. So we walk back to the beginning, and to my surprise they both took a hand and lead me along the bamboo. It is said that when you give, whether of yourself, time, money etc. you will be blessed 10x back. Well I can say the blessing came back about 100x over. And it wasn’t through money or things, it was through the simple gesture of a child, and I will never forget that.
The girls helping me on the bamboo
-Guest Blogger, Gabrielle Dubland
Denis doing what he loves!
Group shot!
The parachute was a huge hit!
Southridge girls with some of the boys
Some boys in the playhouse
Saints boys making sock puppets for the children
An Orchard in the Making
Tuesday, June 12th, 2012
Fig, orange, pear, apple, elderberry, avocado and lime trees!
Yesterday we picked up the baby fruit trees we had ordered. We headed to the local nursery where owners, Rosemary and Alejandro had our waiting trees. We loaded up the pear, lime, orange, fig, avocado, elderberry and apple trees into the back of the truck. Rosemary and Alejandro followed us to Chivarabal to have their first visit on the land. After we did the tour, they headed back to Tecpán and we unloaded the trees.
As we unloaded and watered the beautiful little trees, I thought about their upcoming life here in the Children’s Village. These trees will know every child that comes to live and grow up in the Village. Long after Greg and I have gone, these trees will watch children arrive, grow up and then leave the Children’s Village. The children will walk under the trees, they’ll climb in their branches and they’ll pick and eat their fruit. The trees will provide healthy nourishment, shade and hiding places for the kids.
The first trees should start to bear fruit in two years. I am so excited to watch them grow and produce! It’s a first for me and I can hardly wait! Thanks to all who helped make this possible!
-Heather Alicia
Greg, Rosemary and Alejandro loading up the truck with the new trees
Am I doing enough? Are WE doing enough?
Friday, June 8th, 2012As I sit here today updating our Spanish website, the question “Am I doing enough?” keeps running through my head. In the last 12 hours, I have been hit by two stories that have really saddened me.
Last night I watched a touching documentary, Which Way Home about children in Central America who jump onto the train in an attempt to go to the States to start a new life. The hard part is, not everyone makes it. They call the train “The Beast” as sometimes, you may fall off and then get caught under the moving train. Or you may die while traveling through the desert. The truth is, if you make it, is life really better in the States? Away from your parents?
One of the scenes in "Which Way Home"
This morning, I was told that my 9 year old friend (turning 10 tomorrow!), Josue was bullied by 5 older kids in school. They grabbed him by the neck and then tried to strangle him. Josue is now sick and traumatized. I know bullying happens everywhere but it hits home even more to me because he is my friend…my kid!
With my kiddies, Josue is in the yellow!
When people ask me what I do, I tell them that I working for a non-profit organization that is building a children’s village for abandoned and orphaned children in Guatemala. No, it’s not as glamorous as what I did before, where I got to travel throughout SE Asia, planning events. But I want to make a difference in this world, even if it’s small. I know I can’t save every child out there…but can you imagine what we can do if we all worked together? Or if everyone just did a little bit more?
- Amy
Ripples
Saturday, April 21st, 2012
Do we believe our actions, thoughts, emotions exist in a vacuum? Do we actually think that our daily lives have no effect on anything/anyone else? For better or worse everything we think, feel, experience and embody is transmitted in all directions and dimensions instantaneously. Whoa…really?
The good news is all the heartfelt passion and love applied in this suffering world does positively affect the whole global picture. Even the smallest act of kindness and compassion contributes to uplifting us out of the human entropic spiral. We can be overwhelmed and influenced by the media portrayal of an critically ailing world, out of control, but this depiction is merely a call to action. It is important to shake off the negative delusion that we are alone and can do nothing.
There is a tremendous hope for humanity and it lies within each human and their birthright and the potential to take meaningful and effective action motivated by love. This requires an awakened conscience. Action precipitated by unconditional love – as a mother’s love for her child, is a potent, contagious, and revolutionary force that can alter the course of this world.
Che Guevara said,
“Let me say, at the risk of seeming ridiculous, that the true revolutionary is guided by great feelings of love.”
This makes every mother a natural born revolutionary. Perhaps this is why women have been socially repressed for centuries? We are living in the time for the birth of a paradigm shift that brings the realization that everything and everyone is interconnected in the web of life. Humanity is in labour, the birth pains are obvious, and I look forward to the arrival of this paradigm and its deep positive impact on the planet.
Am I gullibly naïve? Perhaps, you decide for yourself…
Here’s to the Future,
Greg
Deafening Silence
Tuesday, April 3rd, 2012
Silence
All is quiet in Tecpán and in the Somos Headquarters/home. I should be relishing this silence. Shouldn’t I? This morning I feel this tinge of sadness. All the volunteers have left. The house and the land were filled with the sounds of young people for those two weeks and now, the silence is deafening.
I’ve written about it before and I am sure I will write about it again. This Project requires a ton of patience. The vision is to provide a loving home and community for vulnerable children. A village isn’t built over night though. It is years of planning, fundraising and constructing. At this time, as we build, it is pretty exciting to observe earth turning to homes, and walls, and gardens but there is still one important facet missing. The children.
Life and Laughter
The young Canadians that populated the land during their Spring Break brought life and laughter to the land. When they welcomed the local children for the activities day, the land came to life. The land is there to embrace children and it is during afternoons like that I am reminded it is coming.
How does that expression go?
Build it and they will come.
-Heather Alicia
Build it and they will come
Information Session in Toronto, Ontario
Monday, March 19th, 2012
Live in Toronto? Come to our information session on April 12th at 6:30 to learn more about Project Somos and how you can get involved!
Benefit Concierto, Playing for Kids
Monday, February 27th, 2012
Benefit Concierto, Playing for Kids in Support of Project Somos
St. James Hall
Vancouver, BC
A benefit concert in support of Project Somos. Come enjoy an afternoon with a few of Vancouver’s superbly talented singers, musicians and dancers, some professional but most of them young students. You’ll love their exuberance and energy, most especially performed by children for children.
Featuring: Students from Broadway Edge Theatre, Jenna and Nicole Potter, Natasha Feuchuk, Genevieve Chasse, Matt Darling, and with Special Guests, Ed Henderson and Gene Ramsbottom and Family.
Buy tickets for Benefit Concierto, Playing for Kids in Support of Project Somos
Saint George’s Coffee House and Auction Night in Support of Project Somos
Thursday, February 23rd, 2012
Saint George’s is hosting a Coffee House and Auction Night in support of Project Somos next Thursday, March 1st at 7:00pm.
Saint George students will be volunteering in Guatemala next month and are raising funds to help build the Village. Attend the fundraiser to a part of their future!
Listen to incredible live student musical performances, enjoy fresh coffee and baked goods, and bid on enticing items like an iPad, Canucks tickets, tools, artwork, spa packages and much, much more!!!
Parents, Students, Staff & Community Members Welcome
Thursday, March 1st 7:00pm
The Lower Great Hall
St. George’s Senior School, 4175 West 29th Avenue
Entry by Donation
All funds collected from the evening will be donated to the Project Somos Children’s Village in Guatemala on behalf of the students heading to Guatemala on their Spring Break 2012 Service Tour.
We thank you for your continuing support.
