Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Moringa- The Miracle Plant!
This plant has some amazing properties- it grows in Latin America and in Africa and is used by various projects because one little branch can offer so much!
The program doesn't include the notes from the presentation but hopefully you can still get an idea of how great this is.
The program doesn't include the notes from the presentation but hopefully you can still get an idea of how great this is.
Moringa!
View more presentations from andramlowe.
Saturday, December 11, 2010
Composting- A Magic Trick
Today was another GAIA action day, where we participate in activities here at the school that help us to be more sustainable and with the water tank finished (for now), and the weather as cold as it is, there isn't a whole lot that can be done. However, the tasks for today were extremely valuable. We started with a little over view of composting and how it works, and then went out to tend to the compost that we have here at the school.
My parent's had composting off and on at our house, but I never really cared much about it- all I knew was that it was stinky, and that was enough for me to let my parents handle it themselves. Being here at IICD and continuing to learn more about our planet's conditions and the future that we face, I am becoming more and more aware of how necessary sustainability is, as well as how easy it can be to start making changes, and how important it is to make the changes now, not later.
There are bins that you can buy from home improvement stores, but I would bet you that building your own is cheaper, and more fun! Our compost here at IICD is above the ground, but you can also dig a pit and your composting underground. We have three compartments: the first one is where all of your food scraps go. You can put all organic material in here (not organic as in organic produce, but as in material that will break down) including egg shells, coffee grounds, tea bags, leftover food, and even cooking oil. The only reason you should not put something in the compost is dependent on where you live. Cooked food can attract animals that is something you should consider when you plan your compost. The only maintenance that is required with this pile is to occasionally go in and chop up the food. By breaking it down into smaller pieces, it will break down faster. You want to this pile to remain moist and juicy.
The second pile, you want to layer this moist food with dry material. For this you can use recycled newspaper, shredded paper, all of the dry leaves from you yard, the grass you collect when mowing, and any other branches or twigs you have. Now, instead of having to pay to get all of this stuff thrown out or taken away by the city recycling, you can put it to good use in your yard! You layer the dry materials with the wet mush and then leave it. You want to keep it covered so that it can stay warm inside. Over time, it will break down and compact, and you can keep piling more and more.
The third pile is where you put this dry wet mixture after it has broken down and mixed together. It sits in this third bin to finish the process, and to be stored until ready to use!
Today, after we chopped and transferred, we brought buckets of the compost inside and layered it with the regular soil and planted some vegetables and beans in pots to have for the winter. We also looked up what vegetables like to grow together, and planted ours accordingly.
Compost soil is so dark and rich- it looks like the stuff people buy in the stores for a lot money- but better! When we have gardens, the plants use the nutrients from the soil to grow. So when we go to plant new stuff, we need to put nutrients back into the soil. Rather then paying money for someone to take away your food scraps that will go sit in a landfill, and then go spend more money for "good soil", why not save all of that money and use the food to enrich the soil for the new food!?
I know it is winter, and most people are happy for the excuse to not think about their gardens for a while. But now is the perfect time to build your compost and start collecting food. Although it won't break down while its cold, once it starts to warm up, the process will begin and by the time you are ready to plant in your garden, you will have this beautiful nutritious soil to use!
Here are some picture of the process:
Compost
Regular Soil (with water on it)
Compost Soil! Rich and Luscious!
Our indoor garden!
Our Garden Plan- So we know what we planted, where!
Friday, December 10, 2010
Thursday and Friday Promotions in Kalamazoo and South Bend
These past two days Andra and I have been venturing out to promote IICDs open house on January 22nd and our programs in Kalamazoo, MI and South Bend, IN. The areas we focused on were the university's, libraries and local businesses.
The first day we went to Kalamazoo, it was a gorgeous city with three universities literally right next to each other. The biggest of the three is Western Michigan University and we spent nearly 2 hours around the campus posting at all the various kiosks outside and a little inside the building, but those weren't the prime spots. It was kind of miserable because it was below freezing and also because Andra gets below freezing around 60F and she's not a happy camper when she's cold at all haha.
I think one of the highlights was going to a local all Spanish shop and using the very little Espanol I know to ask "Donde esta la Biblioteque (Library)." Very gratifying. After that we posted nearly half the material in a local giant community college, there was nearly a board to post on every twenty feet.
Today was amazing as well. South Bend is a beautiful city but a bit banky and suity if you know what I mean. But even though it was mula snob heaven there was some sincere looking places we went into to talk with the employees and post our materials. A few coffee shops , some restaurants and a little Irish bookstore in which we purchased a few old cheap books mostly which discussed the theories of Herr Charlie Marx.
The highlight though was going to Notre Dame University, my god it was so beautiful it nearly made me want to go to church again!!! We spent nearly three hours promoting in all the buildings, site seeing and taking pictures (which should be up). At one point we walked into what seemed to be the mother ship of all the structures, with gorgeous gothic architecture with a giant gold dome and a golden maiden mounted on the nipple of the golden breast. Inside there was a celebration, not sure what it was for. When we walked in there was murals on the walls depicting the savior and godfather of all humanity, Christopher Columbus (no sarcasm of course). Singing rang through the halls "all blah blah to the mountain over the hills and everywhere!" It was beautiful, it was a choir on the third floor of the innards of this mother ship. We entered into the festivities immediately and savagely tore through the amazing, delicious pigs in the blanket, fried chicken, fresh veggies and cold punch. We were starving to say the least. Then we went up the stairs, more food! Then up one more flight to the angels who bellowed out to the heavens! And guess what MORE FOOD!
It was a truly amazing day, I should say more but I'm very tired and need sleep. So until next time, solidarity towards all and to all a good night.
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Update on the personal ban of High Fructose Corn Syrup
Oh goodness, what is there to say other than my idea of having 28 days of freedom from HFCS being in my body has utterly failed.
I mentioned in the blog post that I wrote when starting this challenge that one of the hardest yet still rewarding things was going to be having to read the labels of all of the food I eat. Well, I was right about this being a challenge- in numerous ways.
First of all, reading the labels of things that I was used to just consuming unconsciously was quite the task, one that I only remembered to do part of the time, rather than all of the time. For instance, I went and made a sandwich, and reached for the 100% whole wheat bread, feeling proud that I had chosen the healthy option and had so easily passed over the moist, soft white bread that was sitting next to it. I ate my sandwich with enjoyment, confident that I was HFCS free with my turkey and cheese. I was happy in my ignorant bliss until someone pointed out to me that my lovely sandwich did in fact have high fructose corn syrup in it, and it came in my delicious whole wheat bread!
Of course it does. I should have remembered that if its processed and prepackaged, it usually contains HFCS, even if it is something we wouldn't consider a "sweet" food.
The second challenge occured when I went to restaurants or when I am not the one preparing the meals (which is quite often since we all take turns cooking). In these situations I am not in control of what ingredients get put into a dish, and therefore I have no way of figuring out if HFCS snuck its way in to the meal while I wasn't looking. There is really not much to do about this one, unless you can somehow ensure that the kitchen in which your meals is being prepared doesn't contain any processed foods which, in this day and age, is nearly an impossible task unless you don't ever eat out, and unless you have 100% control of the food shopping and have time and money to dedicate to making it possible.
There are still some positive changes that have come out of this, so let's try to look at the glass that's half full:
I have become, and am still becoming more aware of things I am putting in my mouth, and how they effect how I feel and how my body functions differently depending on what I provide it with. I have been reminded of how delicious (and nutritious) REAL bread is, and I have saved a lot of money by trying not to eat out.
This adventure still continues, as I try to feed my body and soul with things that will support its healthy functioning and its ability to thrive, not just survive.
I mentioned in the blog post that I wrote when starting this challenge that one of the hardest yet still rewarding things was going to be having to read the labels of all of the food I eat. Well, I was right about this being a challenge- in numerous ways.
First of all, reading the labels of things that I was used to just consuming unconsciously was quite the task, one that I only remembered to do part of the time, rather than all of the time. For instance, I went and made a sandwich, and reached for the 100% whole wheat bread, feeling proud that I had chosen the healthy option and had so easily passed over the moist, soft white bread that was sitting next to it. I ate my sandwich with enjoyment, confident that I was HFCS free with my turkey and cheese. I was happy in my ignorant bliss until someone pointed out to me that my lovely sandwich did in fact have high fructose corn syrup in it, and it came in my delicious whole wheat bread!
Of course it does. I should have remembered that if its processed and prepackaged, it usually contains HFCS, even if it is something we wouldn't consider a "sweet" food.
The second challenge occured when I went to restaurants or when I am not the one preparing the meals (which is quite often since we all take turns cooking). In these situations I am not in control of what ingredients get put into a dish, and therefore I have no way of figuring out if HFCS snuck its way in to the meal while I wasn't looking. There is really not much to do about this one, unless you can somehow ensure that the kitchen in which your meals is being prepared doesn't contain any processed foods which, in this day and age, is nearly an impossible task unless you don't ever eat out, and unless you have 100% control of the food shopping and have time and money to dedicate to making it possible.
There are still some positive changes that have come out of this, so let's try to look at the glass that's half full:
I have become, and am still becoming more aware of things I am putting in my mouth, and how they effect how I feel and how my body functions differently depending on what I provide it with. I have been reminded of how delicious (and nutritious) REAL bread is, and I have saved a lot of money by trying not to eat out.
This adventure still continues, as I try to feed my body and soul with things that will support its healthy functioning and its ability to thrive, not just survive.
Monday, December 6, 2010
Busy Bees!
That's what we have been for the past week- busy, busy bees. So, here's little update on what we have been doing!
UN Millennium Development Goals
Of the 33.4 million people that are living with HIV, 22.5 million of them live in Sub Saharan Africa. Africa has more than 14 million children that are orphaned because of HIV/AIDS, and 2.l children are infected themselves.
As part of the work they were doing, they started to breakdown the ingredients of the Antiretroviral medications, and after a lot of research they developed a mixture of aspirin, selenium, and vitamins, especially B. The Aspirin is an anti-inflammatory, and when a person had HIV, the body is fighting off infections, it produces the inflammation but when your body is constantly doing this, it can be really toxic. The Selenium controls cell division, and the B vitamins get used by the immune system to protect the cells.
They harvested plants that naturally contain these ingredients, including plants that contain salicylic acid, which is the active ingredient in Aspirin. They then dried them and made capsules. Because the access to Antiretroviral drugs is limited for these communities, they only give them to people who have AIDS, and those whose CD4 count is higher can take these capsules and it has been proven to extend their lifespan for 6 years.
We also had a presentation about the GAIA theory, and about environmental sustainability. The theory says that our biosphere and the physical components of the earth are closely integrated. It looks at symbiotic relationships that exist throughout the world, and how the earth maintains conditions for its own survival, just like the human body. The sun gets hotter every year, and yet the earth is able to maintain its temperature with natural processes- that is until us humans disturbed this system. The earth is only able to combat half of the effects of what we attributing to through our use of fossil fuels. We then had a group discussion on what kinds of things we can do ourselves to become more sustainable, as well as things we can bring to our projects. The truth is, we have reached peak oil and although we won't run out soon, we are now on the last of the supply and our lives will have to change in order to accommodate. In the US, we consume 25% of the world's resources, and we only make up a little less than 5% of the world's population. We are so dependent on oil for so many things in our lives, and it is time to start facing the reality that we are the ones whose lives will change the most drastically without oil. We need to go backwards in time, in order to move forward. We need to start learning how to grow our own food, collect rain water, etc.
These were my personal highlights of the conference, although there was so much more information, and fun crammed into those two days. It was great to meet the participants at the Massachusetts school, and to come together as one unified movement to discuss the world's conditions and what concrete things we can do to contribute to its growth and development.
Here is our program for the conference, so you can see some of the other things we were doing:
The conference ended on Wednesday, and Thursday was spent cleaning and restoring our environment after the two busy days, and preparing for our next adventure of the week: heading to Detroit for a building weekend with Georgia Street Community Collective.
Last week on Tuesday and Wednesday we hosted a Development Conference, where the IICD Massachusetts school came here to IICD Michigan and we had two days full of presentations, workshops, etc.
The main purpose of the conference was to evaluate the Millennium Development Goals set by the UN. We had presentations about each of the eight goals and how far we (the world) have come in trying to meet them, and how far we still have to go. Here is a link to the website so you can check it out-
UN Millennium Development Goals
It was great to see that there are goals set to try to overcome the lack of basic needs and rights that exist all over the world, however, you also have to look critically on the accomplishments that have been made and the accomplishments that have not been made. Some of the presenters did a great job at looking at the statistics the UN has provided and trying to figure out whether they are misleading, or why hasn't there been more progress made. The truth is, we have the money, the technology, and the resources to provide the whole world with food, clean water, health care, treatment for HIV/AIDS, malaria, TB, etc. The problem is the willingness of those capable of providing all of these things, to do so.
We also had a great presentation from a doctor who worked in Africa for many years at one of the projects called TCE (Total Control of the Epidemic) (you can visit the Humana People to People website to learn more about this project ). Because it was World AIDS day, we did some educational activities around HIV/AIDS, and then she talked to us about her work in Africa. It was truly amazing to hear the statistics of how many people become infected each year, how many people die, and how successful this projects is in controlling the spread by getting people to get tested and getting the people who test positive hooked up with treatment and support. Of the 33.4 million people that are living with HIV, 22.5 million of them live in Sub Saharan Africa. Africa has more than 14 million children that are orphaned because of HIV/AIDS, and 2.l children are infected themselves.
As part of the work they were doing, they started to breakdown the ingredients of the Antiretroviral medications, and after a lot of research they developed a mixture of aspirin, selenium, and vitamins, especially B. The Aspirin is an anti-inflammatory, and when a person had HIV, the body is fighting off infections, it produces the inflammation but when your body is constantly doing this, it can be really toxic. The Selenium controls cell division, and the B vitamins get used by the immune system to protect the cells.
They harvested plants that naturally contain these ingredients, including plants that contain salicylic acid, which is the active ingredient in Aspirin. They then dried them and made capsules. Because the access to Antiretroviral drugs is limited for these communities, they only give them to people who have AIDS, and those whose CD4 count is higher can take these capsules and it has been proven to extend their lifespan for 6 years.
We also had a presentation about the GAIA theory, and about environmental sustainability. The theory says that our biosphere and the physical components of the earth are closely integrated. It looks at symbiotic relationships that exist throughout the world, and how the earth maintains conditions for its own survival, just like the human body. The sun gets hotter every year, and yet the earth is able to maintain its temperature with natural processes- that is until us humans disturbed this system. The earth is only able to combat half of the effects of what we attributing to through our use of fossil fuels. We then had a group discussion on what kinds of things we can do ourselves to become more sustainable, as well as things we can bring to our projects. The truth is, we have reached peak oil and although we won't run out soon, we are now on the last of the supply and our lives will have to change in order to accommodate. In the US, we consume 25% of the world's resources, and we only make up a little less than 5% of the world's population. We are so dependent on oil for so many things in our lives, and it is time to start facing the reality that we are the ones whose lives will change the most drastically without oil. We need to go backwards in time, in order to move forward. We need to start learning how to grow our own food, collect rain water, etc.
These were my personal highlights of the conference, although there was so much more information, and fun crammed into those two days. It was great to meet the participants at the Massachusetts school, and to come together as one unified movement to discuss the world's conditions and what concrete things we can do to contribute to its growth and development.
Here is our program for the conference, so you can see some of the other things we were doing:
The conference ended on Wednesday, and Thursday was spent cleaning and restoring our environment after the two busy days, and preparing for our next adventure of the week: heading to Detroit for a building weekend with Georgia Street Community Collective.
I believe I have mentioned GSCC in a previous blog post, I think to tell everyone to check out their website and blog because they do extremely amazing work. Mark, the founder, grew up in this neighborhood but moved away and then came back after ten years to a place with broken down homes, empty lots of land, and trash everywhere. The only place to get food within walking distance is a liquor store, and as people cut through these empty lots of land to get food, they left trash everywhere. So Mark took over these empty lots of land and put community gardens in, so as they walk to the liquor store to get food, they could pick some fresh produce to add to their meal. Now they have multiple gardens throughout the whole neighborhood, an orchard, a little playground, chickens, and even a goat. They also took over a foreclosed building and have been restoring to make a community center to have gatherings and events, classes, movie nights, etc. They also took over a foreclosed home and are turning it into a library and computer lab that the community can use.
A few weeks ago some of us went to Ann Arbor to raise money for GSCC to put in insulation in the community center for the winter, and this past weekend we went to help them put up the drywall. It was truly an amazing experience- not only did we learn how to do drywall and finished the entire building in those two days, including sanding and retouching, and re-sanding, but we did it for such a great cause. Being from the US, I hear so many things about Detroit and about how bad the conditions are there but I really couldn't have imagined the things I saw. It was really shocking to see so many broken down homes, some that people were still living in, and empty lots of land collecting piles of trash. It literally looked like a war zone. There was a reporter from the Detroit Free Press there, following Mark around and taking pictures for a piece they are doing on the neighborhood. He told us that this neighborhood has the most homicides of anywhere else in Detroit, just within a few small blocks. We all left Detroit feeling like we had really worked hard for something really important, and that we wish we didn't have to leave yet.
I personally feel extremely passionate about this work- right before we left to come to Michigan, I had this epiphany idea of wanting to open a community center in really bad neighborhood and hold classes and have after school programs and community events- everything that GSCC is doing. I am so grateful to have been a part of that work, even for one day, and I really look forward to the work I do with them in the future.
So, I hope this gave you a little taste of what we have been up to the past couple of weeks, and why there have so few blog posts lately. More pictures will be posted soon, so check back!
We only have a couple more weeks before Christmas break, where we can go home and see our families for a few days and then when we return, we will be done with promotions and will officially start our team! Woo-hoo!
More to come soon! Happy snow days!
Andra
Friday, November 26, 2010
Thanksgiving in IICD
Yesterday was a wonderful day, full of community cooking and dancing especially by the Development Action team (Andra, Brian, Anna, Lilly, and our team leader Bia). There was two tremendous turkeys, green beans, stuffing, various Korean foods and every bit of it was scrumptious.
During dinner Andra started by recalling a family tradition where everyone around the table says what they are grateful for, obviously this was very heart warming especially because this Thanksgiving was also a celebration for the September Brazil/Belize Fight Poverty team that is leaving next week. Oh ya! Before dinner the the dining room was all decorated with candles and balloons (pictures will be up soon) and they formed a walkway to greet the September team to the dining hall. Upon there entrance the Africa team started singing "Hey Jude" it was so beautiful and sad *crying* haha.
After the dinner I presented the history of Thanksgiving. I only found out that I would yesterday so my preparation was very limited and I spent most of the day preparing for it (Below is a short outline of the presentation). It went very well. After that Trina (our Headmaster) gave a ten minute speech with song "Lean on Me" to tell the September Team that they could lean on IICD while there gone. Also that to make the best of their experience they need to throw themselves out of their comfort zone and into deep water to really learn, suffer with and help the community they will be living in.
It was a great experience but I missed my families very much. So I though this would be a great time to throw a shout out to the Winkler's who I know surely had a loud, exciting and loving Thanksgiving, it's always like that and something I love and miss very much. And to the Lowe's thank you for having me in your family, I love you all so much! I miss everyone, especially during the holiday's and I'm so happy I'll be there for Christmas!
I want to give a special shout out to my Auntie who has always been a shining light in my heart, thank you so much for sending IICD the cookies every person fully enjoyed them and the containers you sent them in are being put into use as we speak!
Below Thanksgiving Presentation Outline:
+Today’s Thanksgiving (tg) in middle class America- the tradition- the love and the misconceptions
A classic
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mS_R8eL_7WM
Macys balloon tg commentary
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=APjZtqmzY3o
+Traditional view on the origin of Thanksgiving
Bland stereotypical tg just about original
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wFDSobNnfQs
+Squanto and the Patuxet Extermination. 1605-1621
The Natives Version
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iTuFKisYnm8&feature=related
+Some Comic Relief
Immigration with our founding illegals
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJKpNlw0ef8&feature=related
+A Freedom Fighters words from Prison
Leonard Statement
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s49BeBKMGoI
During dinner Andra started by recalling a family tradition where everyone around the table says what they are grateful for, obviously this was very heart warming especially because this Thanksgiving was also a celebration for the September Brazil/Belize Fight Poverty team that is leaving next week. Oh ya! Before dinner the the dining room was all decorated with candles and balloons (pictures will be up soon) and they formed a walkway to greet the September team to the dining hall. Upon there entrance the Africa team started singing "Hey Jude" it was so beautiful and sad *crying* haha.
After the dinner I presented the history of Thanksgiving. I only found out that I would yesterday so my preparation was very limited and I spent most of the day preparing for it (Below is a short outline of the presentation). It went very well. After that Trina (our Headmaster) gave a ten minute speech with song "Lean on Me" to tell the September Team that they could lean on IICD while there gone. Also that to make the best of their experience they need to throw themselves out of their comfort zone and into deep water to really learn, suffer with and help the community they will be living in.
It was a great experience but I missed my families very much. So I though this would be a great time to throw a shout out to the Winkler's who I know surely had a loud, exciting and loving Thanksgiving, it's always like that and something I love and miss very much. And to the Lowe's thank you for having me in your family, I love you all so much! I miss everyone, especially during the holiday's and I'm so happy I'll be there for Christmas!
I want to give a special shout out to my Auntie who has always been a shining light in my heart, thank you so much for sending IICD the cookies every person fully enjoyed them and the containers you sent them in are being put into use as we speak!
Below Thanksgiving Presentation Outline:
+Today’s Thanksgiving (tg) in middle class America- the tradition- the love and the misconceptions
A classic
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mS_R8eL_7WM
Macys balloon tg commentary
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=APjZtqmzY3o
+Traditional view on the origin of Thanksgiving
Bland stereotypical tg just about original
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wFDSobNnfQs
+Squanto and the Patuxet Extermination. 1605-1621
The Natives Version
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iTuFKisYnm8&feature=related
+Some Comic Relief
Immigration with our founding illegals
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJKpNlw0ef8&feature=related
+A Freedom Fighters words from Prison
Leonard Statement
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s49BeBKMGoI
Sunday, November 21, 2010
My Article About Serving Community Lunch in Dowagiac
Here it is, we will also be posting the actual newsletter when it is done. You can find past newsletters on the bottom of the right column under Further Reading.
At IICD, we spend a lot of time learning about the countries we will travel to and how we can help the communities we will be working with while we are there. We also recognize, however, that much help is needed in the communities here in the U.S. We have built relationships with many non-profit organizations that are doing truly amazing work in areas like Detroit, and we have also just teamed up with another great project happening right here in our town of Dowagiac.
A few of the local churches have come together and started offering free lunches to the community. They all pitch in buying the food, hosting the event, and securing volunteers to run it. At the end of October we were invited by one of the members of one of the participating churches to come and help out for one of these lunches. A group of us volunteers got up early Saturday morning (our usual day to sleep in a little bit) and caravanned into town. We arrived at the small but sweet St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, ready to cook.
Although the desserts were cooked and brought in by various members of the church and some of the prep work was done ahead of time, it was up to us and some of the church volunteers to prepare the rest of the meal, serve it to the community, and clean up afterwards. We made scrumptious Sloppy Joes and vegetarian Sloppy Joes, a fresh salad with lots of vegetables, and french fries which we fried ourselves! Once the food was ready to be served, we had volunteers to serve each of the dishes, some clearing and resetting tables so that more people could come and eat, some that were responsible for bringing more food out as we ran out, and others to sort the recycling and trash when people were finished. It was quite the system, and a very successful one at that, thanks to all of the volunteers’ hard work and cooperation.
It was really an amazing thing to be a part of. The volunteers from the churches that were there were so nice and so grateful for us being there and we all worked really well together, despite not knowing one another and coming from different backgrounds. I think we all felt a sense of camaraderie and togetherness as we worked together to pull off this really important event. The people who attended the lunch were of all different ethnicities and backgrounds and ages, and it was really humbling and fulfilling to have the opportunity to offer something to them. We served over 100 people, not including the volunteers themselves, and for some it was probably one of the only meals they ate that day. It was really a great feeling to be able to be a part of providing a hot, complete meal to people, and then to be able to sit down and enjoy it with them, all together as a community.
I think all of us got a lot out of the entire event, even the long clean up at the end. This was the beginning of a new tradition for IICD and we will be continuing to help out with these community meals once or twice a month. It is so important to be a part of change all over the world, locally and abroad.
At IICD, we spend a lot of time learning about the countries we will travel to and how we can help the communities we will be working with while we are there. We also recognize, however, that much help is needed in the communities here in the U.S. We have built relationships with many non-profit organizations that are doing truly amazing work in areas like Detroit, and we have also just teamed up with another great project happening right here in our town of Dowagiac.
A few of the local churches have come together and started offering free lunches to the community. They all pitch in buying the food, hosting the event, and securing volunteers to run it. At the end of October we were invited by one of the members of one of the participating churches to come and help out for one of these lunches. A group of us volunteers got up early Saturday morning (our usual day to sleep in a little bit) and caravanned into town. We arrived at the small but sweet St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, ready to cook.
Although the desserts were cooked and brought in by various members of the church and some of the prep work was done ahead of time, it was up to us and some of the church volunteers to prepare the rest of the meal, serve it to the community, and clean up afterwards. We made scrumptious Sloppy Joes and vegetarian Sloppy Joes, a fresh salad with lots of vegetables, and french fries which we fried ourselves! Once the food was ready to be served, we had volunteers to serve each of the dishes, some clearing and resetting tables so that more people could come and eat, some that were responsible for bringing more food out as we ran out, and others to sort the recycling and trash when people were finished. It was quite the system, and a very successful one at that, thanks to all of the volunteers’ hard work and cooperation.
It was really an amazing thing to be a part of. The volunteers from the churches that were there were so nice and so grateful for us being there and we all worked really well together, despite not knowing one another and coming from different backgrounds. I think we all felt a sense of camaraderie and togetherness as we worked together to pull off this really important event. The people who attended the lunch were of all different ethnicities and backgrounds and ages, and it was really humbling and fulfilling to have the opportunity to offer something to them. We served over 100 people, not including the volunteers themselves, and for some it was probably one of the only meals they ate that day. It was really a great feeling to be able to be a part of providing a hot, complete meal to people, and then to be able to sit down and enjoy it with them, all together as a community.
I think all of us got a lot out of the entire event, even the long clean up at the end. This was the beginning of a new tradition for IICD and we will be continuing to help out with these community meals once or twice a month. It is so important to be a part of change all over the world, locally and abroad.
Water Tank Article Part 1
Below is my first article for the IICD Newsletter, and I'm sure Andra will post hers promptly:
Today the world’s resources are being depleted on a mass scale. Our reliance on electric and water companies to provide us with the resources we need to live takes away the need to rely on ourselves and our community, therefore depleting the important need to be self-sustainable. At IICD we are committed to sustainability and a healthy environment around the world and at our school, dorms and gardens in Michigan. With this mantra IICD Michigan has been recycling at home since its foundation and in neighboring states on a mass scale with clothes collection.
In this last year there has been a push to go farther and produce our own energy and to store natural rain water to feed our gardens. This first step is to build a water tank that will feed our garden which will then feed us and also our neighboring communities when we go to the farmers market. So below is part one of the steps we have taken to make this vision a reality.
At IICD we realize education comes from learning and doing, this is obviously very empowering and is the driving force in making change for yourself and the community you live in. So of course we as a community have been building this tank for nearly three weeks not including the tremendous effort it took to build a five foot deep hole in the ground which is also six feet wide. Currently we are nearly half way finished. The steps we have so far taken are as follows:
Building a wooden base whose purpose it is to hold the cement and also to hold the skeleton of rebar (metal poles) which strengthens the concrete walls (but that explanation will come later).
Bending and fitting sixteen rebar poles into L shapes. Then connecting the sixteen rebar’s with multiple rebar rings to strengthen and hold the form. After this was completed it looked like a mini prison cell.
Placing the wooden mold in the pit and fitting the rebar cage in the mold. This is when we started to mix the concrete and pour it into the hole, but just enough to where it didn’t surpass the top of the wooden mold.
The walls were the next step. This consisted of particle board cut into thirty-two pieces all eight feet tall by approximately six inches wide. We had to secure the boards together with U shaped nails and screws across metal strips. This reinforcement will be vital for when we pour the concrete into the wooden walls.
Our next step will be to build another wall but with less of a diameter which will be the inner wall, then the concrete will be poured, then the first tank will be finished!
Nearly everyone in the community has chipped in to build this great structure. The measurements and brains behind the operation has been from Anthony one of our teachers. We still have more to do and surely it will be covered in the next newsletter.
This tank is just one of two to be built until we can fully harness rain water to grow our vegetables. We should have the tank finished in a matter of a week or two and will not be able to start the next one until spring. Of course the winter won’t stop the activists at IICD from struggling to become more sustainable and the next project after the water tank will be to start to build our own SOLAR PANELS!!! Then GE will have to pay us for our energy!!!
Today the world’s resources are being depleted on a mass scale. Our reliance on electric and water companies to provide us with the resources we need to live takes away the need to rely on ourselves and our community, therefore depleting the important need to be self-sustainable. At IICD we are committed to sustainability and a healthy environment around the world and at our school, dorms and gardens in Michigan. With this mantra IICD Michigan has been recycling at home since its foundation and in neighboring states on a mass scale with clothes collection.
In this last year there has been a push to go farther and produce our own energy and to store natural rain water to feed our gardens. This first step is to build a water tank that will feed our garden which will then feed us and also our neighboring communities when we go to the farmers market. So below is part one of the steps we have taken to make this vision a reality.
At IICD we realize education comes from learning and doing, this is obviously very empowering and is the driving force in making change for yourself and the community you live in. So of course we as a community have been building this tank for nearly three weeks not including the tremendous effort it took to build a five foot deep hole in the ground which is also six feet wide. Currently we are nearly half way finished. The steps we have so far taken are as follows:
Building a wooden base whose purpose it is to hold the cement and also to hold the skeleton of rebar (metal poles) which strengthens the concrete walls (but that explanation will come later).
Bending and fitting sixteen rebar poles into L shapes. Then connecting the sixteen rebar’s with multiple rebar rings to strengthen and hold the form. After this was completed it looked like a mini prison cell.
Placing the wooden mold in the pit and fitting the rebar cage in the mold. This is when we started to mix the concrete and pour it into the hole, but just enough to where it didn’t surpass the top of the wooden mold.
The walls were the next step. This consisted of particle board cut into thirty-two pieces all eight feet tall by approximately six inches wide. We had to secure the boards together with U shaped nails and screws across metal strips. This reinforcement will be vital for when we pour the concrete into the wooden walls.
Our next step will be to build another wall but with less of a diameter which will be the inner wall, then the concrete will be poured, then the first tank will be finished!
Nearly everyone in the community has chipped in to build this great structure. The measurements and brains behind the operation has been from Anthony one of our teachers. We still have more to do and surely it will be covered in the next newsletter.
This tank is just one of two to be built until we can fully harness rain water to grow our vegetables. We should have the tank finished in a matter of a week or two and will not be able to start the next one until spring. Of course the winter won’t stop the activists at IICD from struggling to become more sustainable and the next project after the water tank will be to start to build our own SOLAR PANELS!!! Then GE will have to pay us for our energy!!!
Thursday, November 18, 2010
More Than Corn in Our Hair
Recently Brian and I watched a movie called King Corn. Its a documentary that I accidentally came across in IICD's movie library while I was trying to find Food Inc. The movie follows two young men who decide to grow an acre of corn to see first hand the process of corn farming and where the corn goes after visiting a scientist who, after sampling a strand of each of their hair, finds that they are basically made up of corn. The movie discusses farm subsidies and the incredible amount of corn that is produced in this country. This large amount of corn is then used in, well everything. It goes to feed cattle which is bad for them and ultimately bad for us when we consume the meat. Beef that comes from cattle that is fed corn is around 9 grams of saturated fat where beef from cattle fed grass is 1.3 grams of saturated fat and ground beef or hamburger meat contains 65% of calories as fat.
A huge part of the corn produced gets processed into High Fructose Corn Syrup. This is made my breaking down the corn into practically nothing, adding a lot of dangerous chemicals, and coming out with a product that can be produced at really low cost, thanks to the subsidies that pay for this large amount of corn to be produced. It has no nutritional value, and is put in to so many foods. At one point the two men in the documentary go into a gas station and have a hard time finding a product that doesn't contain HFCS.
Most of the corn grown in this country cannot be consumed as it is, it has to be processed in order to be edible and it lacks many nutrients because it has been genetically modified to be grown in a certain way for a certain purpose.
I really recommend watching this movie yourselves, it is really enlightening and really well made.
Here at IICD, I have had so many conversations and so much education about food and nutrition and both Brian and I have been eating relatively healthy food, at least when we don't go out (fast food is bad!).
After watching this movie, and realizing how much corn is in everything we eat: meat, candy, crackers, soda, etc., I started to feel a little disturbed; I would like there to be more than corn in my hair!
So, I have decided to try to tackle this dilemma one step at a time, starting with the most evil form of corn: High Fructose Corn Syrup.
Starting today, Brian and I are going to try to go 28 days without eating anything containing HFCS. After watching this movie, we were both really disturbed by how much corn we consume without actually eating corn. We agreed that if we did the test on ourselves, we would really love for there to be more than corn in our hair.
Because HFCS is in so many things and does nothing for you nutritionally, but does spike your blood sugar, eliminating this from our diets is a healthy decision. It is also a good way to consume less corn. It will be a challenging mission however, because HFCS is so many things, things we wouldn't even expect it to be in. This will force us to read the labels of foods carefully before we consume them and I hoping it will further enlighten us both about what we are putting into our bodies.
These days, its so easy to just pick something up and put into our mouths, not even questioning what is in it or what effect it has on us. We would love to invite anyone else who is interested in becoming more aware of what we are consuming and to try to eliminate some of this nutrient-free corn from our diets, to join us in this endeavor.I think it is so important to at least be conscious of what we are putting in our mouths!
Now, let's be clear- we are not eliminating sugar all together- we are only eliminating one type: High Fructose
Corn Syrup. If you do want to join in, lets share ideas with one another on how to satisfy our love for sweets with things made from real sugar or other sweeteners like honey, yogurt, or fruit.
I personally have been really hooked on dark chocolate- I love it because it actually has some health benefits to it, and I can eat one little square and be completely satisfied! I just bought a Pear and Almonds chocolate bar that is to die for! and no HFCS!
We will keep you posted on how it is going, and please let us know if you want to join in!
A huge part of the corn produced gets processed into High Fructose Corn Syrup. This is made my breaking down the corn into practically nothing, adding a lot of dangerous chemicals, and coming out with a product that can be produced at really low cost, thanks to the subsidies that pay for this large amount of corn to be produced. It has no nutritional value, and is put in to so many foods. At one point the two men in the documentary go into a gas station and have a hard time finding a product that doesn't contain HFCS.
Most of the corn grown in this country cannot be consumed as it is, it has to be processed in order to be edible and it lacks many nutrients because it has been genetically modified to be grown in a certain way for a certain purpose.
I really recommend watching this movie yourselves, it is really enlightening and really well made.
Here at IICD, I have had so many conversations and so much education about food and nutrition and both Brian and I have been eating relatively healthy food, at least when we don't go out (fast food is bad!).
After watching this movie, and realizing how much corn is in everything we eat: meat, candy, crackers, soda, etc., I started to feel a little disturbed; I would like there to be more than corn in my hair!
So, I have decided to try to tackle this dilemma one step at a time, starting with the most evil form of corn: High Fructose Corn Syrup.
Starting today, Brian and I are going to try to go 28 days without eating anything containing HFCS. After watching this movie, we were both really disturbed by how much corn we consume without actually eating corn. We agreed that if we did the test on ourselves, we would really love for there to be more than corn in our hair.
Because HFCS is in so many things and does nothing for you nutritionally, but does spike your blood sugar, eliminating this from our diets is a healthy decision. It is also a good way to consume less corn. It will be a challenging mission however, because HFCS is so many things, things we wouldn't even expect it to be in. This will force us to read the labels of foods carefully before we consume them and I hoping it will further enlighten us both about what we are putting into our bodies.
These days, its so easy to just pick something up and put into our mouths, not even questioning what is in it or what effect it has on us. We would love to invite anyone else who is interested in becoming more aware of what we are consuming and to try to eliminate some of this nutrient-free corn from our diets, to join us in this endeavor.I think it is so important to at least be conscious of what we are putting in our mouths!
Now, let's be clear- we are not eliminating sugar all together- we are only eliminating one type: High Fructose
Corn Syrup. If you do want to join in, lets share ideas with one another on how to satisfy our love for sweets with things made from real sugar or other sweeteners like honey, yogurt, or fruit.
I personally have been really hooked on dark chocolate- I love it because it actually has some health benefits to it, and I can eat one little square and be completely satisfied! I just bought a Pear and Almonds chocolate bar that is to die for! and no HFCS!
We will keep you posted on how it is going, and please let us know if you want to join in!
Thursday, November 11, 2010
The Miracle of Google Translate, and its down falls.
The promotion room consists of our team leader Bia, Lauren who works here, Anthony and Mette the two teachers, and then the DAs ( those of us who got scholarships and are doing promotions to work them off). The two other promoters that we are working with are Ana Paula from Brazil and Lily (English name) from Korea. They also happen to be our suite mates and the two people I am closest too here at IICD, despite the fact that they speak very little English. Although they are learning and quickly improving, Ana and I especially rely on Google Translate to have conversations. We have had much success with this method, sharing about ourselves and our lives, discussing what brought us here, etc.
Ana has also become my work out buddy and we attend Anthony's hard core aerobics classes together on Thursdays and Sundays (there is one on Tuesday too but I miss it because of clothes collection). Last night when we returned to the school, I was trying to ask Ana if she still wanted to come to the class tomorrow(today). She said yes and then asked me a question which I didn't quite understand. So, we whipped our computers and turned to good ol' google to help us. When she typed her question in Portuguese, the English translation popped up next to it, asking something about if I wanted to be calm today. I asked if what she meant was if I wanted to just relax today, pressed translate, and got the most unexpected reaction.
"NO, NO Andra!!" Ana yelled. I was completely taken aback and right away I knew Google translate had let us down. I still didn't know what I had just asked her but I was pretty sure that when I typed " do i just want to relax today? is that what you are asking?" that wasn't the same message that Ana received. We both started laughing, realizing that there had been a clear miscommunication and that whatever she thought I said to her wasn't what I meant.
Talita, another Brazilian who speaks pretty fluent English came into the room so Ana told her the message she received from me and boy did it change. Talita explained that Google had told Ana that I was asking if she wanted to come to bed with me. Not the message I intended.
We both laughed hysterically, and the rest of the people in the room joined us. I feel like we learned a valuable lesson: Although Google Translate helps in many situations, it cannot replace person to person to conversation, and that "direct" translations are not always so direct.
Thank goodness we all have a good sense of humor.
Ana has also become my work out buddy and we attend Anthony's hard core aerobics classes together on Thursdays and Sundays (there is one on Tuesday too but I miss it because of clothes collection). Last night when we returned to the school, I was trying to ask Ana if she still wanted to come to the class tomorrow(today). She said yes and then asked me a question which I didn't quite understand. So, we whipped our computers and turned to good ol' google to help us. When she typed her question in Portuguese, the English translation popped up next to it, asking something about if I wanted to be calm today. I asked if what she meant was if I wanted to just relax today, pressed translate, and got the most unexpected reaction.
"NO, NO Andra!!" Ana yelled. I was completely taken aback and right away I knew Google translate had let us down. I still didn't know what I had just asked her but I was pretty sure that when I typed " do i just want to relax today? is that what you are asking?" that wasn't the same message that Ana received. We both started laughing, realizing that there had been a clear miscommunication and that whatever she thought I said to her wasn't what I meant.
Talita, another Brazilian who speaks pretty fluent English came into the room so Ana told her the message she received from me and boy did it change. Talita explained that Google had told Ana that I was asking if she wanted to come to bed with me. Not the message I intended.
We both laughed hysterically, and the rest of the people in the room joined us. I feel like we learned a valuable lesson: Although Google Translate helps in many situations, it cannot replace person to person to conversation, and that "direct" translations are not always so direct.
Thank goodness we all have a good sense of humor.
Saturday, November 6, 2010
Where I Need to Be
These past few days have offered opportunities for some truly amazing conversations both between just Brian and me, as well as with some of the staff here at IICD. It has offered a much needed reflection of why I have ended up where I am right now. I don't say 'much needed' because I was doubting whether I should be here, but just the opposite of that- because I have been feeling that this is exactly where I should be.
It is really refreshing to be in an environment that promotes individualism but within a community- where people are appreciated for their own knowledge and ideas and talents and that everyone shares and contributes with everyone. No one is worried about protecting their good ideas out of fear of someone else making money off them, instead we all share and learn together as we do it. No one is exempt from hard work and yet by everyone contributing a little bit, we all have plenty of delicious, nutritious food to eat, a beautiful building and campus that is becoming more sustainable and self reliant, and we are able to give so much to others.
Everyone is challenged physically, emotionally, intellectually, and in every other way you could possibly be challenged. And we all support one another in embracing those challenges, knowing this is the only way to learn, and to grow. This is truly an environment for thriving, not just living.
Its a challenge even to accept the challenges for what they are- to realize that even the littlest of things is truly an opportunity to change and to want that change. Change is almost always scary, and almost never easy. Every day I am here I feel not just accepting of these challenges but welcoming of them, wanting them, awaiting them, and to be so very thankful for them. Rather than avoiding certain situations and taking the route that is comfortable, I am searching for the unknown, for the things I have never tried and never wanted to try.
I found a spider smushed and stuck to the bottom of my foot, inside my sock that I had been wearing all day and laughed-yes laughed about it! In the same 24 hour period I had a huge wolf spider hitch a ride on my towel and join me in my shower, and tried to pick a scab off of Brian's back not realizing it was a tic, and then removed the tic, pulling it out and being painfully aware that it was a living thing that was half way inside of his skin and half out. Completely disgusting. I have had to cook meals for large groups of people who all have different tastes, being terrified of burning it, not making enough, making way too much, and making something completely disgusting.
One of the biggest challenges I have faced while being here so far is the constantly changing environment. Usually I am a little shy and reserved when I first meet people, and I look forward to spending time with them as a group and as individuals and that is when I become more confident, more comfortable, and start to open up and show more of who I am. Here, groups of people are arriving and leaving ALL of the time. The groups are always changing, not allowing me to do my normal adaptation routine. I am having to work on getting to a place where I can feel comfortable in all different groups with different dynamics, much faster than I am used to. Sometimes it is me and 5 Korean girls, or me and a bunch Brazilians- sometimes its a huge group and other times its only 3 or 4 people.
These situations also challenge me to face stereotypes-some that I knew I had, and others I am just now becoming aware of. This too is quite an interesting process. Often when I think of stereotypes it is a negative thing. There is good reason for this of course, because stereotypes are generalizations and you just can't put everyone into any one group. I thought that stereotypes were all bad, and therefore must all be wrong. While I don't want to generalize and I always want to remember that there are exceptions and contradictions to EVERYTHING in life, it is funny to come face to face with a stereotype, ready to move past it because I believe it must be false, only to find that it is actually true in many cases! It is then a whole other challenge to move forward with this finding in a compassionate, understanding, and loving way. This requires some processing of course.
There is really nothing routine or ordinary about the life we are living for the next year and not even two weeks in, I can tell that this will be an experience to remember.
It is really refreshing to be in an environment that promotes individualism but within a community- where people are appreciated for their own knowledge and ideas and talents and that everyone shares and contributes with everyone. No one is worried about protecting their good ideas out of fear of someone else making money off them, instead we all share and learn together as we do it. No one is exempt from hard work and yet by everyone contributing a little bit, we all have plenty of delicious, nutritious food to eat, a beautiful building and campus that is becoming more sustainable and self reliant, and we are able to give so much to others.
Everyone is challenged physically, emotionally, intellectually, and in every other way you could possibly be challenged. And we all support one another in embracing those challenges, knowing this is the only way to learn, and to grow. This is truly an environment for thriving, not just living.
Its a challenge even to accept the challenges for what they are- to realize that even the littlest of things is truly an opportunity to change and to want that change. Change is almost always scary, and almost never easy. Every day I am here I feel not just accepting of these challenges but welcoming of them, wanting them, awaiting them, and to be so very thankful for them. Rather than avoiding certain situations and taking the route that is comfortable, I am searching for the unknown, for the things I have never tried and never wanted to try.
I found a spider smushed and stuck to the bottom of my foot, inside my sock that I had been wearing all day and laughed-yes laughed about it! In the same 24 hour period I had a huge wolf spider hitch a ride on my towel and join me in my shower, and tried to pick a scab off of Brian's back not realizing it was a tic, and then removed the tic, pulling it out and being painfully aware that it was a living thing that was half way inside of his skin and half out. Completely disgusting. I have had to cook meals for large groups of people who all have different tastes, being terrified of burning it, not making enough, making way too much, and making something completely disgusting.
One of the biggest challenges I have faced while being here so far is the constantly changing environment. Usually I am a little shy and reserved when I first meet people, and I look forward to spending time with them as a group and as individuals and that is when I become more confident, more comfortable, and start to open up and show more of who I am. Here, groups of people are arriving and leaving ALL of the time. The groups are always changing, not allowing me to do my normal adaptation routine. I am having to work on getting to a place where I can feel comfortable in all different groups with different dynamics, much faster than I am used to. Sometimes it is me and 5 Korean girls, or me and a bunch Brazilians- sometimes its a huge group and other times its only 3 or 4 people.
These situations also challenge me to face stereotypes-some that I knew I had, and others I am just now becoming aware of. This too is quite an interesting process. Often when I think of stereotypes it is a negative thing. There is good reason for this of course, because stereotypes are generalizations and you just can't put everyone into any one group. I thought that stereotypes were all bad, and therefore must all be wrong. While I don't want to generalize and I always want to remember that there are exceptions and contradictions to EVERYTHING in life, it is funny to come face to face with a stereotype, ready to move past it because I believe it must be false, only to find that it is actually true in many cases! It is then a whole other challenge to move forward with this finding in a compassionate, understanding, and loving way. This requires some processing of course.
There is really nothing routine or ordinary about the life we are living for the next year and not even two weeks in, I can tell that this will be an experience to remember.
GAIA Action Saturday
Today was the first GAIA Action Saturday(GAS) for myself and Andra. GAS is a day in which everyone in IICD works doing upkeep of the complex. For example today I helped with chopping up all the various goodies that go into compost, stacking and storing the picnic tables for winter and working on the water tank. Nothing is as satisfying for the soul as hard labor!
Once everything is finished the rest of the day is ours to work, play, explore or sleep. I think I will satisfy my needs by walking endlessly to wherever I please once I'm finished with this post.
Lately I have fallen in love with Woody Guthrie, he was a hobo, socialist, and known around the world for his most famous piece "This Land is Our Land". Below I will post some of my personal favorites. I think his music is inspiring and for those who are less educated in the history of the USA(not the slanted views we learn in primary school) it's important to listen and research into the struggles he sings about. We owe everything to those Americans that stood up, struggled, died or survived in the face of oppressive circumstances (and the few who still do or the youth that will in the future). Woody was a hobo and an American jewel who sung about those struggles. I plan to be a part of those few, I guess it's not a choice but a living consciousness that any critical individual can obtain on various levels when you open your mind to knowledge and the infinite ways of analyzing situations in the world. I'm going to work on a presentation to give to the school about this American jewel, I'll post the power point on the blog for the world to see as well.
It's nearly been two weeks since I arrived here! I've been leaning a lot about myself and my abilities. I really miss my family (Winklers and Lowes and all the doggies) and I can't wait to see everyone around Christmas.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XDd64suDz1A&feature=BF&list=QL&index=21 (About Colorado strike)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HbulO_FB2ZI&feature=BF&list=QL&index=19
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dNKg54bvObQ&feature=BF&list=QL&index=4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VwcKwGS7OSQ&feature=BF&list=QL&playnext=1
http://www.youtube.com/watchv=EDS00Pnhkqk&p=C425022EBD3EACB0&playnext=1&index=4
Friday, November 5, 2010
Check it out!
Hey everyone! Check out the September and October Newsletters- they are posted under Links for Further Reading on the bottom of the right side.
Also, check out IICD's new website at http://www.iicdmichigan.org/
at the very bottom there is a logo that says GSCC- I HIGHLY recommend that you click on that link and visit the website. Its a non profit in Detroit that is doing some amazing work. IICD has a great relationship with them and we do volunteer work with them sometimes. I literally can't wait to go! there is also a music video posted on the left side of the page that was shot at the community garden and below it is the making of the music video which is really good too.
There is another logo that says YDB, click on that one too.
There is just so much good stuff!
Check it out!
More to come soon!
Also, check out IICD's new website at http://www.iicdmichigan.org/
at the very bottom there is a logo that says GSCC- I HIGHLY recommend that you click on that link and visit the website. Its a non profit in Detroit that is doing some amazing work. IICD has a great relationship with them and we do volunteer work with them sometimes. I literally can't wait to go! there is also a music video posted on the left side of the page that was shot at the community garden and below it is the making of the music video which is really good too.
There is another logo that says YDB, click on that one too.
There is just so much good stuff!
Check it out!
More to come soon!
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Clothes Collection
Brian and I have been given a new responsibility- doing the clothes collection for GAIA!
Every Tuesday for the next two months that we are here doing promotions for the scholarship we received, we will be in charge of collecting the clothes from all of the drop boxes and then taking them to the thrift store that buys them from us. Here is what the whole journey looks like:
Tuesday morning we leave by 7 am (we are going to try to leave by 6 because, as you will see below, its a LONG day and we want to finish earlier). We drive from our school to the GAIA warehouse in Chicago. From here we pick up the truck (pictures shown below, better ones to come after next week!) and the keys for all of the boxes and leave our van there. We then drive to Fort Wayne, Indiana and drive to, I believe, 28 locations where we have boxes and we empty the bags of clothes into our truck. A full box holds around 300 lbs. of clothes and at many of the sights we also have to pick up mattresses, couches, and even toilets that people leave there. We obviously can't use these but we have to take them with us and empty them into the dumpsters so we can keep the area looking clean.
After hitting all of the sights, we stay the night in a Motel 6 who we have a relationship with and who has agreed to give us a special rate of $35 a night. The next morning we get up and drive to Merriville Indiana, where we unload the bags of clothes into "skids", big cart things on wheels, at the second hand clothes store there. They weigh each skid and GAIA gets paid per pound of clothes. From here we have to drive back to Chicago to empty all of the trash we collected along the way and to return the truck. Then we take our van and drive back to the school.
This past Tuesday was our first run and we ended up leaving the school at 7:30 in the morning and didn't get into our room until 8:30 that night, and we didn't get back to the school until around 5:30 Wednesday evening so its a pretty long two days of work. It was pretty fun though and very satisfying. Its hard work throwing bag after bag into the truck and cleaning, etc. To give you an idea of how many bags of clothes we collect, this last trip our total weight was 4,800 lbs.
It was great to put in a good days worth of hard work, knowing it was for a good thing. The money that comes from this helps to keep the school running because the tuition we pay is so low and doesn't cover everything, and it also supports GAIA which works on sustainability in impoverished countries.
This time, because we had never done it before, Anthony came with us. It was really great to have someone sort of show us the ropes and all of the driving gave us a great opportunity to have some awesome conversations about the world, and about the organization and all of the work it does and the obstacles it has had/has to overcome.
It was a very successful trip and I think we are both excited to do it again next week!
Every Tuesday for the next two months that we are here doing promotions for the scholarship we received, we will be in charge of collecting the clothes from all of the drop boxes and then taking them to the thrift store that buys them from us. Here is what the whole journey looks like:
Tuesday morning we leave by 7 am (we are going to try to leave by 6 because, as you will see below, its a LONG day and we want to finish earlier). We drive from our school to the GAIA warehouse in Chicago. From here we pick up the truck (pictures shown below, better ones to come after next week!) and the keys for all of the boxes and leave our van there. We then drive to Fort Wayne, Indiana and drive to, I believe, 28 locations where we have boxes and we empty the bags of clothes into our truck. A full box holds around 300 lbs. of clothes and at many of the sights we also have to pick up mattresses, couches, and even toilets that people leave there. We obviously can't use these but we have to take them with us and empty them into the dumpsters so we can keep the area looking clean.
After hitting all of the sights, we stay the night in a Motel 6 who we have a relationship with and who has agreed to give us a special rate of $35 a night. The next morning we get up and drive to Merriville Indiana, where we unload the bags of clothes into "skids", big cart things on wheels, at the second hand clothes store there. They weigh each skid and GAIA gets paid per pound of clothes. From here we have to drive back to Chicago to empty all of the trash we collected along the way and to return the truck. Then we take our van and drive back to the school.
This past Tuesday was our first run and we ended up leaving the school at 7:30 in the morning and didn't get into our room until 8:30 that night, and we didn't get back to the school until around 5:30 Wednesday evening so its a pretty long two days of work. It was pretty fun though and very satisfying. Its hard work throwing bag after bag into the truck and cleaning, etc. To give you an idea of how many bags of clothes we collect, this last trip our total weight was 4,800 lbs.
It was great to put in a good days worth of hard work, knowing it was for a good thing. The money that comes from this helps to keep the school running because the tuition we pay is so low and doesn't cover everything, and it also supports GAIA which works on sustainability in impoverished countries.
This time, because we had never done it before, Anthony came with us. It was really great to have someone sort of show us the ropes and all of the driving gave us a great opportunity to have some awesome conversations about the world, and about the organization and all of the work it does and the obstacles it has had/has to overcome.
It was a very successful trip and I think we are both excited to do it again next week!
Monday, November 1, 2010
IICD/HPP Program (Part 3)
Teachers in the Villages
Throughout Africa there are millions of children who don't attend primary school simply due to the fact that there isn't any to go to. In Mozambique, Angola and Malawi HPP has setup many schools for these children. Teachers who have gone through teacher training colleges get mobilized to areas in which there aren't schools to literally build schools from the ground up.
The teachers mobilize the surrounding community by starting classes with little material or funding. As students get organized and the community rallies to the call for knowledge everyone chips in to construct make shift schools and eventually progress to permanent foundations for schools. HPP wants teachers to create their own development which is the mantra that is eventually passed on through example into the community.
Teachers use the Modern Determination Method(MDM) to teach the school children. MDM consists of three parts: Studies-tasks are given to students that are designed by the teacher (2/4 of the school day), Courses- teacher led sessions (1/4 of the school day) and Experiences- formulating the individual students thoughts and feelings (1/4 of the school day). MDM's mission is to teach the student to be the creator and produce of her/his development.
Thursday, October 28, 2010
The Daily Doings at IICD
Here is a little glimpse of what our daily schedule is like:
Monday-Friday we have breakfast at 8 am, Saturday is at 9, and Sunday we have brunch at 11.
At 8:30 During the week we have morning program- each of the team leaders and teachers take turns with this and they cover various topics. On Fridays instead of having a presentation, we have a community meeting. This is where we figure out who is doing what for school Friday and address any questions, debates, issues, or suggestions that pertain to the whole community.
At 9:30 we do MOBS- I am not sure what this stands for but basically it is 30 min of cleaning. Everyone gets assigned a task for the week from cleaning the bathrooms, or the classrooms, to tending to the garden or emptying the compost pile.
At 10 on Monday-Friday is work time and this lasts until 1. On Saturday is GAIA day, where we work on things for the environment or to make our buildings more efficient and sustainable.
At 1 we have lunch everyday and afterwards we go back to work until 5. On Friday's we have school days where we work on projects to fix up the school. this takes place in the after lunch instead of the usual work time.
At 5 work time is over and we have Sports time, basically it is free time but sometimes Anthony, one of the teachers holds aerobic classes and if its nice people go outside and play soccer or basketball.
A 7 we have dinner and then we have an evening program which can be a movie or documentary, language classes, a debate, or just free time.
Sundays are our free days!! Woo-hoo! Groups can suggest different activities and go out to a movie, or out to eat, or whatever people want to do!
So, are you confused and/ or overwhelmed?? ME TOO! I'm sure by next week I will be a little more used to it but there are CONSTANTLY changes to this schedule. For instance, this week, we had community meeting today instead of tomorrow and Saturday we are going to a local church to cook and serve food to the homeless community rather than doing the GAIA day. I am looking forward to this activity- I am going to be writing an article about it for the November newsletter! Brian will be writing an article in the newsletter as well so we will be sure to post it on here once it comes out!
Monday-Friday we have breakfast at 8 am, Saturday is at 9, and Sunday we have brunch at 11.
At 8:30 During the week we have morning program- each of the team leaders and teachers take turns with this and they cover various topics. On Fridays instead of having a presentation, we have a community meeting. This is where we figure out who is doing what for school Friday and address any questions, debates, issues, or suggestions that pertain to the whole community.
At 9:30 we do MOBS- I am not sure what this stands for but basically it is 30 min of cleaning. Everyone gets assigned a task for the week from cleaning the bathrooms, or the classrooms, to tending to the garden or emptying the compost pile.
At 10 on Monday-Friday is work time and this lasts until 1. On Saturday is GAIA day, where we work on things for the environment or to make our buildings more efficient and sustainable.
At 1 we have lunch everyday and afterwards we go back to work until 5. On Friday's we have school days where we work on projects to fix up the school. this takes place in the after lunch instead of the usual work time.
At 5 work time is over and we have Sports time, basically it is free time but sometimes Anthony, one of the teachers holds aerobic classes and if its nice people go outside and play soccer or basketball.
A 7 we have dinner and then we have an evening program which can be a movie or documentary, language classes, a debate, or just free time.
Sundays are our free days!! Woo-hoo! Groups can suggest different activities and go out to a movie, or out to eat, or whatever people want to do!
So, are you confused and/ or overwhelmed?? ME TOO! I'm sure by next week I will be a little more used to it but there are CONSTANTLY changes to this schedule. For instance, this week, we had community meeting today instead of tomorrow and Saturday we are going to a local church to cook and serve food to the homeless community rather than doing the GAIA day. I am looking forward to this activity- I am going to be writing an article about it for the November newsletter! Brian will be writing an article in the newsletter as well so we will be sure to post it on here once it comes out!
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
HPP/IICD Programs (Part 2)
Schools for Children
Throughout Africa, Humana People to People has set up primary schools. In many African countries children have no access to an education. In HPP style they round up the community to build schools for their children.
The children are taught at national educational standards as well as being taught vocational skills. The students are taught discipline and self-empowerment within democratic organs such as Student Councils which usually meet weekly. The students learn to become self sustainable by building gardens and having to take care and keep clean the facilities they use.
The students are taught sex education with emphasis on HIV/AIDs education and prevention. The children put on cultural events such as plays to educate and entertain their respective communities. Many of the children attending the schools are orphans because their parents have died from the disease, they are provided room and board.
Along with cultural events the children do physical activities such as various sport teams.
Throughout Africa, Humana People to People has set up primary schools. In many African countries children have no access to an education. In HPP style they round up the community to build schools for their children.
The children are taught at national educational standards as well as being taught vocational skills. The students are taught discipline and self-empowerment within democratic organs such as Student Councils which usually meet weekly. The students learn to become self sustainable by building gardens and having to take care and keep clean the facilities they use.
The students are taught sex education with emphasis on HIV/AIDs education and prevention. The children put on cultural events such as plays to educate and entertain their respective communities. Many of the children attending the schools are orphans because their parents have died from the disease, they are provided room and board.
Along with cultural events the children do physical activities such as various sport teams.
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
A Little Overview of HPP/IICD and its Programs (Part 1)
Today Andra and I have basically been studying the program and history of Humana People to People. I personally have been studying the HPP annual report for 2006. Below I will describe some of the various programs implemented in various African countries. (In 2006 IICD and HPP was non existent in Central and South America but the same programs are being implemented in the America's now).
Child Aid
Child Aid as it sounds is a program that helps underprivileged children. The program creates community committees to tackle basic needs and debate issues such as education, orphans, economic needs, the environment and overall development of the community.
The community rallies to orphans and gives them education, vocational skills and basically a chance to keep the children busy.
Agricultural committees and Water, Sanitation, Health and Education committees are also formed to fight poverty on a wider basis in the community.
Tomorrow I will continue with part 2 for now it is bedtime.
The Pedagogic Principles of IICD- very interesting!
Pedagogic Principles
You must go exploring in order to create new conceptions, and then again make new explorations in order to make better conceptions.
For altogether too many years, people wanting to learn more than what they know have been obliged to take a seat. People in general start to learn about anything, by sitting down and that is usually how they remain. Perfectly boring most of the time and quite divorced from the experience of ordinary mortals, who know that it is where things are happening in real life that we are able to learn.
At our schools we start out in the world at large. We use the school building(s) as a place in which to accumulate and exchange experiences, to read and argue, and a place for where the teachers tell and the participants report.
We use what we have learned on further explorations. We apprehend that we must practice learning what we do not know. We go exploring to acquire new ideas then we explore further to form better ideas.
You must get close to the things you want to learn about. The closer you get, the more you’ll learn.
Imagine yourself high up in an aircraft flying over Africa, Central America, or Asia. 30,000 feet below you are the countries and the people. You are sitting above it all, reading about Africa, Central America, Asia, the countries and the people. It is all wrong.
Things aren’t quite that bad in school. We believe, however, that teaching should go on outside the classroom, in the natural setting of the subject to be learned. Bringing in the people who are there. They know where the shoe pinches. The students must be there, too and they must have plenty of opportunities to ask questions based on personal, on-the-spot observations.
Then the school building(s) turns into an asset as the place where school, being a segment of society, connects students with society.
Together with your comrades you must be the driving force in the training process. It is not the little tricks of the teacher that can get you moving, life is far too important for that.
In most countries there are courses in motivation for teachers, for foremen, and for any kind of employers, for the purpose of teaching them how to make other people do something they don’t quite feel like doing. The idea being that they should be motivated to perform against their own wishes. Big and little tricks invented by sales psychologists.
The issues taken up by a school need to be of vital concern to their participants, and that is precisely why learning about world conditions and trying to understand the destiny of our globe is to people today. It is their destiny as well.
It is absolutely decisive that modern man learns to stand shoulder to shoulder with people, committed to goals that are relevant to our common futures.
What is vitally important are the solutions to these problems. More and more people are beginning to realize that this is so today and that is why they look for education. They along with their fellow students can be the driving force in the effort to learn about these matters and come up with solutions. Students don’t want to be put on their toes by the teachers’ little tricks, their lives are too important for that.
You just need to know that the more you get going, the more you will be doing. The more in-depth you get the more you will want to know. There is a lot of work involved - but you avoid being superficial and half asleep.
“Young people don’t want to work. Hands stuck in pockets, ears jammed with stereo-music and an impudent lip when addressed.” How many times have we heard comments like this? When the strength and the capacities of a generation are plainly needed, hands emerge from pockets ready to go to work.
Once this starts one thing leads to another. and from learning to doing there isn’t far to go. Mastering a trade and practicing it in a productive context, travelling with others, and writing and talking about experiences and thoughts.
Exploring one’s own society and taking a stand. Participating in the discussions of decision-making assemblies on vital questions.
Being able to make music and sing and dance and sketch and paint. There is no end to these delights. But you’ll have to make the effort.
Given proper structures and decent conditions, this generation is more than ready to do so, it is ready to follow through.
You are not going to learn everything at school. Like the tip of the iceberg, maybe just one tenth of what you actually wanted to learn. All the rest will come afterwards.
School is sometimes out of touch with its surroundings. Not just because teachers and students go there in the morning and stay inside until they disperse in the afternoon, but also because what you are made to learn can have no relevance for many students. and likewise for some teachers.
In some situations you can forget what it is like to learn something of value. The stagnant state is the state you get used to. In this situation your expectations mushroom, probably more than warranted.
It may be difficult to remember that school attendance comprises a short span of time compared to what will have to be continued for the rest of your life, especially if your previous learning derives from the various competitive or repressive situations inherent in our society. In other words: If your house needs heating, don’t expect that you can heat it from one hour to the next, but once the house is warm, very little fuel is needed to maintain the warmth.
Only Adam was alone in the world. All the rest of us are here together.
Fellowship, or collectivism if you wish, isn’t a modern smart way of life, or a status promoting gimmick in the wake of the student movement. Nor is it bound up closely with trendiness, hippie culture, or any other phenomenon possessing a common characteristic in that they will not survive the era that gave rise to them.
At our schools we do not make fellowship the pivot of teaching and living because “we might as well”. We make it so because we cannot have a school without it. Profound knowledge of fellowship can be learned only in fellowship, solidarity only by standing shoulder to shoulder. Only many together can solve problems that can be solved only by the joint efforts of many together.
Development is brought about only through the influence of great numbers of people. Generations have learned that the world changes only when many people take a hand in changing it.
This is a pedagogic prerequisite that doesn’t exclude the individual; quite to the contrary it makes him the decisive link in the chain connecting the present with the past and the future.
What you are learning must be usable. Preferably right away - so others can learn from you. Possibly later, when the opportunity arises. What you have learnt you will learn double by teaching it to others.
The entire question of what is, after all, the use of the things you learn in school is a sensitive one. Replies such as, “you are going to need it when you grow up”, “just you wait and see, you may need it some day, I am sure”, and “you’ll need it for your exams” are quite common.
Other replies may be closer to the truth. Such as “The things you learn are to make you suited to go to work some place and do as you are told. Make you deserve your pay”. Or “What you learn is meant to enable you to participate in the parliamentary democracy”. Another reply is given infrequently: “The things you learn you must use to advance reasonable demands for change in the world, to make it more like what you think it should be.
In our schools the answer is this “You must teach others. The things you have learned should benefit others as well. You must learn in order to be able to take a stand and to make things happen. You and the others jointly must decide what would be useful to learn and how to go about it.”
You must be mobile in order to encounter many things. If not, the whole thing will come to a halt - even though you have your eyes popping out of your head.
If you stay inside the school at all times you don’t see far. A school needs vehicles, students must be able to move around in the city, the country, and the world.
At our schools we have busses for classrooms – and ships. Stables and workshops for common rooms. And the world is where we serve our apprenticeship. This takes money – and in our budgets we have allocations for these things. In the budget of a school you can read of the activities preferred by the teachers. You can discern their pedagogy.
If you can see that the amounts set aside for transport are but small – then you may be quite sure this hasn’t been a matter of much interest to the people drawing up the budget.
To us it is important. We want to be mobile – and encounter many things. Otherwise everything comes to a stop.
All this concerns the teachers as well.
Dear teacher, dear colleague, dear parents. You must go exploring to be able to acquire new ideas – and you must explore further to form better ideas. You have much to learn still. That is why you must try to get close to the things you want to learn about. The closer you get the more you get out of it.
Your ingrown habits won’t put you on the track of the new things you must learn. You – in the company of your associates and your children must be the driving force in the work to learn much. It isn’t the old tricks that should put you on your toes. Life is too important for that.
Once you get into your stride one thing leads to another. There is no way of stopping. Your experiences are wonderful basic qualifications. You work in jobs all over the country. You know the roots of the children.
You, more that anyone else, are familiar with the fact that Man is not alone in the world. You have seen loneliness, and perhaps you know fellow human beings in distress. Support your children in their work to build fellowships and to stand shoulder to shoulder.
“Learn from your children – that’s going to make them receptive to learning from you.”
You must go exploring in order to create new conceptions, and then again make new explorations in order to make better conceptions.
For altogether too many years, people wanting to learn more than what they know have been obliged to take a seat. People in general start to learn about anything, by sitting down and that is usually how they remain. Perfectly boring most of the time and quite divorced from the experience of ordinary mortals, who know that it is where things are happening in real life that we are able to learn.
At our schools we start out in the world at large. We use the school building(s) as a place in which to accumulate and exchange experiences, to read and argue, and a place for where the teachers tell and the participants report.
We use what we have learned on further explorations. We apprehend that we must practice learning what we do not know. We go exploring to acquire new ideas then we explore further to form better ideas.
You must get close to the things you want to learn about. The closer you get, the more you’ll learn.
Imagine yourself high up in an aircraft flying over Africa, Central America, or Asia. 30,000 feet below you are the countries and the people. You are sitting above it all, reading about Africa, Central America, Asia, the countries and the people. It is all wrong.
Things aren’t quite that bad in school. We believe, however, that teaching should go on outside the classroom, in the natural setting of the subject to be learned. Bringing in the people who are there. They know where the shoe pinches. The students must be there, too and they must have plenty of opportunities to ask questions based on personal, on-the-spot observations.
Then the school building(s) turns into an asset as the place where school, being a segment of society, connects students with society.
Together with your comrades you must be the driving force in the training process. It is not the little tricks of the teacher that can get you moving, life is far too important for that.
In most countries there are courses in motivation for teachers, for foremen, and for any kind of employers, for the purpose of teaching them how to make other people do something they don’t quite feel like doing. The idea being that they should be motivated to perform against their own wishes. Big and little tricks invented by sales psychologists.
The issues taken up by a school need to be of vital concern to their participants, and that is precisely why learning about world conditions and trying to understand the destiny of our globe is to people today. It is their destiny as well.
It is absolutely decisive that modern man learns to stand shoulder to shoulder with people, committed to goals that are relevant to our common futures.
What is vitally important are the solutions to these problems. More and more people are beginning to realize that this is so today and that is why they look for education. They along with their fellow students can be the driving force in the effort to learn about these matters and come up with solutions. Students don’t want to be put on their toes by the teachers’ little tricks, their lives are too important for that.
You just need to know that the more you get going, the more you will be doing. The more in-depth you get the more you will want to know. There is a lot of work involved - but you avoid being superficial and half asleep.
“Young people don’t want to work. Hands stuck in pockets, ears jammed with stereo-music and an impudent lip when addressed.” How many times have we heard comments like this? When the strength and the capacities of a generation are plainly needed, hands emerge from pockets ready to go to work.
Once this starts one thing leads to another. and from learning to doing there isn’t far to go. Mastering a trade and practicing it in a productive context, travelling with others, and writing and talking about experiences and thoughts.
Exploring one’s own society and taking a stand. Participating in the discussions of decision-making assemblies on vital questions.
Being able to make music and sing and dance and sketch and paint. There is no end to these delights. But you’ll have to make the effort.
Given proper structures and decent conditions, this generation is more than ready to do so, it is ready to follow through.
You are not going to learn everything at school. Like the tip of the iceberg, maybe just one tenth of what you actually wanted to learn. All the rest will come afterwards.
School is sometimes out of touch with its surroundings. Not just because teachers and students go there in the morning and stay inside until they disperse in the afternoon, but also because what you are made to learn can have no relevance for many students. and likewise for some teachers.
In some situations you can forget what it is like to learn something of value. The stagnant state is the state you get used to. In this situation your expectations mushroom, probably more than warranted.
It may be difficult to remember that school attendance comprises a short span of time compared to what will have to be continued for the rest of your life, especially if your previous learning derives from the various competitive or repressive situations inherent in our society. In other words: If your house needs heating, don’t expect that you can heat it from one hour to the next, but once the house is warm, very little fuel is needed to maintain the warmth.
Only Adam was alone in the world. All the rest of us are here together.
Fellowship, or collectivism if you wish, isn’t a modern smart way of life, or a status promoting gimmick in the wake of the student movement. Nor is it bound up closely with trendiness, hippie culture, or any other phenomenon possessing a common characteristic in that they will not survive the era that gave rise to them.
At our schools we do not make fellowship the pivot of teaching and living because “we might as well”. We make it so because we cannot have a school without it. Profound knowledge of fellowship can be learned only in fellowship, solidarity only by standing shoulder to shoulder. Only many together can solve problems that can be solved only by the joint efforts of many together.
Development is brought about only through the influence of great numbers of people. Generations have learned that the world changes only when many people take a hand in changing it.
This is a pedagogic prerequisite that doesn’t exclude the individual; quite to the contrary it makes him the decisive link in the chain connecting the present with the past and the future.
What you are learning must be usable. Preferably right away - so others can learn from you. Possibly later, when the opportunity arises. What you have learnt you will learn double by teaching it to others.
The entire question of what is, after all, the use of the things you learn in school is a sensitive one. Replies such as, “you are going to need it when you grow up”, “just you wait and see, you may need it some day, I am sure”, and “you’ll need it for your exams” are quite common.
Other replies may be closer to the truth. Such as “The things you learn are to make you suited to go to work some place and do as you are told. Make you deserve your pay”. Or “What you learn is meant to enable you to participate in the parliamentary democracy”. Another reply is given infrequently: “The things you learn you must use to advance reasonable demands for change in the world, to make it more like what you think it should be.
In our schools the answer is this “You must teach others. The things you have learned should benefit others as well. You must learn in order to be able to take a stand and to make things happen. You and the others jointly must decide what would be useful to learn and how to go about it.”
You must be mobile in order to encounter many things. If not, the whole thing will come to a halt - even though you have your eyes popping out of your head.
If you stay inside the school at all times you don’t see far. A school needs vehicles, students must be able to move around in the city, the country, and the world.
At our schools we have busses for classrooms – and ships. Stables and workshops for common rooms. And the world is where we serve our apprenticeship. This takes money – and in our budgets we have allocations for these things. In the budget of a school you can read of the activities preferred by the teachers. You can discern their pedagogy.
If you can see that the amounts set aside for transport are but small – then you may be quite sure this hasn’t been a matter of much interest to the people drawing up the budget.
To us it is important. We want to be mobile – and encounter many things. Otherwise everything comes to a stop.
All this concerns the teachers as well.
Dear teacher, dear colleague, dear parents. You must go exploring to be able to acquire new ideas – and you must explore further to form better ideas. You have much to learn still. That is why you must try to get close to the things you want to learn about. The closer you get the more you get out of it.
Your ingrown habits won’t put you on the track of the new things you must learn. You – in the company of your associates and your children must be the driving force in the work to learn much. It isn’t the old tricks that should put you on your toes. Life is too important for that.
Once you get into your stride one thing leads to another. There is no way of stopping. Your experiences are wonderful basic qualifications. You work in jobs all over the country. You know the roots of the children.
You, more that anyone else, are familiar with the fact that Man is not alone in the world. You have seen loneliness, and perhaps you know fellow human beings in distress. Support your children in their work to build fellowships and to stand shoulder to shoulder.
“Learn from your children – that’s going to make them receptive to learning from you.”
Finally Here!
We arrived! After a LONG day of travelling (just to get to Michigan) we finally arrived at our new home on the IICD campus in Dowagiac Michigan! We were picked up at the airport in South Bend Indiana by one of the other volunteers and after meeting some new people and getting a tour of the school, we finally got to unpack and settle into our room. It is a dorm room, with two twin beds that we put together, one desk that we share and some random storage units that make the room a little more interesting. We have sink in our room and share a bathroom with our roommates Lilly and Ana Paula. Our first dinner was AMAZING! They try to grow as much of their own food as possible and the food that they buy is mostly organic, and very healthy. Last night one of the other South Korean women named Jane (theses are all their "American" names) cooked traditional Korean chicken. SO GOOD! Then we hung out and everyone kind of did their own thing. We ended up watching Machete, a very intense movie :). Today we woke up and had breakfast at 8. Anthony, one of the teachers/promotional people made whole wheat pancakes. He is awesome. He is all into healthy eating and exercise and is in charge of making IICD more sustainable. After breakfast everyday, everyone helps clean the whole building for 30 min before breaking out in their own activities. Today our activity was orientation. We got the low-down about what we will doing for these next two months while we work off our scholarship. Basically our goal is just to contribute to the school through various tasks such as promotion, teaching English, working on projects like building a water tank to collect the rain water for the garden, etc. Today we have been working just on learning the ins and outs of the school and of Humana People to People, the organization we do our projects with once we are in our countries. We will be posting some of that later. It has been fun having a day of working now, I love seeing how focused everyone is. There are times where the room was completely silent for large chunks of time while people just work. That and the Pedagogic Principles (which I am posting after this) really remind me of Montessori education. I really invite all of you to get on the IICD website (iicdmichigan.org) and check everything out! There will be more to come soon!
Andra
Andra
Monday, October 18, 2010
Our Last Days
One week from today we will be on a plane, heading to Michigan where we will "officially" begin our adventure.! Although that is how I keep referring to it, this past year was really the beginning. From researching different programs to finally deciding on this one and then having phone interview after phone interview to make sure we knew what we were getting into, to fundraising and planning, it has been almost 2 years. And now we are down to the wire.
We are spending these last few days packing and cleaning and figuring out what we can fit into our suitcases and what we can stuff into boxes to be shipped out. We are gathering our cold weather gear for Michigan and at the same time, laying out our moisture wicking clothes and our bottles of sunscreen for when we go to Belize. We are also trying to get in time with our friends and family and the places and activities we will miss the most. I for one, planned out my families dinner menu for the week, filling it with my favorite comfort foods: home-made mac 'n' cheese, curry, homemade soup, and I'm going to make some home-made Argentinian Empanadas. Mmmm.
I am so excited and so scared, I'm just ready to get there! We are giving up everything we know and are used to in our lives to go to something completely new and different. Even in Michigan we will be in a different state, in different living conditions, eating different foods, and being around people who all speak languages other than English.
Last week Brian kept saying, this is our second to last Wednesday here, this is our second to last Thursday...
Now, we are on our last days! The official countdown has begun! Michigan, adventure, challenge, Here We Come!!
We are spending these last few days packing and cleaning and figuring out what we can fit into our suitcases and what we can stuff into boxes to be shipped out. We are gathering our cold weather gear for Michigan and at the same time, laying out our moisture wicking clothes and our bottles of sunscreen for when we go to Belize. We are also trying to get in time with our friends and family and the places and activities we will miss the most. I for one, planned out my families dinner menu for the week, filling it with my favorite comfort foods: home-made mac 'n' cheese, curry, homemade soup, and I'm going to make some home-made Argentinian Empanadas. Mmmm.
I am so excited and so scared, I'm just ready to get there! We are giving up everything we know and are used to in our lives to go to something completely new and different. Even in Michigan we will be in a different state, in different living conditions, eating different foods, and being around people who all speak languages other than English.
Last week Brian kept saying, this is our second to last Wednesday here, this is our second to last Thursday...
Now, we are on our last days! The official countdown has begun! Michigan, adventure, challenge, Here We Come!!
Monday, October 11, 2010
Nearly There!
Less then 2 weeks until we embark on our new life with IICD!
Our wine taster a few weekends ago was a great success thanks to all the friends and family which did a tremendous amount of assistance and really brought this whole thing together. Andra and myself thank you so much.
Now all we have to do is go get a few more supplies and organize everything we already have for departure to Dowagiac. I hope to lay around for the next 2 weeks and enjoy everyone and everything thats important to me here in my state of Colorado, which I love very very dearly.
Until the next update!
Brian
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Belize power point
Here is some more information about what we are in store for!
Belize power point
View more presentations from andramlowe.
Our Village
The wine tasting fundraiser has come and gone now and after a week of being able to finally relax and breathe again, I can look back on the event and all of the preparations behind it, and feel relieved. It was so successful in so many ways, I couldn't have asked for anything more. The thing that stood out to me the most through the entire experience, from planning the event, getting donations, setting up, to the turn out itself, is this amazing feeling of support and community that came out of it. We had complete strangers donating their time or work, local businesses donating their services, family members and friends dedicating their time and energy (and money) to my family members and Brian supporting my numerous breakdowns, to amazing acupuncture treatments, to therapy sessions with my bootcamp instructor. And then you have the gracious people who came to the fundraiser. It was a beautiful combination of our families and some close friends, to distant friends of the family, people who knew me when was a baby or who I haven't seen in years, to people I didn't know at all. It reminds me of the saying, 'it takes a village to raise a baby'. I'm not exactly sure who or what is the baby in this scenario, but when there was a call for help, a whole village came to support us. So thank you to all of you who are apart of our "village", who supported us in any or in many ways, we really couldn't have pulled off such a successful fundraiser without you, and we couldn't be where we are, 21 days away from starting our adventure without you!
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Don't Forget to Buy Your Tickets!!
Hey Everyone!
Our wine tasting fundraiser is THIS Sunday!!! Get your tickets asap to get the discounted price!!
Michael Charron, a local artist donated this painting for the grand prize for our raffle!!
It is titled "Buenos Dias, Buena Vista", is oil on canvas, plein air, 9x12, and retail priced at $600!
Don't miss out on the chance to win this amazing prize!
Other great prizes, games, food, wine, and fun await you!
If you can't make it the fundraiser but would like a chance to win this painting, you can buy raffle tickets for 8$ and we will contact you if you win!!
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