Reflections and Catching Up

I remember when I was a DA, maybe the first week that we arrived at IICD and Jenny, who is in Belize right now, told me "really enjoy your time as a DA because once you start your team you will be SO busy". I didn't think much about that comment, I think because I was already so busy and I honestly couldn't imagine being much busier. Now that we have started our team and are a third of the way through the training period, I really understand what she meant.
This past month has flown by so incredibly fast. We have had intense and enlightening investigations in Benton Harbor, gone to an inspiring MLK day march/rally in Detroit, studied the various countries that make up Central America, read about and studied poverty in the US, had a building weekend where I learned how to re-tile bathroom floors, and have now spent a week in Atlanta are half way through our first fundraising trip- just to name a few of things we have done so far.
Fundraising has been quite the adventure so far. Brian and I had a really hard time finding a place to fundraise at first and while the Hyun Jung and Sunny J were at there Korean mart I was stressed about not being able to do my part. We finally found a great little store Aldis that Brian mentioned, and I was so happy to finally be doing it! For the first couple of days however, we weren't meeting our team goals and I was really stressing out about it but we just kept pushing through doing the best we could. Finally Friday came and we got to go to new stores- H Mart and Gwinett International Farmer's Market. This past three days at these stores we not only made our team goal each day and made up for earlier in the week, we even exceed our goal for the first week. Now, going into our second week we are AHEAD! I honestly can't believe it. Everyone kept telling us,'anything can happen in fundraising' but until you really experience it you have no idea.
Today is our rest day, and boy did I need it. It is both energizing and completely exhausting to stand for 10 hours talking to people, describing what you are doing, putting yourself out there- we really worked our butts off. This time to rest, sleep in, lounge around, read-is really needed.
I am glad to have this time to reflect as today not only marks the half way point of our first fundraising trip but is also the end of our first month of the training period. I have so enjoyed all of the challenges and experiences we have the honor and pleasure of taking part in so far and I look forward to all that has yet to come.

Fundraising Atlanta Update and thoughts on the Peoples Love

Just got back from our 4th day in Atlanta and third day fundraising! Actually today I drove around looking for stores to fund-raise at (semi-successfully). Andra and Anthony were located at an Aldi store and Hyun Jung and Sonny J at a Korean store named Assi.

These past few days standing in one spot for 8-10hrs a day have been tiring for all of us but also very fulfilling. I'll just reflect though on a few of my experiences for now.

I've been at the Aldi's store in Atlanta fundraising and first I'll tell you a bit about the store. Aldi's is a chain in Atlanta that offers cheap food etc. People of all stripes go there and it is not a small place but probably a fifth of a normal Krogers store. The workers there are all doing the same duties; stocking, checking, cleaning and smiling. Aldi's refuses to use plastic bags and there are no shelfs like those at Krogers, all of this lets them sell their products at a cheaper price and also be 'green.' But best of all it seems they truly respect their employees!!! Amazing!!! The employees along with having equal duties also get a comfortable chair to sit on while working, I always thought grocery checkers needed a chair or at least an option to use one and when I saw this I was ecstatic. Now that I'm finished with that I'll go over the patrons of Aldi's.

Like I said before they are of all stripes. White, Black, Brown, rich, poor, Republican, Democrat, close-minded and open-minded. I would say around 3% of the people don't acknowledge us, but we still say thank you and have a nice day in a calm, happy way. Most people don't contribute and say 'not today.' But we do have many that contribute and give us praise for throwing our bodies and souls into other peoples problems. One man that contributed said "Be careful, Central America is a great place to die, are you ready for that?" I replied "yes" with a big smile.

Some times we get more negative responses from people for being out their. Such as a woman saying that all the women in Central America are sluts to Andra, but while she cut her head off in her own head she acknowledged the lady with kindness and didn't let the old racist hag get to her.

Some of the most memorable contributions were those which were given by children from their mothers. The little cuties would usually shyly skimmer over with their heads down and throw a dollar in the bucket and then run back to mama.

Also we met many missionaries, those Christians can really throw their souls into the suffering of others, needless to say we had many great conversations with them.

Overall my feelings right now are sore but strong physically and mentally tired but clear. Working and talking with people who you want to contribute to your cause is a humbling experience. I would say the main feeling I'm having during the day and right now as I write this is an intense energy mixed with gratitude and love. Constantly talking with people about what I will be doing in Belize and hearing about experiences other individuals have had in poverty stricken areas make me so grateful for what my family has provided for me my whole life, a house, support and so much love (I miss them so much).

I can say this is another experience that I've had since when I started the program in late October that is truly life changing. You think fundraising would be a pain and hard, well it is, but it's also so much more then that, it's a challenge and it's gratifying, eye opening and humbling, if I had the choice not to fund-raise like this and didn't, I'd be missing out on so much. That's enough for tonight after all Team Parrot still has ten more days in Atlanta. Much love to everyone who we have seen and to my two families(Winkler's and Lowe's).

Team Parrot in Atlanta

Team Parrot(January 2011 Belize Team) has made it to Atlanta! Today we searched for areas to fund-raise and found a mostly Korean places (there is a major Korean community there) but we got a few other agreements.

At the end of the night a nice store manager at Arby's gave us all a food donation and thats mainly why I'm posting this. Thank you so much we all really appreciate it and I hope you get on our blog to see this haha. But seriously it's kindness like that that makes me ready and energized for the next day.

So far Atlanta is a beautiful place especially because of the weather. Mostly though it just looks the same as anywhere else haha, box stores and many M's BKs TBs KFCs and the like, but we still haven't seen real Atlanta, downtown Atlanta.

Quick thought; people always tell me "under socialism everything would look the same, do you want that?"....do we live under socialism now, because if thats true all those people have answered their own question???

December Newsletter is Posted Below

Oooops posted a bit late (by us)! It features an article by Andra and myself. The next newsletter will be out real soon and it will have an article by Andra about our Benton Harbor investigation.

Fundraising Preparations and Thoughts

Only three more days until we leave for Atlanta to fund-raise for our fight poverty expedition! We have been doing a lot of prep work; getting in touch with local stores and making agreements to fund-raise in the front(no luck for stores owned by corporations yet, but we have had luck with Latino and Korean stores), getting in touch with churches, preparing posters in English, Korean and Spanish, preparing mentally and discussing with other volunteers what to be ready for and a few other tasks.

I am feeling confident in what we are about to do. The money we raise goes to us and pays our way to Central America and sends our team to projects in Belize. I used to work for a non-profit named Clean Water Action(CWA) we fund-raised door to door but the money went to liberal lobbyists and lawyers who made a great salary, had comfortable homes and comfortable lives who's actions probably were only directed by big companies anyways. I always felt uncomfortable with them because I knew that the money the people gave me would have no impact in the betterment in lives of those who needed help.

But with IICD I think I will feel comfortable fund-raising because I'm fundraising for myself and a cause which will have a direct effect on those who could use a crutch to keep them going in their everyday lives, not pigs in Washington. My insurance for people will be that I care for those in poverty and will prove to the world that I do, through action. If not through action then what, through words? My problem with the everyday hippie making a living going door to door is that she/he may not comprehend what their raising funds for, in fact in CWA we really didn't and we weren't encouraged to. At IICD I know what I'm fundraising for, I know I'm not begging, I know I fund-raise to create and sustain sustainability here at IICD Michigan and there in Central America.

I really look forward to going to Atlanta and taking on this major challenge. From what I hear I will feel tired, energized, mad, happy, weak and strong but what nearly every person that I have discussed fundraising with says at times you will feel overwhelming feelings of love.

Investigation as a Method of Learning

This is what our training period is all about. We just practiced this method with an investigation in Benton Harbor so that when we do our 1 month investigation period throughout Central America we are prepared.

Investigation as a Method

Our Task List For 1st Period (Training Period)

**Wherever it says 'Brazil', just replace it with 'Belize'.
Fight Poverty Task List- 1st Period

Guatemala and Costa Rica Presentations

Guatemala Presentation

View more presentations from andramlowe.

Costa Rica Presentation

View more presentations from andramlowe.

Nicaragua and Panama Short Presention

Please excuse my blatant subjective opinions in the power points texts. Going through the history of Nicaragua was very stressul it is clear why they are so poor and still suffer today for the same reasons they've been suffering for the last century. I gave this presentation to our January Fight Poverty team, each team member gave 2 presentations on 2 Central American countries. We had relatively 6 hours to complete the presentations so please excuse my grammar.

Panama pp blog

View more presentations from unionmade.

Nicaragua pp blog

View more presentations from unionmade.

Oooops here's the Nicaragua presentations sources:

http://countrystudies.us/nicaragua/3.htm

http://countrystudies.us/nicaragua/11.htm

http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field(DOCID+ni0042)

http://www.narconews.com/darkalliance/drugs/start.htm

http://www.nationmaster.com/country/nu-nicaragua

http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/1850.htm

January Belize Team BEGINS!!!

Yesterday was the first day of our January Belize Fight Poverty Team (FPB). The members are myself (Brian), Andra, Hyun Jong, Sonny J and our team leader Anthony. We started by going over the Fight Poverty manual and starting Espanol class. Today we all gave an autobiography, it is important to get to know each other in depth to begin to strengthen our relationships for our future adventures.

I think one of the biggest challenges and one of the most essential will be to learn Spanish. Although Belize is 50/50 Spanish and English I hear most of the people speak Spanglish. Also for our investigation in which it sounds like we will be flying to either Costa Rica or Panama then traveling around Central America, Spanish is the main language.

Our future plans for FPB will be more Spanish classes, investigations in poverty stricken America (specifically Michigan) and fundraising preparations.

President Chissano speech regarding ADPP

Below is a speech by the former President of Mozambique to a school named ADPP (Humana People to People run). It was very uplifting to read this speech tonight and is a great example of being modest while making significant change.

http://www.drh-norway.org/TextPage.asp?TxtID=169&SubMenuItemID=116&MenuItemID=55

Former President Chissano of Mozambique: I wish to congratulate ADPP HUMANA
Speech given by the president at ADPP (Ajuda de Desenvolvimento do Povo para Povo - Humana in Portuguese) HUMANA Mozambique 20th year birthday

President Joaquim Chissano- "Do you know who is Birgit? Birgit will you please stand up. This is her. I don’t know what her age was in 1982, but when I met her she was very young. I don’t want to know her age but when I met her she was very young. Now 20 years have passed. I looked at her when she received me at the entrance and she continues to be very young.
This shows that ADPP, who is 20 years old, also continues to be very young, with great strength. ADPP started with strength and maintains this strength. The first idea of ideas that I have here, and this I am now going to say, is that ADPP should always be youthful, ADPP should always have great strength and ADPP should always be energetic.
I did not come here today to give many ideas but to praise ADPP for the work they have achieved during the last 20 years. When ADPP started this work this was evidently the idea of foreigners and a few foreigners at that, to work with the people, to mix with the people. ADPP wanted not to be an organization of foreigners but a Mozambiquan organization run by Mozambicans, with the participation of Mozambicans. I wish to say that this is now the reality. For I have heard here that today ADPP is run by 80 Mozambiquans and only 25 permanent staff who are foreigners ad some of these foreigners are more Mozambican that foreign.
For example, Birgit here, when she arrived in Mozambique was a foreigner now she is Mozambican. There are also others who like Birgit worked with us during the Liberation struggle and came with the same spirit to Dar-es-Salam in Tanzania, working with us with schools, working with us with information and finally came with us, after independence, to Mozambique, and became Mozambicans.
This organization, ADPP, appeared in Mozambique in ’82, but this was not new for us, as we were together in the Liberation struggle. Groups of youths from Europe and from America came to work with us, these groups being called support groups. These support groups had shown support during the Liberation Struggle in various forms, in the areas of teaching, of health, sending medicines to us, sending from their countries school books, books and pens, sending blankets made from bits of cloth, cloth that had been thrown out from clothes factories. Having groups that take these discarded clothes and make them into beautiful blankets, then sending container loads of these blankets to us.
They also assisted us to know our country whilst in exile. This and the spirit grew and transformed into ADPP. Thus it was it 1982 we received ADPP with open arms and with the knowledge that this in fact was a very positive thing. 20 years later I can confirm that it is in fact a very positive thing. As we have heard here, from theatre plays, from songs, from speeches that this positive thing continues with ADPP in Mozambique. We came here today to congratulate ADPP and to express the desire that ADPP continue with their success in the future.
One idea I would like to give, as you have asked me for ideas, is that ADPP should work to raise their profile with the general public, with our institutions both public and private because it is my belief that very few people know of this location where we are now, also very few people know of the seven teacher training colleges. Birgit has just informed me of the seventh teacher training college, I knew of six and when I was road here I said "ADPP has six schools or six IMAPs or six teacher training colleges which is equal to that of the state". Working together in collaboration and working with the same objectives but when I got here I was informed of a new teacher training college, so that ADPP now has seven. This is not well known here as all your other activities are also not well known. Even less well known is what the Humana representative had to say. When we here in Mozambique talk of Humana very few people understand who or what Humana is.
Work is needed to correct this lack of understanding. I am today even more convinced of this than ever because when I was coming here in the car I was reading this newspaper, I will now read you a passage from today’s newspaper ‘Noticias’; Noticias says ADPP etc etc … when ADPP was formed its purpose was to sell used clothes. This is the idea that the newspaper is giving to the people, that when ADPP was formed it was formed for the purpose to sell second hand clothes but when ADPP was formed they where not selling second hand clothes. When ADPP was formed it was formed to work on literacy, in the rural areas, in the area of Matutuine and started to build schools and teach.
Finally in the ‘80’s ADPP came to this present location where there has been a multiplication of training courses, in the areas of agriculture, clothes making and catering. There are former students who have left here and gone on to work in restaurants or opened their own little restaurants. Maybe there are many already doing this. When I visited here, in 1989, all these courses where in the process of being formed. Therefore these courses are preparing people to be self-sufficient. The sale of second hand clothes started as a form of fundraising to support the other activities.
Today ADPP is creating a higher education institute and therefore this first higher education institute is a continuation of the work that started with primary schools. Visit school building sites and you will find that they are run by Mozambiquans, building blocks and constructing schools. I have seen this for myself. I have visited teacher training colleges in various provinces, the latest to be inaugurated was in Angonia, no, it was in Lichinga, a very big school. I have also visited a school in Inhambane as well as a school in Nhamatanda. In many cases these schools and colleges have been built in institutions that had been abandoned or under used and in other cases completely new structures have been built. All these activities deserve our praise. I repeat that I like the fact that ADPP continues to be youthful with a special example of solidarity at various levels that ADPP may increase its activities for Mozambiquans, for the communities. Good ….. ADPP is full of imagination and therefore will know how to take initiatives to adapt to the rhythm of the economic development of our country, to the reality of it and to make the necessary adaptations.
Today we have many graduates, some of which do not know what they want to do, they graduated and afterwards didn’t know what to do. ADPP is certainly interested in these people joining the solidarity movement of people to people as they say for the people. The important thing is not to add the "P", what is important is to have the spirit and to act in such a way that in reality the people do not approach ADPP solely to ask for help, as they see the function of ADPP is solely for handouts but that the people approach ADPP as a source of inspiration so that the people can resolve their own problems, to inspire solidarity, so that the communities will be inspired in this work of solidarity and resolve their own problems. The city of Maputo has many problems and it is the duty of the communities in the city to find the solutions to these problems. The city of Matola has many problems and it is the duty of the communities in the city to find the solutions to these problems. And it is in this spirit of solidarity of people to people by the people, and it is for the people to develop the people for the people.
I wish to congratulate ADPP for the fact that they have taken the name of Mozambique across many frontiers through the work of the volunteers that have come here to work, many nationalities have come here, Koreans have come here, Americans and Brazilians have come here. I don’t know how many different nationalities have come here, nearly all. When they return to their countries they take something of Mozambique with them, this is a solidarity movement for Mozambiquans but it is also an international solidarity movement. This international solidarity, this feeling of solidarity with the world that we Mozambicans have, has been made stronger due to the fact that it helped us in our victory in the struggle against colonialism.
Today we need to maintain this spirit of solidarity. It is not what others do for us but our sentiments in relation to other peoples that will make the respect we deserve. We need to have solidarity within ourselves, we need to be united and we deserve the confidence and solidarity of the world to achieve victory. This is what is happening in our country right now. We need to know how to raise the flag very high, the flag of international solidarity. Humana is doing this work, through all its initiatives and ADPP, Mozambique will never tire of taking this solidarity forward.
Birgit has told me that we are hungry and I don’t want to miss this offer of lunch by ADPP, I was invited for lunch and so I will finish here so that we may all have lunch. I hope to return for more celebrations and another lunch in 20 years time, with Birgit, always youthful and with ADPP, always youthful.
Thank-you very much."

Another Adventure Begins

So it has been a while since we have posted anything- We had the privilege (thanks to our very generous and loving parents) of flying home to spend time with our families and friends over Christmas and New Years and took a break from the blogging to soak our few days with them. It was very bittersweet to leave home again- it will be the last time we see all of the people we love and care about and who have and still are supporting us so much. It is really hard to think about not being able to call them up whenever I want and get some long distance love and encouragement. I suppose that is part of the adventure and the challenge; to be tested on how well I can survive on my own, how strong am I really? What are my abilities and how far do they really stretch? What do I have inside of me to push me through?Although this an overwhelming and somewhat terrifying experiment, I am also really excited and grateful for even having the opportunity to find out the answers to those questions. A while ago when we first got here and were getting acquainted with the life at IICD and as a DA, I wrote a post about challenges and how important they are and now that we are back IICD has made sure that we will be consistently presented with new ones!

When we arrived back at IICD last night, we were greeted by the friends and people we had gotten to know before we left, as well as a few new faces- our two team mates Sunny J (Korean man) and Hyun Jyung (Korean woman, she is wanting an American name so if you have any suggestions shoot them our way!) as well as a new DA Rebecca.

This morning we started the day as normal: breakfast, morning course about the solar panels that the teachers built over break, and then good ol' mobes. As Mobes ended however, we wandered past the promotion room, our normal home base, and in to our new room, one filled with loads of information to be learned, questions to be pondered, answers to be discovered, adventures to be had, and, of course, challenges to be exceeded.

We are both looking forward to all that awaits us and to continuing to share it with all of you!