Ruminations from the Bed

This is Rachel LeWitt, coming at you from the Romero Center, main campus, in Camden, NJ. Today was our second day volunteering, and our first opportunity to go to New Visions, a day shelter in downtown Camden whose doors are open to all and whose kitchens serve about 100 people a day. We had been introduced to New Visions through the executive director, Kevin Moran, who spoke to us on the first night about the shelter and what things Camden can expect to see form him and the work he does: a new night shelter called Joseph’s Cafe will open next week! Six of our 11 girls accompanied me to the shelter, and we began by unpacking boxes of juice, various pastas, and pork and juice…. go figure! After the brief stint in the food pantry, we went upstairs and were met with a roomful of voices, laughter and eager faces. We chatted with a few people before coming upon Mister Eddie Isiah Marshall. This man was incredible; intelligent, eloquent and engaging, he held Lexi, Janet and my attention for the better part of three hours. After I had said the word “what” too many times for his liking, he asked me, “What is the definition of what?” I was speechless. For about 5 seconds, and then frantically attempted to come up with something to say. Mister Eddie was a college graduate, who also received his Master’s degree in Psychology (his Bachelor’s was Sociology). Meeting him was definitely the highlight of my visit thus far. I have rarely come upon a person as sharp and intense as he is, and I am looking forward to seeing him again tomorrow when I return to New Visions. After we ate a somewhat hasty lunch in Kevin’s office, we served food to the population that had stayed since breakfast and the various stragglers who made their way in for a hot meal around noon. It was a wonderful experience being able to serve food to so many people who needed it, although some of the people were dishonest about having received food, which we as a group admitted later was a little disheartening. We chatted again with Eddie, and said our goodbyes, with promises of returning soon.

After we got back to the Romero Center, we had a brief interlude with several different types of snacks and hot beverages, with entertainment provided by the Disney coloring books that were brought courtesy of Team Builder Liz Rentschler. Following that, we went on a tour of Camden, led by a member of the wonderful Romero Center staff, Sharrin (sp?) seeing both areas which surprised members of the group with their charm and areas that saddened members of the group with their sorrowful facades. It was striking to see the differences between the security of the tourist-y Camden waterfront, for instance, and the vacant lots and abandoned, dilapidated houses of North Camden, just an underpass away from the tourist areas. The tour added to a growing sense of understanding of some of the issues that face the people of Camden on a daily basis.

We dined again, this time on yummy tacos, minus the actual shells. Conversation topics such as vegetarianism (always a favorite of mine) and speculations as to what we were doing after dinner kept us occupied. After the meal, we went to Saint Anthony of Padua for a service that kicked off their Unity Week. (Tomorrow, 180 members of Camden’s police force will be laid off, in addition to other municipal workers. This is half the police force in an already incredible dangerous city). The members of other local churches came to St. Anthony’s to pray for a “revitalization” of Camden. Some members of the group found the service inspiring, while others found the nature of the evening to be a little too religious. Since we were informed that it would have more of a town hall/meeting type feel, this is understandable. All in all, it was an interesting cultural experience- half the service was in Spanish!, one that I’d never been privy to before. We even prayed over an abandoned building! After the service we enjoyed a special “oneg” or “fellowship” with food and (perhaps Mexican) hot chocolate. Team Leader Ariel, Sarah, Lexi, Steph and I enjoyed a somewhat raucous conversation that somehow steered toward pranks and hand nubs.

Another fantastic reflection by Reflectionator Annie Groves began by asking everyone anonymously to say something with which she was uncomfortable. Answers ranged from happy to serious, but it led to a honest and thoughtful discussion of what we were doing here in Camden, what service means to the individual and to society as a whole, judgments and questions, what we’ve learned so far and what we’re most afraid of when it comes to the unknown.

A marvelous day filled with learning, service and interesting conversation. Can’t wait for the next one!

Camden vs Moorestown

So today we went to the Inglis House, which is a non-traditional nursing home as Sarah the activities coordinator explained it. The residents have various, crippling diseases that make them live their lives in wheelchairs.  The house provides dorm-style rooms for them, equipped with TVs, desks, beds, and walls decorated with cards and photos from their families. The average age range of a resident at the Inglis House is 45-55. Volunteers are taken to the TR (therapy recreation) room to play scrabble, watch movies, paint, or play shuffleboard with the residents. It was an experience I have never witnessed before with people I’ve never encountered before, but I enjoyed it greatly.

The most intriguing part of our first day for me, however, was when we came back from our work sites and watched an old 20/20 video from about 2005. The first part showed children and teenagers walking around Moorestown, New Jersey, where I went to high school and where I still spend afternoons walking around Main Street. I got excited when they showed one of my favorite pizza places and the street right in front of my school. Then, suddenly, they cut to children and teenagers walking around the streets of Camden, New Jersey, only 10 minutes away. In 2004 Moorestown was voted the best place to live in America and Camden was voted the most dangerous place to live. What a shock to see kids dodging drug corners and needles in the bushes with graffiti covering the walls while I was happily attending my sophomore year in high school. The rest of the episode discussed the contrast between children in Camden and in Moorestown. They interviewed kids and teens who both had the same goals and hopes in life, but the Camden children have to work 10 times harder to achieve these things due to their surroundings. They have to overcome the influences of drugs, alcohol, starvation, homelessness, and so much more. After the episode was over, Pastor John asked us to talk about our initial reactions. I told him I was from the Moorestown area and he asked me if I felt guilty after seeing the show, explaining that wasn’t the point. I said no, but that I felt weird and sad and a little uncomfortable with the fact that so close to my home and my friends and my family are people struggling to support themselves on a day-to-day basis. I realized how much I take for granted every day and am so thankful for all that I have. I talked with my mom for a while tonight about why Camden is now so poverty-stricken and how we can help or how they can help themselves, but we didn’t come to any realistic conclusions.

Volunteers of America

Today, Annie and I drove to the VOA (Volunteers of America) in Camden along with three students from Niagra University. VOA is comprised of a few buildings. One building acts as a drop by area for families to do laundry, receive meals and have a warm place to spend time. Another building features many small rooms which homeless single moms can stay in for months at a time to have shelter.

When we first arrived at the site, they told us they weren’t expecting us and that they didn’t know what they had for us to do. We immediately offered to clean or shovel or do anything to help them out. They laughed and said that they could call over some families with children and that we could spend time with the kids in one of the playrooms.

About eight kids were dropped off by different families and spent time with us in the small room stuffed with games, books and stuffed animals. The youngest of the children were 16 month old twin girls with the oldest child being 6. The children were lively and engaged with us the entire time we were there. We mostly played board games and read books with the kids, which turned out to be very rewarding because the kids learned things that they hadn’t known beforehand like how to play a new game or how to spell a new word. I was happy to provide one on one interaction with these children that probably don’t get much attention and nurturing because of their stressful lifestyles of having so little. It was also great to have the moms thank us for spending time with their kids because they had needed the time to get things done like laundry.

-Sarah Swienckowski- Eckhart

A different perspective of a familiar world!

Arrived in Camden after wending and winding our way on the glorious highways of New Jersey.  The two vans full of giggling girls were pumped about a trip into a very different community that was so close to our own at dear ole Lafayette.  We were pleasantly surprised, once we arrived at the Romero Center, to find this community type house as comfortable, cozy, and welcoming as it was.  We received a tour of the facilities, were shown where we would be sleeping (in three different rooms with bunk beds) and were fed a delicious dinner of cordon blue chicken, rice, sauteed vegetables, and salad.  Being a community type house we all participated in cleaning up and doing the dishes after we ate.  But we are not the only group of fun spirited volunteers at the Romero Center, there are two other high school groups and a group from Niagara College which we will probably be volunteering with during the week.  After dinner the center had two speakers, a man who had previously worked at the center but now worked at a nearby homeless shelter (called New Visions) and one of the homeless (or “unsheltered”) individuals who had attended his shelter but had been helped and now worked several jobs including a job at the shelter New Visions.  Both talks gave our group our first taste of Camden and the type of individuals that we will be working and interacting with.  Sitting in our rooms right now we are all anticipating a wonderful week full of new experiences and fabulous people.

Arrival in Managua

I have been informed that the ASB Nicaragua team has arrived in Managua! The group was greeted by Witness for Peace and will head to CEPAD Nehemias – Interfaith Hostel for some rest!

This is our first year working with Witness for Peace. We expect communication to be limited. Below is an outline of the group’s itinerary during their time in Nicaragua:

Thursday, January 13

7:00am            Breakfast

8:00am            Orientation Part I: Check-In, WFP History, Health and Culture Tips, Mission and Covenant

9:30am            Break

9:45am            Hopes, Fears and Expectations, Gift-Giving Policy, Roles and Responsibilities

11:00am          Socio-Economic Contrast Tour (Market/Mall Exercise)

1:30pm            Lunch at CEPAD

2:00pm            Cycles of Military and Economic Violence Timeline

3:30pm            Historical Sights Tour of Managua

6:00pm            Dinner at CEPAD

Friday, January 14

7:00am           Breakfast

7:45am            Check-In/Reflection

8:30am            WFP Talk #1: Neoliberalism, Debt and the Nicaraguan Case

11:15am          Meeting with community organizer and health promoter Maria Ivania in a low-income neighborhood in Managua

12:45pm          Lunch out in Managua

2:00pm            Meeting with community leader Yamileth Pérez and tour of Acahaulinca (community bordering Managua’s garbage dump)

4:00pm            Processing Session: ‘Concepts of Development’ at Parque Tiscapa

6:00pm            Dinner at CEPAD

Saturday, January 15

7:00am             Breakfast at CEPAD

7:30am             Check-in and reflection

8:30am             WFP Talk #2: Neoliberalism in Practice: Free Trade and CAFTA

10:30am          Meeting with Gloria Carrion about CAFTA/ALBA

12:00pm          Lunch at CEPAD

12:45pm          Meeting with environmentalist Julio Sanchez from the Humboldt Center

3:000pm          Meeting with economist Cirilo Otero at Casa del Cafe

5:30pm            Campo Prep

6:00pm             Dinner

6:30pm:            Live Music Night!

Sunday, January 16 (Have Bags Packed and Ready to Go for Homestay!)

7:00am            Breakfast

7:30am            Check-In/Reflection

8:30am            Leave for Jalapa

12:00pm          Stop for Lunch

2:30pm            Arrive in Jalapa

3:00pm            Meetings with Community

4:00pmpm       Meet with and get to know families

Dinner and spend the night families (IT will be around to translate)

Monday, January 17

Day will be spent in the community with meetings that may include: visit to community school and health clinic, meeting with youth group, meeting with members of the agricultural cooperative

Dinner and spend night with families (IT will be around to translate)

Tuesday, January 18

7:00am            Breakfast and say goodbye to families!

8:00am            Leave Jalapa

11:00pm          Lunch and Campo Processing at Madre Tierra restaurant in Matagalpa

2:30pm            Leave for Managua

5:00pm            Embassy Prep I

6:00pm            Dinner at CEPAD

7:00pm            Movie Night/Free Time

Wednesday, January 19

7:00am            Breakfast

7:45am            Check-In/Reflection

9:00am            Meeting at Hospital Bertha Calderón

10:30am          Leave for Los Quinchos in San Marcos (Continue Embassy Prep on Bus)

12:00pm          Arrive in San Marcos and eat lunch at Los Quinchos restaurant/café

1:00pm            Spend the afternoon in Los Quinchos, learning about the work they do to rehabilitate street children, visiting the boys’ farm and the girls’ home

6:00pm            Dinner at Los Quinchos

7:00pm            Return to CEPAD

Thursday, January 20

7:00am            Breakfast

7:45am            Check-In/Reflection

9:30am            Meeting at U.S. Embassy

11:00am          Leave for the Laguna de Apoyo (or the beach at Pochomil)

12:30pm          Lunch at Laguna (or Pochomil)

1:30pm            Action Planning Part I

3:00pm            Free Time!

5:00pm             Action Planning Part II

6:30pm             Dinner

8:00pm             Return to CEPAD/Closing Ceremony

Say Goodbye to IT!  Have Bags Packed and Ready for the Airport in the morning!

We will update you with any new information received from the Nicaragua team. Please contact me at smithalm@lafayette.edu if you are interested in receiving e-mail updates.

Regards,

Alyssa Smith, ASB President

Arrival in Ecuador

The Ecuador team has arrived safely in Quito. The team will now begin the team has begun their bus ride to their service site for Fundecoipa. Communication abilities are extremely limited at their service site, but you will be updated with any information we receive.

ASB engaged in service with Fundecoipa in Ecuador last year as well. You can look at the 2010 Ecuador blog for an idea of the extent of information we will be able to provide you with this week.

Contact me at smithalm@lafayette.edu if you are interested in receiving e-mail updates.

International Trips are on their way!

The Nicaragua and Ecuador trips arrived safely yesterday evening in Miami, FL, where they spent the night. We are glad they have avoided any snow delays.

The Nicaragua team will depart from Miami this evening at 7:00pm on American Airlines flight 985. They are expected to arrive in Managua at 8:40pm, where Witness for Peace personnel will be waiting for them.

The Ecuador team will depart from Miami this afternoon at 2:55 pm on American Airlines flight 1787. They are expected to arrive in Quito at 7:00pm, where a bus has been booked to bring them to their service site with Fundecoipa.

If you are interested in receiving e-mail updates on the travel of the Nicaragua/Ecuador ASB teams, contact me at smithalm@lafayette.edu.

ASB is thrilled to send such spectacular teams on experiences that will help team members to develop as active citizens.

Regards,

Alyssa Smith, ASB President

In anticipation..

We are nearing our departure date, and everyone is excited and ready to go! On the agenda: finishing construction on the community’s Ethno-Botanical Garden, planting medicinal plants in the garden to aid the new clinic in their treatments, making improvements to volunteer housing, learning how to live off of the rainforest’s resources during a night in the jungle, Shuar language and dance lessons…SO MUCH!

FUDECOIPA, the organization who helped to organize our trip, is dedicated to encouraging sustainable development efforts in the Shuar community. We are overly excited to be able to support this important effort, and learn more about the importance of sustainable development in rural rain forest communities.

Although the snow scheduled for our departure date is making me nervous, our flexible and resilient group will be able to make it through whatever road blocks we face..goodness knows that the flight will be the least of our challenges!

We will have 0 internet access in Ecuador, so the updates and stories will have to wait for our return. Until then, wish us luck!!

DC trip pictures

I tried to document through photos as much as I could during out trip while also trying to preserve the dignity and privacy of those we were serving, which is why there are no pictures of us interacting with patrons of organizations or students from J. O. Wilson Elementary School. However, I hope some of you enjoy the 86 pictures I felt were interesting enough to post to the site. I also posted these pictures in a set on my Flickr site for access to the high resolution versions of any of these pics.

  • Breakaway Retreat Fall 2008

Friday: Last day full of amazing experiences

Today was an amazing day for many reasons. First of all, we were all really enthusiastic and were ready to do our best  because we knew that it was our last day of service. We woke up early and headed to Thrive DC. This is a place much like Charlie’s place except for the fact that there were a lot more people there and they had the chance to do laundry and spend an hour in the computer lab with a partner who would show them different stuff on the computers. Five of us had to first help in the kitchen and then help with serving the food. The others had to set up the tables, help with laundry and sign in people. Here, Chelsea and Steph’s Spanish language skills were very helpful since most of the people that came were Hispanic. Mo, Jason and I were signing people in, and for me it was really incredible to see how people seemed blue when they came in, but once we said “Good morning” to them and smiled they would smile too and just look like they feel better even only for a while. It was amazing to see how the spaces for the computer lab were filled up really quickly and there was even one man who wanted to be a stand by, so he wrote his name and wrote stand by in brackets. Almost 150 people came in and they all ate together and seemed like they know each other. It was incredible to see some of  the people, that we saw during the Urban Plunge or at Charlie’s Place. This made us realize that they are all part of a community that we would probably never get to know if it wasn’t for this trip. All of these people were so appreciative and nice that they made us feel great about everything that we have been doing during this week. Some of them wanted to just talk to us, learn more about us and where we come from. Since my goal at the beginning was to show these people that someone really cares about them, I feel pretty sure that we accomplished this goal, because once we showed interest in them they would almost always do the same. I am glad we had the chance to do this, and trust me, the feeling, that we got once the people at the different places told us that we did a great job, was wonderful!

Another thing which made this day so special was that we went to a Vietnamese restaurant and the food was soooooooooooo good! We also had the chance to go to a Vietnamese bakery and try different stuff. We hope that Giang felt home for at least a while because it was definitely a nice experience.

Then we went to the Fishing School for the last time. At the beginning we didn’t know what to expect because today was supposed to be “Fun Friday”, so we were a bit scared how much fun it would really be. But, in fact, it really was fun! We didn’t do any homework today and we played with the kids outside. I think that all of us felt a lot younger even only for a couple of hours. The kids were excited to play with us and show us what they can do. We got to see them dancing “crunk” and it was awesome to see them dancing so well at such an early age! Unfortunately, we had to say “Bye” and we didn’t want to leave but we just hope that we did help them in some way, even though we were with them only for four days.

Last but not least important, we went to Ben’s Chili Bowl, where we had traditional American food, complemented by incredible chili and interesting stories about the place. It is very popular and even president Obama visited it in 2008. A lot of famous people go there just to try the secret chili recipe. This place is actually very speacial because of all the things that it has outlived. It has been there for more than 50 years and it still hasn’t changed because people love it the way it is.

At last, really this time, I have to say that we had a lot of fun today and we regret the fact that we have to leave tomorrow. We are going to miss it and miss being together because I believe that we did create some strong bonds this week!