Let Your Life Speak

And then school started.

Enter uncomfortable moments, confusion and swallowing any pride I've ever had. This isn't exactly Eat, Pray, Love (at least there's no beautiful Spanish man whisking you to his private villa) however, the school is beautiful and my teacher, Slyvia, is so patient and kind. We sit in a courtyard with a waterfall and fish to one side and the mountainous vista to the other. In the middle of a frustrating verb conjugation (verbos, verbos y mas verbos as we like to laugh about) I do have to pinch myself that this is life for awhile. Sylvia laughs at me all day as I make mistakes, correct myself, make more mistakes, laugh a lot and do it all loudly and over-enthusiastically. She told a friend that I have a true passion for Spanish...which I guess is true, as one needs to have in order to stand being corrected a million times a day. Si. We get along very well and I've discovered we're both over-emotional. Wednesday we went to the market to practise speaking and in one of the stores I bought a beautiful newborn outfit for my new niece-or-nephew-to-come. For no reason at all, the store owner began to wrap up these beautiful dried flowers for my teacher and I, as a gift. She sent us both on our way with these beautiful arrangements and told me that when I return to Canada, to place them in my the living room as a reminder of Guatemala...they act as a blessing for your space. Slyvia & I both teared up upon leaving the store...it was a beautiful gesture and yet, that's just how the people are here.

Casa Xelaju

From the rooftop terrace where we have tea on our break.

Bonita Slyvia. The little teacher that could.

The oddest flowers I ever did see.

My courtyard classroom.

Con las flores bonitas.

The day Slyvia decided I could actually speak &
understand Spanish. 

Guineos y Platinos

Dulce old man

Just for fun.
Want some?
I don't.

So each day, after breakfast (all conversations in Spanish), five straight hours of Spanish, and lunch (you bet, everything Spanish), I tend to be mucho ready for a siesta. However this week, the school lined up a Mayan Ceremony (with everything but the animal sacrifice of course) and on Friday, a conference on the changing of the Mayan Calendar. The Ceremony was beautiful, and I received the rojo candles for "amor" to offer to the circle. And as for the "world ending" on December 21st, we stayed at school for hours talking about what is really to come. It´s about a time of a time of rebirth as to what the world will look like in the future. It will be based on love for all living beings, for everything that is on our earth. The cycle is 5,125 years long and we may not get to see this...but I sincerely hope we do.

Believe it or not, Jeans is a Mayan priest.

I feel strongly that creating sustainable food systems will be an important component of this new cycle...leaving behind the Multi-Nationals who care only about money and greed...bringing it back to local, sustainable sources...which, fortunately, brings me to this Food Security Project. After you see these countries that lack so much and have a day to day struggle from hand to mouth, I believe nutrition will be the key, the first key, to change. Once we have full bellies, we can work on education, empowerment, development, nourishment...I'm thankful for the opportunity to learn firsthand how this could work.

So, on Monday when I had the pleasure of meeting a like-minded individual from New York, I wasn't surprised to hear that she is going to take her Masters at Georgia State and intends to do a research project on...none other than sustainable food systems. We got talking and she is going to come with us this weekend on a trip to discuss the El Salvador project further. Future co-project manager? Maybe that's the way the Universe works.

We were also lucky to meet a woman here who was the recipient of a Habitat for Humanity home in 2002. When she discovered that that's how Jim & I met, her smile lit up the whole street. Truly inspiring to see how far HFH reaches.

We also got to enjoy a few tropical storms. Walking the narrow streets on tiny sidewalks with an umbrella and rain and wind is like a video game. When you pass others, one of you innately moves their umbrella up so you don't hit each other. It's like a jedi mind trick, who is gonna go up and who is gonna go down? I always try to will the oncoming person to go up. Going up is harder. Next, there are poles and cars parked so tight to the curb that you must withdraw your umbrella so it fits through and immediately put it back out so that your bag (i.e. Laptop and school notes) don't get drenched. As soon as you do that, you have to swing around the pole to avoid being hit by oncoming traffic. I laughed the whole way home although I was soaked, as the rain is warm and I feel terribly cozy.

Epic storm rolling in.

As we head into the fin de semana and I finish up my first week of school, I bid you adieu for the weekend and hope everyone at home is warm and enjoying our beautiful Canadian lifestyle. I have much time to reflect here and it's been tranquil thus far. It brought tears to my eyes to hear that my teacher told a friend that I live with a lot of heart...that even though I cannot seem to get my point across all the time in Spanish, I am at least attempting to get it by with my character. I try to always remember that a smile is universal and somehow it works. Everyone in the house teases me incessantly and I wonder sometimes how that happens in the different places I go. Either I'm really blonde, or it's that I always turn into the little sister / clown of the house because I do things like throw chilltepe peppers into my mouth without thinking and then die laughing and crying...or I spend 10 minutes trying to explain that I need to have my lightbulb changed because it's burnt out in the middle of a storm that has rendered us with no electricity...or maybe because I use universal expressions such as "ei yi yi" that no one seems to understand, but everyone seems to think is funny.

Entonces, I'll leave you with the wise, wise words of Parker J. Palmer, the author of a book called Let Your Life Speak. I was given it almost the day I arrived from mi amiga here and finished it in four days. It's a must read. Anyway, I hope you enjoy:

In talking about Vaclav Havel, playwright, dissident, prisoner, the old president of the Czech Republic and Chairman of the New York based Human Rights Foundation... “The salvation of this human world lies nowhere else than in the human heart, in the human power to reflect, in human modesty and in human responsibility. Without a global revolution in the sphere of human consciousness, nothing will change for the better...and the catastrophe toward which this world is headed, whether it be ecological, social, demographic or a general breakdown of civilization...will be unavoidable.”

The power for authentic leadership, Havel tells us, is found not in external arrangements but in the human heart. These are the inner points from which oppressed people have gained the leverage to lift immense boulders and release transformative change. 

More to come...

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Seeing a Project through to Fruition

I just came home from the final Steering Committee meeting for Habitat for Humanity Winnipeg's first rural project, a duplex for two families in town here. I am full of courageous spirit and words of perseverance and faith.

It got me thinking that it's not so often that we get to see a project, that has now spanned fifteen months, come to fruition. To the final goal. Two families, right now at this moment, sit inside warm, cozy houses with roofs over their head, kitchens for dining and rooms in which they can share and laugh with their children. Their children will grow up knowing that they are enough and that there's nothing that they cannot do if they set their mind to it. Their parents have contributed 350+ hours to their communities within one year. They, just like each of our volunteers, have come to know hard work, dedication and tenacity in seeing a project through. The community was brought together towards a common goal, as it was shown so candidly today as our Committee heads went through their reports of all the donations of food, time and love that were given to this project.

After giving my committee report, one member said a few words that I don't need to share, but that almost had me bursting into tears. Another motioned to send me to a HFH conference that is happening in Regina in March - on the one weekend that I could potentially go. Little does this committee know that it was their stamina, determination and confidence that inspired me every. single. day. The average age of this committee is likely 50 years or older. And for four months, some of them turned out each and every morning to hammer, paint, shovel, shingle, carry, cook, sweat, and do whatever else was required in order for their house to be built. We all had bad days, but overall the days were good. Great even. And each of us carried the others through the dark ones until the sun began to look shiny again.

You've heard: “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has.”

Now I know for sure with the odd 14 or so of us tonight that its true. What we set out to do last November, we achieved. And for two families, life did change. I'd consider that success.

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This is what I woke up to this morning.

Best brothers ever?

Proud of my cousins too who played the gig at the Habitat benefit in Saskatoon last night. 

Inspired and hopeful!

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A Labour of Love

One year ago yesterday, I joined a group of people at a Church in a small town to form a chapter of Habitat for Humanity. I was volunteered for and accepted a position as the Chair of the Family Selection Committee, not knowing how long the project would take or how massive the tasks ahead of us were. I often get razzed by a certain family member for not doing enough local volunteering. Today, I'm really proud to be part of a such a warm group of strong-willed Canadian individuals.

Over the year I fell in love with the organization, the families, and the rest of my committee. Habitat for Humanity is not giving out free houses by the way. They work extremely hard to build quality homes through volunteer labour and fundraising. They carefully choose families who are hardworking, participate in the local community, have glowing references, and with younger children. They work alongside these families to help them complete the 350 - 500 hours of "Sweat Equity" that a family must put in before they can move into their home. They act as a financier to the families, providing an interest-free mortgage and organizing a ton of legal and financial information. And they recruit tons of volunteers to build well thought out and skillfully built homes. There's a million aspects to the organization and building a home just isn't. so. easy (as I found out this summer while I was up on the roof shingling). 

It's no walk in the park for anyone involved. The special part about HFH is that they not only recognize the need for safe, affordable housing for deserving families, but they also see the way this can benefit communities and neighbourhoods surrounding their projects. They bring people and communities together in a labour of love and legitimately make dreams come true. 

I was lucky to be able to work with the families. I so enjoyed getting to know them over the past year. There were (many) ups and downs, but they inspired me every step with the extraordinary hard work they are willing to put in to achieve their dreams. And I found two girls to hand down all of my old toys too. Barbie dolls, my dollhouse, badminton rackets...that reminds me, my sister witnessed the older one beat me badly in badminton this summer. I used to be a champ!

Most of all, I fell in love with the rest of my Steering Committee. I've always known that I feel oddly comfortable with a demographic that is much above my years, but this committee was extra special. They are the youngest group of seniors I know. They were on the roof, in the kitchen, painting baseboards, hauling ladders, hammering nails and raising money. Yet all the while they laughed and smiled and made it feel like all of us involved were a big family. Some of the brightest memories of last winter come from those meetings - even if I was decades younger than anyone involved. A few unconventional friendships sprang from this and I'll treasure them for years to come. 

Due to the enthusiasm, hard efforts and dedication of a few; the volunteer efforts of many; and the work of a ton of people who didn't know each other before this year; today we handed over the keys to two more-than-deserving families. I think I cried about eight times during the Dedication Ceremony...and then the father of one of the families thanked us all for making his family's dreams come true. *sob! *gasp! *remind myself to look cool

Two houses, built in less than one year = a true labour of love. Congrats to both families.   

Families receive their keys!

Little Fiona cuts the ribbon.

The badminton champ. 

Incredible.

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World Habitat Day

A tweet from Habitat Winnipeg:

Today on World Habitat Day, Oct 3, 2011, Habitat for Humanity Intl. will dedicate its 500,000th Habitat house in Maai Mahui, Kenya.

Woohoo! So proud to be a tiny piece of this organization. 500,000 houses. Amazing.

Let's stand up on World Habitat Day and let it be known that affordable, adequate housing should be a priority everywhere —in our communities, in our towns, in our country, in our world.

See World Habitat Day news here.

Also wanted to quickly link to this CityTV interview with my buddy Shane who participated in this years Change for the Better CEO Sleepout. He looks cold, but he did it! Super proud!

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Habitat Build

This week has been busy with preparing for the trip, working and Habitat. Our meeting last night was encouraging as the homes are coming along so well. Those who are at the house everyday are all (more or less) over 60 and they blow me away with what you can do if you put your mind to it. They are on the roof shingling like it's nothing, pounding nails and even going back at night to clean up. Their dedication is truly inspiring.

On top of that, every single day there has been food prepared for the workers and as we discussed last night, it's more than just food. It's the camaraderie that happens over eating together and working together, building something from the ground up. It nourishes the workers' stomachs and souls. We're really blessed to have such a giving community.

Everyday we're closer.

To learn more about our project, visit habitatvirden.blogspot.com.

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