Washington dc- day 5

Busy day today! We went to Senator Kohls office and talked about education, tuition, and we all got a glimpse of how politics should appear to the public. Next we went to the archives and saw the Bill of Rights, the Constitution, and the Declaration of Independence. It was so cool to see all three original documents. They also had a Benjamin Franklin exhibit and shared quotes, inventions, and his daily life!  After a nice lunch in the park, we got the chance to go to the Smithsonian! A group of us went to the Museum of american history and saw a lot of great things including the flag that inspired the star spangled banner! It was overwhelming to see the massive flag that inspired the tune that Americans hear so often. We then went to the Museum of Natural History and spent quality time exploring there!

When we got back to the McKenna center, we had a presentation from Tom shared stories for awhile, and one of the things he talked about was that after serving people for quite some time , they realized that they need to get to know their clients if they really wanted to help. I think this is significant because they are trying to get to the core, or main issue at hand and many services to people in need don't address them.

We also helped with the Peace Meal at the McKenna center. They porcide a hot meal to men, women, and children. We all helped with different jobs, but we all leaned something valuable from this experience tonight. Some of us had to step out of our comfort zones, and others were learing the power of a kind smile or conversation. But overall,  this experience has helped us challenge our past beliefs and stereotypes about the issues of hunger and homelessness.

Today was a big learning day for all of us, but we can be grateful for what we have done thus far!!
-written by Ashley Andersen

"The good particular men may do separatley...is small, compared with ehay they do collectively"
Benjamin Franklin 1751

Washington DC Day four

We were at Capitol Area Food Bank today. It was such an eye opening experience. We sorted food, hygiene products and household items and packed them into boxes. It made me realize how fortunate I am to be able to go to a grocery store and pick out the items I want. The people who receive these boxes don't get to pick the flavor or brand of the items they receive. They might not even like they type or food they get, but that's all they have so they have to deal with it. I am lucky enough to be able to go to a grocery store and pick out exactly what I want. Who knew it was a privilege to go shopping for everyday items?

On a different note, I had so much fun working with everyone today. We kept our energy and productivity up for six fun hours. It was great to work as a team and through this I got to know everyone better.

We are having a great time here. A little sleep deprived, but we're getting used to it. We're looking forward to our next volunteer experience to help other people and learn more about the problems some people face on a daily basis.

Overall, this is such a wonderful learning experience that I know we are all enjoying!

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Hey everyone,

Just a quick update from Guatemala. Today is day four of this awsome adventure. They are working us hard. On Sunday, we learned about the entire coffee making process. There is so much work that goes into that single cup of coffee. That morning cup of coffee takes about a week to produce.On Monday, we made an entire talapia pond. Be very thankful for all the power tools and machinery that we have there in America. We had to first dig the entire hole, they after mixing the concrete by hand, we had to fill build up the concrete walls. Today we worked with another farmer. We hoed the weeds around a coffee farm. Might seem easy but I assure you that it is not. We will be the most ripped people by the time this trip is over. That is all that we have done so far, but there will be more fun, hard work tomorrow.

Here are some fun facts about what we have done and learned so far....

• If you sing while you work, it makes the work go so much faster.
• The food down here is AMAZING!
• It dosen´t matter if you know the person, they all say Hi.
• There are song lyrics to go into every situation. 
• The farmers are some of the hardest workers you will ever meet.
• Homemade peanut butter is spectacular!

On a side note, just a take of what I think so far. This experience is so amazing. I never imagined that I would learn so much is such a short period of time. The culture down here is amazing. I would never have imagined that it would be so different than what it is in America. The values that they have are opposite of what we have in America.

More to come, and remember, 

Family time is precious time!

Adiós! 

Marisa

Day 4

After breakfast today, we packed up and rode the metro to the Capital Area Food Bank to serve for the day.  We met with David, the volunteer coordinator who explained the structure of their program.  He explained that they are the number one food distribution center for shelters in the city of DC as well as Virgina and Maryland.  He reported the distribution center had over 30,000 volunteers help out last year so we felt very fortunate to participate in such a helpful and respectable program. David explained that the distribution center has 31 categories to sort the donated goods into. He instructed us to form small groups and pack the items into boxes that will be distributed to shelters throughout the city. We were all very impressed with how efficient we worked together as a team to fill the task. We work at the shelter from 9 am until 4 pm today, all the while having a great time and sharing lots of laughs and forming good memories with each other. I think it's safe for me to speak for everyone when I say that we all enjoyed our first volunteer experience together. The image that sticks in my mind from today is that the room any other volunteers other than ourselves working with ur own group and we're all working together for a common goal at the end of the day. Looking around the room and seeing all of these people that were giving up their day to help out at the distribution center was really great to see and made me feel very proud to be a part of my ASB team. So far I can't imagine a better way to spend my spring break, thank you to all who made this trip possible :)

Jenn Esser

Washington D.C

All done serving at the Capitol Area Food Bank! 

Washington DC- Day 4

Capitol area Food Bank today!

Day 3 in DC

Today we went to the Washington legal clinic for the homeless and learned a lot about the characteristics of people who are homeless in DC. That talk I will always remember because there are so many people that need beds and not enough places that offer beds all the time. I didn't realize that homelessness was at such a high rate here. We went to the Holocaust memorial museum. It was heartbreaking to see so many people that lost their life because of one man. I knew it was bad but I didn't know that the US could have done so much more to help out. I am so grateful for everything I have and that our country is not allowing just one person to gain power.

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