Vancouver – Post #4
Tuesday morning began with my previous post, sitting alone in one of the nicer Blenz coffee joints in town, contrasting the picture of the Vancouver business world with the very fresh memories of the night before, where we served candy to the women on the streets of East Hastings.
The rest of the day included a second trip to the Salvation Army by part of our group to serve breakfast and then an afternoon of work with Urban Promise. While the first day with Urban Promise was somewhat difficult for many, the second day seemed to be the exact opposite. I did not have a chance to spend much concentrated time at any of their locations, as Karen and I chauffeured groups about the city. But each day, as I helped pick groups up from Urban Promise headquarters, I could gauge the attitude and feel of the day by the kinds of conversations the students had as they got into the van. The second day was very different than the first. On Monday, students were frustrated, talking about kids throwing their pencils at the wall, not connecting with their new leaders (our students) who would only be there for a couple days, and general frustration with their ability to actually help any of the kids learn. Tuesday, on the other hand, seemed to be drastically different. The kids, who must have realized that these Americans were coming back, started to make connections with our students. I think the students may have been able to step out a little bit more on the second day as well, after sort of figuring out how the organization worked and how they might be able to improvise and have some fun within the structures of the after school programs. The students who piled into my van were excited, energized after spending this second day with the kids.
Tuesday evening, we returned to the church, debriefed a bit, and headed off to another evening of work. I kept telling the group during the trainings before we left that our days would be broken up into thirds – a project in the morning, afternoon, and possibly in the evening, depending on the day. This meant that each dinner time, we were somewhat rushed to finish up, because a third of our group would be off to work again. I think this schedule was taxing for some, especially those who had to get up early on the day after they had been out at night. But everyone took it in stride and for the most part, people reacted to each project with a very willing attitude.
First Baptist Church hosts a Tuesday night shelter in the church, so we had the opportunity to help them set up and prepare meals during the evening. Smaller groups of our students went in shifts to help the staff and manage security throughout the evening. While others were sleeping, a couple of volunteers even pulled 10-1 and 1-4 shifts in the night, helping in whatever way their staff needed. At this point in the trip, we were all tired, so to have students be willing to sacrifice a couple more hours of sleep in order to help out was very encouraging.
