Sri Lanka 2015: Post Your Comments Here:
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Honduras: Day 7 - A Bittersweet Final Day!
With the continued passion of the Rotary Club of Tegucigalpa, 4000 bedkits have been given out to the children of Honduras. A BIG thank you to all the SCAW donors!
With continued support these smiling faces with continue to light up our lives!
Theresa Carravetta for Team Honduras 2015
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With continued support these smiling faces with continue to light up our lives!
Theresa Carravetta for Team Honduras 2015
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Honduras: Day 6 - Dreams!!
Today the sky was blue and a gentle breeze was blowing and in the background you could hear the laughter of the children waiting in anticipation for what was about to begin
These children have no cell phones game boys or any electronic devices just the thrill of knowing that they were about to receive something special. As the time approached the children's excitement increased and then it came; they were receiving what they had come for - their SCAW bedkits. The look on each face tells the story. Some are all smiles and others are not exactly sure what to do, however tonight each child has a mattress and a pillow to go to sleep on, and school supplies for another day at school. It was a great day.
Jill Power for Team Honduras 2015
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These children have no cell phones game boys or any electronic devices just the thrill of knowing that they were about to receive something special. As the time approached the children's excitement increased and then it came; they were receiving what they had come for - their SCAW bedkits. The look on each face tells the story. Some are all smiles and others are not exactly sure what to do, however tonight each child has a mattress and a pillow to go to sleep on, and school supplies for another day at school. It was a great day.
Jill Power for Team Honduras 2015
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Honduras: Day 5 - Canada!
The other day, I learned "Old MacDonald had a farm....." is the same in Spanish
as it is in English.
The kids know the Canadian flag and a few things about us. They are happy to receive Canadian flag stickers from us.
As a group we have lots of fun, we work hard and we each experience the joy
that comes from giving on your behalf.
We are grateful for all the support from the two military policemen who not only control the crowd and keep everyone safe but assisted in guiding the children out to their parents.
The smiles, hugs and little gestures of gratitude make a hard days work so worth while.
Ted Nelson for Team Honduras 2015
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as it is in English.
The kids know the Canadian flag and a few things about us. They are happy to receive Canadian flag stickers from us.
As a group we have lots of fun, we work hard and we each experience the joy
that comes from giving on your behalf.
We are grateful for all the support from the two military policemen who not only control the crowd and keep everyone safe but assisted in guiding the children out to their parents.
The smiles, hugs and little gestures of gratitude make a hard days work so worth while.
Ted Nelson for Team Honduras 2015
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Honduras: Day 4 - Sights and Sounds!
As we traveled the fifty kilometers through the Honduran countryside, I wondered what the day would bring. Just like the three previous days, I saw the uncertainty in the children's beautiful faces until "Hola" was spoken, and they lit up with bright smiles. I heard their laughter, and saw how lovingly they had been prepared for this day.
But nothing could have prepared me for the three homes of former bedkit recipients that we visited. I saw trash littering small yards and emaciated dogs laying in the dust. I walked on uneven dirt floors in homes with no running water or electricity. I saw a room no bigger than a closet where a grandmother and her three grandchildren slept.
I witnessed extreme poverty, but in my shock I saw the love between the women and children, I felt the hugs of three little girls, and I saw the beauty and resiliency of the Honduran people.
Honduras: Day 3 - Boys Will Be Boys!
Today was another successful day of distribution at a school in Tegucigalpa. As we have seen every day, the children are beautiful and so excited to be receiving this gift of their bedkit. Sometimes it is hard to quell their enthusiasm especially the little boys, but others are very shy and bewildered by all the commotion.
Rotarians and Team volunteer helpers, helped them with the first part of the process followed by the carrying out of the bedkit to be greeted at the end gate by their parents.
Today I interviewed two mothers. Both were so extremely thankful that their child was chosen to be one of the recipients. They especially liked the mattress.
It was obvious that a few children were not well. We saw 3 or 4 with Chicken Pox.
Thanks to our generous donors, 600 more children are sleeping well tonight.
Marilyn Olivare for Team Honduras 2015
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Rotarians and Team volunteer helpers, helped them with the first part of the process followed by the carrying out of the bedkit to be greeted at the end gate by their parents.
Today I interviewed two mothers. Both were so extremely thankful that their child was chosen to be one of the recipients. They especially liked the mattress.
It was obvious that a few children were not well. We saw 3 or 4 with Chicken Pox.
Thanks to our generous donors, 600 more children are sleeping well tonight.
Marilyn Olivare for Team Honduras 2015
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Honduras Day 2 - A Challenging Location, But Successful!
Today we arrived to throngs of children and parents waiting patiently for their turn to enter through the school gate and receive their bedkit.
The first of a number of large group photographs scheduled for the distribution proved to be very challenging especially for the children having to sit in the hot sun while we arranged them for the perfect picture. Everyone's patience paid off in the end and the children were off to receive their eagerly anticipated bedkits.
Once again we asked them to wait patiently until the previous group had been processed. Even though, as one of them said "it's like Christmas", and the excitement was building.
Finally each of the children received the eagerly anticipated bedkit and in this case this little boy received the hot commodity of the " Minion bedkit".
And now tightly holding on to their "prize" they head out to show their parents after a big "thank you" to the SCAW team in both English and Spanish.
Neil Waugh for Team Honduras 2015
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Neil Waugh for Team Honduras 2015
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Honduras: Day 1 - A Success!
These two boys want to give all the SCAW donors a 'thumbs up" and a sincere "muchas gracias" for our new clothes!
650 children left today's distribution expressing their excitement with a "thank you " and huge smiles on their faces!
John O'Donnell for Team Honduras 2015
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Honduras: The Day Before ...
Today we had the pleasure of visiting the warehouse where 4000 bedkits are stored. Within this colorful display, there are 4000 mattresses. The Rotarians have worked endlessly to dress the mattresses in a zippered cover. Stuffed inside these rolls are more contents of the bedkits - a bedsheet, a pillow, a pillow case and a blanket. The rest of the items are all packed in a backpack (the mosquito net and many school supplies!
As we are leaving, the volunteers are stuffing the truck with 650 bedkits for tomorrow's distribution. These will be loaded and then unloaded into classrooms at the first school. Military will guard these bedkits overnight until our arrival in the morning! And then the fun begins as the children arrive with smiling faces and the thrill that they will sleep in comfort!
We are so fortunate to be able to partner with The Rotary Club of Tegucigalpa. Stay tuned for the pictures of the results of all their hard work!!
Theres Carravetta for Team Honduras 2015
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As we are leaving, the volunteers are stuffing the truck with 650 bedkits for tomorrow's distribution. These will be loaded and then unloaded into classrooms at the first school. Military will guard these bedkits overnight until our arrival in the morning! And then the fun begins as the children arrive with smiling faces and the thrill that they will sleep in comfort!
We are so fortunate to be able to partner with The Rotary Club of Tegucigalpa. Stay tuned for the pictures of the results of all their hard work!!
Theres Carravetta for Team Honduras 2015
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Honduras: The Team Has Arrived!!
Back row: L-R Theresa Carravetta (Team Leader) Marilyn Olivares, Jill Power, Rosanne Waugh
Fronto Row: L-R John O'Donnell, Ted Nelson, Neil Waugh
Fronto Row: L-R John O'Donnell, Ted Nelson, Neil Waugh
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Tanzania: Thank You from Team Tanzania!
Last night we said thank you and goodbye to our overseas volunteer partners at an end of distribution party that the SCAW team hosted. These volunteers worked so hard for months to prepare for these past two weeks and show so much heart and love for the children. The SCAW team has been so very privileged to work with such caring people.
Throughout this distribution, team member Helen has been training to take over as team leader in Tanzania. By the last distribution she had taken on most responsibilities including organization of team members and photography. Upon hearing that Helen would be returning as team leader next year, the overseas partner volunteers cheered and gave some very touching speeches, knowing that Helen is kind, capable and passionate and will do an amazing job when she returns next year.
This morning, we said goodbye to four of our team members as they left on safari and the rest of us will board our return flight to Canada later this evening. We have grown as individuals, as a team and have become like family during this experience. Murray Dryden would be overjoyed to know that 5000 more children are now sleeping peacefully. The SCAW donors have made this possible.
Thank you.
Team Tanzania 2015
Post your comments here:Tanzania: Our Final Day
This morning we headed out into the country for our final day of distribution. The distribution site was just down the road from where we were yesterday. We arrived at the smallest of the schools that we visited this trip and were greeted by many children and their parents who were already there waiting for us. Locating a site for pictures was complicated because of voter registration that was going on in the same compound. Everyone who wants to vote in the fall election has to register and have the fingerprints entered into a central database.
Once we got started, the day went quickly as we were taking groups of 10 children. With Mama Wandoa's team and a few of the older school boys, we were able to successfully deliver 715 bedkits to needy children.
It was a bittersweet moment when we took the last picture and gave out the last bedkit. We celebrated the end of a successful distribution, but also realized that we would now have to start saying goodbye to the wonderful team that Mama has assembled.
Tonight we will be having a pizza party form Mama and her volunteers to say thank you and goodbye.
Jim for Team Tanzania 2015
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Tanzania: Labels
We drove about an hour north of Dar es Salaam up into the hills for our second last distribution. Before we started we showed the parents the items that their children were going to receive in the bedkit. They seemed happy and responded with lots of clapping.We shared the different jobs throughout the day. Working together all 715 pictures were taken and bedkits handed out.
At the completion, we met with some representatives from the school board and the headmaster of our school who wanted to speak to us. Mama did the translating for them.They told us that this gift of a bedkit will encourage the students to continue with their education. They said that the contents were very useful to everyone, and would be shared with all of the family. They wanted us to thank all the donors who made this possible. Many families come from from a very difficult environment and the items in the bedkit will help to alleviate some of the challenges they face every day and will enable them to stay in school.
I helped pull labels today, and noticed that there are many different reasons to donate a bedkit...."in memory of", "Happy Birthday ", "To the best Nanna ever", Happy Anniversary", "Merry Christmas", etc. whatever the reason, a child was helped and a family was helped. Thank you donors.
Suzanne for Team Tanzania 2015
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Tanzania: Special Thanks!
The distribution as a whole went very well today. Each member of the team worked very well together and we were able to conduct some interviews with parents, children and teachers. When we pulled into the school in the morning there were literally thousands of children lining or path! The school we visited has between 5000-6000 students and too few classrooms so many classes were held outdoors in the courtyard. When speaking to a teacher we were told that there are easily 200 students per class. I was astonished!
Today was the fifth distribution for team Tanzania 2015 and thanks to SCAW's incredible donors we were able to make at least 715 more children very, very happy. In fact, what I have come to realize is that there are so many more who benefit from one single bedkit. Yesterday, we were fortunate to have visited three homes and I was also able to interview two mothers whose children had received bedkits. Through this interaction, we learned that the bedkit is often a gift for more than one child in the household. One mother mentioned that both of her sons would share the mattress and that the mosquito net could be used by the three older children, as their current net, old and worn, is being used to protect the babies.
We had some large group photos today, one of which is very close to my heart. The school where I teach in Peterborough, Edmison Heights PS, helped provide 34 children with a good night's sleep this evening through their fundraising efforts this past June. These bedkits represent a fraction of what the school community donated toward SCAW, with many individual bedkits having been purchased as well. My heart was filled with so much gratitude as I looked upon the faces of those our students have helped. Thank you, so, so much.
In all honesty, I knew that I would fall in love with these children when I first decided to volunteer with SCAW. What I did not know was that I would fall so much in love with SCAW. I am hooked. After 5 distributions and over 3500 bedkits so far I know that my involvement with SCAW has only just begun.
Lala salama.
Laura for Team Tanzania 2015
Post your comments here:Tanzania: Smiles That Light Up Our Hearts!
We returned to the same site as Monday for our distribution
today – beside a large soccer stadium.
This certainly worked to our advantage as we photographed a group of 100
children. You should have seen the
bewildered faces on the children as we lead them across an open lot toward the
stadium. But then there was much excitement as we seated 100 children into the
bleachers for their photo. The trip back
across the lot toward the awaiting bedkits and mattresses was a joyful trek!
After our distribution was over, we had the privilege of
visiting three homes of today’s bedkit recipients. In one home, a grandmother was raising eight
of her grandchildren. They were
surviving on a meagre living, and only were able to afford one basic meal a
day.
After dinner we had 14 children from an orphanage visit us.
We were almost as excited as the children. We were able to share the shoes and
clothes that our friends and families from Canada had sent with us. It felt like Christmas, with squeals of
delight as each child found something to wear. In the midst of this excitement,
I was able to help a young boy named Jared, about 8 years old, and a double
amputee. We found a pair of shiny black
running shoes that fit his prosthetic legs, and his smile lit up the room and
my heart.
Helen for Team Tanzania 2015
Tanzania: Imagine
For us North Americans, try to imagine living on 60.00 to 240.00 per month, minimum wage in Tanzania, depending on what industry you work in. A very high percentage of the population in Tanzania do just that, so it is no wonder that they need our/your help, No wonder they live in small meager homes , most often without electricity or running water, live mostly on rice and fish and can fit all their personal belongings in a 5 gallon bucket.
Your $35.00, makes all the difference in the world not only to the child receiving your bedkit but to the whole family, as many if not most of the bedkit items are shared. We have been told over the years that their child is not sick as often after receiving a bedkit and teachers have said the child’s school attendance has improved because the child is getting a better rest. What a GREAT gift for a child. Thank you donors. Wish you could be here!
Tanzania: A Wonderful Day!
Oh what a wonderful day! There truly are never two distributions that go the same! We found out last week that students at the school where we were to go today were writing exams and so we had to find a new location on very short notice. Mama Wandoa took on the task, and upon arrival at the new location, we were thrown another loop and brought to a third location. Luckily, the team was able to make the best of the situation and set up a great display for the photos and get the distribution rolling in good time! The drive took just over an hour, we were able to begin distributing the bedkits around 10:00 a.m. and were home at 3:00 p.m.
715 children today were fortunate enough to receive a bedkit. It was overwhelming to see them leave with such beautiful, big smiles. LALA SALAMA (sleep well). We were lucky enough today to see the children dressed in everyday clothes as school was out because of the older student's examinations.
Though 715 children received a bedkit today, it was so very sad to see the crowd of people on the opposite side of the fence who were unable to receive the same. There is so much need in this country that we wish we could have brought one to every child. It is our hope that we will be able to see the same smiles on the faces of those who did not receive this year by giving them each a bedkit on a future distribution.
Rita for Team Tanzania 2015
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715 children today were fortunate enough to receive a bedkit. It was overwhelming to see them leave with such beautiful, big smiles. LALA SALAMA (sleep well). We were lucky enough today to see the children dressed in everyday clothes as school was out because of the older student's examinations.
Though 715 children received a bedkit today, it was so very sad to see the crowd of people on the opposite side of the fence who were unable to receive the same. There is so much need in this country that we wish we could have brought one to every child. It is our hope that we will be able to see the same smiles on the faces of those who did not receive this year by giving them each a bedkit on a future distribution.
Rita for Team Tanzania 2015
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Tanzania: An Off Weekend
We do not have any distributions over the weekend. So I would like to recount what happened yesterday at our distribution. One of the requirements of SCAW is to interview parents and have them assess what is included now in the bedkit, and to find out if there is something that would be more useful to them. I interviewed a grandmother who was raising 3 children because both their parents were dead, and her granddaughter Mariam had received a bedkit. During the interview I learned that her vision was very poor and she was unable to see the blackboard at school. Mama Wandoa, our oversees Volunteer coordinator, was translating for me, and she said that she might know someone who could help. The owner of one of the products manufactured for us just happened to come to see how a distribution was carried out. Mama spoke with him, he talked with Mariam and her grandmother, and he immediately offered to pay to have her eyes examined and to buy glasses for her. WOW.
Thank you donors for changing the lives or 715 children. An addional and unexpected bonus was knowing that a child would also have her vision improved. Helping someone else, one person at a time.
Suzanne for Team Tanzania 2015
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Thank you donors for changing the lives or 715 children. An addional and unexpected bonus was knowing that a child would also have her vision improved. Helping someone else, one person at a time.
Suzanne for Team Tanzania 2015
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