{"id":26902,"date":"2015-04-08T18:00:00","date_gmt":"2015-04-08T23:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/the2seasons.com\/?p=26902"},"modified":"2015-04-07T17:46:21","modified_gmt":"2015-04-07T22:46:21","slug":"our-trip-to-colombia-sa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/the2seasons.com\/?p=26902","title":{"rendered":"Our Trip to Colombia, SA"},"content":{"rendered":"

As most of you know, Mr. Right, Jordan and I lead a trip every year to a third world country for a volunteer vacation.\u00a0 This year we went to Cali, Colombia the last two weeks of March.\u00a0 It was the fifteenth such vacation for Mr. Right and me and Jordan’s sixth.\u00a0 Sadly, Jordan’s husband couldn’t come with us because of work.<\/h3>\n

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\"Colombia\"<\/p>\n

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The way this works is that Mr. Right and I pick a third-world or developing country we either want to visit or want to revisit.\u00a0 We then find an agency there that can put us in touch with people who need help.\u00a0 We have built homes for families living under tarps, painted and repaired schools, remodeled homes, and worked in orphanages.\u00a0 There are 20 of us who go.\u00a0 Some years we might have a new person or two if one of the regulars can’t make it.<\/h3>\n

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\"Colombia\"<\/p>\n

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We are a very diverse group.\u00a0 We live in England, Singapore, China, California, New York City, upstate New York, Kentucky, Arizona, Georgia, and Iowa.\u00a0 Our ages range from 35 to 90.\u00a0 Our religious backgrounds are Catholic, Mormon, Quaker, Protestant, Jewish, Buddhist, and atheist.\u00a0 We are kind of like camp friends.\u00a0 We meet up in some foreign country each year, do some work, have some fun, and it’s as if time stood still.\u00a0 Mike and I met most of the people on Habitat for Humanity builds when we used to volunteer with them or on bicycling adventures.<\/h3>\n

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\"Colombia\"<\/p>\n

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We are not<\/span> a non-profit because we don’t want to deal with paperwork and regulations.\u00a0 We are simply a group of people who have a little extra time and a little extra money and want to do some good in the world.\u00a0 The important part of it for me is that we are spreading good will.\u00a0 When these people we help think about Americans, they won’t think about what they have seen in old movies and television shows.\u00a0 They will think of us.\u00a0 They will think of love.\u00a0 It’s my simple answer to world peace.\u00a0 If you sweat and struggle side by side with a stranger for common good, then you can’t hate each other.<\/h3>\n

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\"Colombia\"<\/p>\n

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We have found that working with nuns is the most efficient way for us to get things done.\u00a0 Nuns seem to be “connected” in their neighborhoods, are well-respected by all, and are very organized.<\/h3>\n

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\"Colombia\"<\/p>\n

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People have asked us why we don’t do these projects in our own communities.\u00a0 Here’s my answer:\u00a0 I taught in an alternative school for eight years and saw how children struggled when their environment and homes were in chaos.\u00a0 They would move in the middle of the night to beat the rent, not have heat or running water because they couldn’t pay the bills, etc.\u00a0 So, when I stopped teaching, I became involved in the local Habitat for Humanity and was on their board.\u00a0 I knew families needed that stability.\u00a0 I found that there were plenty of people willing and able to do this kind of work on the local level.\u00a0 However, not everyone wants to or likes to travel.\u00a0 We LOVE it, and the more challenging it is – the better.\u00a0 I love being taken out of my comfort zone.\u00a0 So, we are glad to do good on an international basis with our own group and not through Habitat.\u00a0 After all, we are helping families.\u00a0 That’s the bottom line.<\/h3>\n

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\"Colombia\"<\/p>\n

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When we arrived in Cali, we were introduced to three families that were living in horrible conditions.\u00a0 Children were sleeping on this broken tile floor – without mattresses.\u00a0 Their roofs were leaking.\u00a0 They needed help, and we were there to provide it.<\/h3>\n

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\"Colombia\"<\/h3>\n

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We hired local crews to help us figure out the construction process.\u00a0 Each country does things differently, and we need to be respectful of that and following their building practices.\u00a0 This time we had high school students volunteering to serve as our interpreters.\u00a0 It was good for them to spend time speaking English with us and to see how Americans really<\/span> are.<\/h3>\n

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\"Colombia\"<\/h3>\n

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\u00a0 We provided the money and the motivation to make these homes safe and livable.\u00a0 When we left the crews were still working to finish the projects.\u00a0 Sister Francell sends us photos and updates so that we are always aware of when the homes are complete.<\/h3>\n

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\"Colombia\"<\/p>\n

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I am pleased to report that the broken tile floor has been replaced with this concrete beauty, and there are now proper walls.<\/h3>\n

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\"Colombia\"<\/p>\n

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The eight little girls living in this home now have their own beds with mattresses, pillows, and sheets.<\/h3>\n

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\"Colombia\"<\/p>\n

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\"Colombia\"<\/p>\n

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Another project that we did was to paint the center where children come to do their homework, play games,……<\/h3>\n

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\"Colombia\"<\/p>\n

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…..and eat their meals.\u00a0 We also provided 24 computers and will pay for the center’s internet connections now and in the future.<\/h3>\n

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\"Colombia\"<\/p>\n

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We had a team that visited many of the schools in the area.\u00a0 They taught the children games and helped them with their English.\u00a0 The children always love it.<\/h3>\n

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\"Columbia\"<\/p>\n

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On the last day when it’s time for us to move on, there are always lots of emotions.\u00a0 One mother was in tears and told us that no one had helped her before like this and that she was full of joy for her family.\u00a0 We always find that it’s the same no matter where we are in the world.\u00a0 Parents want what is best for their children.<\/h3>\n

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Sorry if I rambled on and on, but I am very passionate about our projects and families.\u00a0 It’s not all work ever on these trips.\u00a0 When we finished in Cali, we flew to the Galapagos Islands for an amazing adventure.\u00a0 We’ll tell you all about that part next week.<\/h3>\n

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Take care.<\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As most of you know, Mr. Right, Jordan and I lead a trip every year to a third world country for a volunteer vacation.\u00a0 This year we went to Cali, Colombia the last two weeks of March.\u00a0 It was the fifteenth such vacation for Mr. Right and me and Jordan’s sixth.\u00a0 Sadly, Jordan’s husband couldn’t […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":26912,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":""},"categories":[9,4],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/the2seasons.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26902"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/the2seasons.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/the2seasons.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/the2seasons.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/the2seasons.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=26902"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/the2seasons.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26902\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26926,"href":"http:\/\/the2seasons.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26902\/revisions\/26926"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/the2seasons.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/26912"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/the2seasons.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=26902"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/the2seasons.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=26902"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/the2seasons.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=26902"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}