Real Hope for Haiti

I read this very sobering post a few weeks ago and wanted to re-post it here but didn't have a chance to until now.  Take a minute to read it and process it.  

The need for supplies sounds tremendous.  There is a volunteer in the US who is helping to collect supplies and ship them to Haiti in a container.  If you'd like to contribute, read this post for details.  They have "wish lists" of needed supplies on Target.com and Walmart.com.  The registries are under the name Debbie Woodward.

The thought of patients lying on cardboard on the ground was a hard one for me to swallow so I sent a cot from the Walmart.com list.  Wish I could have bought 20 more.

Lord, help me to remember to pray for the patients at the Cholera House, as well as those are who are serving with Real Hope for Haiti.   

DONE!

Hallelujah!

THANK YOU to everyone who cheered us on with words of encouragement, offered up prayers on our behalf, sent us truths from Scripture, and checked-in with texts and emails!  You held us up and we appreciate you!  The past few days were filled with calm and peace and we know it's because so many of you were praying.    

Summer Adventures - Part 1

Inspired by our very adventurous summer last year, I made a list of local excursions to do with the boys this summer (while poor Steve's bum has been permanently fixed to a chair with flashcards in hand).  Slowly but surely, we're making our way down the list.  Here's a recap of some of the adventures we've had this first half of summer:

1.  The Bay Area Discovery Museum in Sausalito (great hands-on stuff for kids and even better views of the Golden Gate for mom)

 

2.  A field trip to a local farm with Nicolas and Riley's preschool (turkeys, chickens, ducks, goats, alpacas, rabbits, and a garden)

 

 

3.  A special REI event at the Effie Yeaw Nature Center (best thing we've done so far this summer - so much fun and so much learning!  guided hike, nature center, s'mores)

4.  Panning for gold at Marshall Gold Discovery State Park with my dad (we even got some very small specks of real gold which of course we lost on the way home)

 

5.  The National Train Show at the Sacramento Convention Center (wow, the older gentlemen that do these model train shows are a very interesting subset of society. but, there were some cool lego cities, loads of model trains, and a play area for kids)

6.  Concert in the Park at Cesar Chavez Plaza to hear The Nibblers (perfect summer evening: great weather, great music, great company)

What adventures have you been enjoying this summer?

Where's Steve?

I've been getting this question a lot lately.  In case you're wondering, too, he's studying! 

Steve's study schedule 

 We're down to the wire.  The Bar is on July 26, 27, and 28.  So, in just 12 days it'll all be over.  Yippee! 

Camp

I was one of the lucky ones that got to go away for a week of camp every summer from fourth to twelfth grade. I have so many fun memories of camp!  The night game was always my favorite activity (putting on dark clothes and then going to find your counselor in the dark with nothing but a flashlight - so scary and so fun).

I also remember some hard things about camp - it is a stretching experience!  It's nerve-wracking to go away and miss home and be challenged to try new things like ropes courses and diving off the high board.  But you can't beat the satisfaction of knowing you conquered something that you once feared.  

Camp also had a profound impact on me spiritually.  During those times away, I heard from and connected with God in ways that I just wasn't able to at home. 

On Sunday afternoon, I got to drive these three ladies to Westminster Woods' High School Camp and get them all settled-in with their counselor and cabin-mates for the week (something I love to do!) 

Karla, Elizabeth, and Lupita in front of their cabin

Getting to spend three hours in the car with them listening to them giggle as they recounted stories from last summer (they all three went to Westminster Woods last summer) was a gift! 

Plus, it always amazes me how much you can learn about someone when driving in the car with them for a long time.  I few of the things I heard them say that will stay with me:

"My dad left his family when he was eleven to go work (in Mexico).  He only went to school up until seventh grade."

"Since I am now in high school, I have made it further in school than either my mom or my dad.  Neither one of them graduated from high school."

"My grandmother never went to school.  She doesn't know how to read or write."

"My parents are so protective of me.  But I know that it's just because they want me to have more opportunities than they had."

"My mom always tells me that I'm going to a university - no matter what.  I tell her, "I know, mom!"'

I just love these girls to bits and I'm so very excited that they get to have this amazing opportunity to be out in God's beautiful creation, away from the stresses of their everyday life, spending time studying the Bible, playing goofy games, meeting new people, and getting to be kids!  I know that they are having an amazing time, but I can't help but think about them often and wonder how they are doing (are they making new friends?  do they feel like they fit-in?  what are they learning from the speaker?).  Geez, if I'm like this with three teens from The GreenHouse, can you imagine how I'm going to be when I drop off my own kids at camp for the first time?

Speaking of my own kids, these three boys were road warriors!  With Steve studying hard for the Bar they had to come with me for the drop-off.  They braved the three-hour drive there (traffic) and two and a half hour drive back with minimal bouts of crankiness (mostly hunger induced).  They perked right-up when we arrived at camp and got to spend about an hour running around, throwing rocks in a stream, taking a quick hike, and getting very, very dirty.  They were in heaven.  I have a feeling they are going to love camp someday, too.

Chip-in to Combat "Summer Slide"

Summer is a time for adventure and exploration for youth.  Or is it?

 

"For many children, especially children of low-income families, summer is a season of boredom, inactivity and isolation. Kids can't go exploring if their neighborhoods aren't safe. It's hard to play without toys or playgrounds or open spaces.

Dull summers take a steep toll, as researchers have been documenting for more than a century. Deprived of healthy stimulation, millions of low-income kids lose a significant amount of what they learn during the school year. Call it "summer learning loss," as the academics do, or "the summer slide," but by any name summer vacation is among the most pernicious, if least acknowledged causes of achievement gaps in America's schools. Children with access to high-quality experiences keep exercising their minds and bodies at sleep away camp, on family vacations, in museums and libraries and enrichment classes. Meanwhile, children without resources languish on street corners or in front of glowing screens. By the time the bell rings on a new school year, the poorer kids have fallen weeks, if not months, behind."

 

(From "The Case Against Summer Vacation," by David Von Drehle, Time Magazine, July 22, 2010.)

 

At The GreenHouse, we are working hard to combat "the summer slide."  We are providing high-quality experiences (sleep away camp, museums, enrichment classes) to low-income youth who would not otherwise have them.  It's exciting to be part of the solution!

 

And you can be part of the solution, too, by becoming a Summer Sponsor and providing the funding needed for enriching field trips for our youth.  This summer, with your help, we will send 30 elementary students to the Bohart Bug Museum, Jump Sky High, and Raging Waters.  An additional 15 teens will go to Raging Waters and the State Fair.  And three of our teens will have the life-changing opportunity of spending a week at Westminster Woods Christian Camp.

 

To fund all of these opportunities, we need to raise $3000.  Already, through the generosity of our donors, we have raised $1350 (the three trips to Westminster Woods have been completed funded and we've already raised $450 for our elementary and teen field trips)!  That means we have just $1650 left to raise for our summer field trips.

 

All month long, friends of The GreenHouse will "Chip -in" on-line to give towards our summer field trips.  Every gift counts!  When you give $50 or more, you will receive a letter from a child describing the summer adventures they are having at The GreenHouse.  We hope you'll join us in being part of the solution to combat "the summer slide."  Thanks for your support!  Chip-In Now!  (or just click on the Chip-in button on the right side of the blog!)

Office Visitors

After Day Camp at The GreenHouse had ended this afternoon and all of the kids were sent home, two of the boys in the program kept coming back to the office and hanging around.  Every time I turned around, they were in the office again - striking up conversations with staff, sitting in our chairs, playing with Chito's phone - anything they could think of to linger a little longer and distract us from our "work."  

Then it dawned on me.

"It's nice and cool in here, isn't it?" 

"Ya.  I wish I could sleep in here."

(my heart softening, breaking)

"Is it hot in your apartment at night?"

"Ya, it's really hot.  It's hard to fall asleep.  Yesterday I woke up with a bloody nose."

"Do you guys have any fans in your apartment?"

"We only have one fan.  It's in my mom's room."

(heart softening, breaking more)  

"Do you turn your air conditioner on at all?"

"Sometimes, but only for a little while."

(thank you God for this reminder, this reality check)

100 degree day in Sacramento.  Two-story apartments.  Families, children, babies with no money for air conditioning.

Suddenly, I don't feel like complaining about the heat anymore.

My three boys drift off to sleep tonight in their air conditioned bedrooms with their overhead fans turned on - surely not breaking a sweat at all.

Our other kids - the GreenHouse kids - will fall asleep tonight in a very different way

(thank you God for this reminder, this reality check)

Kids at Heart 2011

 Thanks again to the amazing team of volunteers and donors who made Kids at Heart 2011 a success...over $33,000 raised for The GreenHouse!