DAY8: Uganda speaker

Imagine having to flee your home without warning , not being able to bring anything, what if you didn't live with your family you don't know their state of being. You didn't know where they were, sick, happy, safe, or worse alive? Well a lot of people, families, children have to go through this hardship all the time in Uganda, all over Africa.



Today we had a very inspiring speaker come in who was a refugee who opened all of our eyes, his name was Walter.

He first had to leave his home his senor year of high school, when his friends told him not to go home, his parents had already. He had to smuggle his way to the capital of Kenya, Nairobi. He wanted to get as far away as possible. He also wanted to study Medicine and be a doctor at a University. He decided not to pursue his dreams but inside he still very much wanted to. He got a job in the government and then lived in Nairobi for 5 years. And was kicked out again by then he had a wife and two sons and they had to stay there. So he traveled to Italy(his family met him there), then New York, and now he is in a little place i like to call home San Diego. He started his own business for refugees not only from Africa but all over the world if necessary.

We have no idea how easy we have it, when we complain about just the slightest things like " oh i want a new pair of shoes i already wore these twice." The children in Africa would love even a clean glass of water, or a loaf of bread, or even a nice warm blanket. So before you start complaining i want, i want, i want, i want do you honestly think you need that extra pair of shoes, shirt, pants, etc. These not only children but women, men, mothers, fathers, grandmothers, grandfathers, sisters, brothers, uncles, aunts everyone wants the littlest thing and were complaining we want more. They have to sleep in a little tiny huts with 15 of more people sleeping in them. So instead of asking for money ask what you can do to help!

DAY6: GCMS!

You might be wondering what GCMS stands for well it stands for Gombers Charter Middle School, you might also be thinking " OH, it's just another Middle school." Well GCMS is a middle school, but it's a school that had the worst test scores to have great/average test score, with 70% of students dropping out of high school and only 30% graduating, to more students actually attending school, learning, and most importantly feeling safe!

After going to the school i thought WOW this school does look different from the horrible description we got before the school became charter for example " the students were put in cages like animals for lock down, for bad behavior. Then we had the chance to take a small tour of the school, talk to some students, have luch with them i felt like this is just a normal school, if i didn't here about what they went through 5 yrs. ago( before they became a charter school)


The students there were really nice and fun to hang out with. The moral of the story is Don't judge a book by it's cover, because you would think that just because these children may have had a bad background they are all wonderful people!

DAY5: Diaper Drive

Today we split up into groups and went to stores . My group was as follows Tierra, Jack, Nilo, Adam, Myrna and I, we also had our adult supervision who was Mr.Wagner and Ms. Christine.

Each group was given a location, our location was Von's located 1 block down the street from our school. We had a diaper drive where we asked people to go into Von's and buy not only diapers but food, formula, bottles, wipes and any other baby related products. The whole reason we did this diaper drive was for homeless BABY'S AND MOTHERS, yes baby's and mothers are homeless too, just imagine being homeless ya that's a scary thought now wonder being homeless and having to care for a baby and not having the means to care for it, being out in the cold hard winter. Father Joe is the creator of Father Joe's Villages for homeless people to have a safe shelter, he has asked us to get these baby products to give to the baby's that unfortunately the mothers aren't able to give to them.

I felt like people thought we weren't just there because we had to be were there because we wanted to be there! My group was fortunate enough to get many kind people and very few not so kind people. The person who popped out at me the most was a kind of older gentlemen, who was full of enthusiasm and was willing to help those less fortunate, he just had a positive attitude and didn't just blow me off!!! I think the very few not so sweet people we came across doesn't really matter because so many great people can and donated and I'm sure those mothers and baby's will really appreciate all that we raised for them! Something i feel that i could improve in would be thinking about what I'm going to say before i said it, for example i said, "did you know that diapers and mothers are homeless too?" and also i said " hi were having a baby drive." So i think that i should think before i say.

DAY4: Wild Animal Park

Did you know........ that the San Diego Wild Animal Park was affected by the San Diego Wild Fires? The answer is it was but it wasn't the first time, it was also hit in the first San Diego Wild Fire in 2003 and also the fire in the past year (in 2007). The fire that just passed was probably the worst in the century. Today we learned how one of the worst fires affected The San Diego Wild Animal Park!
As soon as we arrived at 10am at the San Diego Wild Animal Park there was a women waiting for our arrival to escort us to the third section of the park, where we were lectured regarding the fires. Next two people talked to us about the fire. First came the curator of birds, who explained to us how the fire affected the bird population, forunitlly only 1 bird wasen't able to be saved in time(the bird was a California Condor). The rest of the condors were all collected in about 5 minutes.

Next, we had another perso talk to us, was a person from the Scripps Research Center, he talked about the different ecosystems in San Diego, and it's one of the most bi-diverst cities. San Diego is a little bit of everything it has mountins, oceans,and desert. Also about Alien Plants which are plants from somewhere else, and about plants you'll see everywhere San Diego county.

After all the speaches we went out, and learned how to plant trees. And we planted in the burnt areas. In a few years the plants will be vegitation for the animals.

DAY3: LGBT center/ Special Delivery

On Wed. the whole class went to the GLBT center in Hillcrest. It truthfully was a life changing experience because most people think that being gay, lesbian, ect. is a decease, genetic( was past on from the parents to the child), or contagious( is spread or came be caught like a sickness. Even before going i had no problem with people being gay, It's their life it's not like it's affecting our lives or the world, i also knew that people that are gay aren't treated the same way straight people are treated . They are respected more than they used be, but gay people are still being beaten, ridiculed, made fun of, and laughed at. After that I realized that they aren't treated as fair as i thought, they are continually getting beat up or worse killed, even if they LOOK gay. I also realized how hard it is for people that are in the closet, i couldn't imagine how hard it would be to live a double life, worrying about what other people think. Sometimes the case is that some people think if they come out of the closet they will loose friends, family, their jobs. So they don't tell anyone and sometimes when they do come out those things do happen, but also sometimes their friends, family, bosses don't mind and treat them the same as before they knew they were gay, lesbian, ect.

So this life changed my prospective on life and how there a bunch of different people out their and they are all people and don't need/want to be judged.

After we left the LGBT center we went to Special Delivery. This is where people voluntarily to deliver food to ill people. Each group had their own route. Earlier that morning we brought non-perishables foods, toiletries, and we made little gift baskets to rise their spirits. Another thing we added to these bags were letters that everyone made. It really felt good to see that when the people opened their doors they would see a nice bag with foods, toiletries, and a sweet letter that came from our hearts!! Our group didn't wait for the people to answer the door we just set the bags down by the door.

DAY2: Landfill

On the first day of field trips during intercession Tue. was........
Half of our class went to Saint Vincent De Paul's in Father Joe's Villages, and the the other half went to the Landfill in Mira Mesa. I was in the group that went to the Landfill.

Most people think that the Landfill is just a place your trash is sent, it's that but much much more!!! It's sent there so that your trash doesn't just pile up.

My feelings in the beginning were completely different from the end, like in the beginning all i thought was GREAT WE HAVE TO LISTEN TO PEOPLE GO ON AND ON ABOUT SMELLY TRASH!!!! Then after i listened i thought "WOW they do much more." They collect trash and they have a recycling center, and places where they make composted and woodchips. It really changed my points of view on Landfills.

DAY1: GET READY, GET SET, INTERCESSAION STARTS!

Today is the first day of intercession!!!!! What happened was we had two speakers come in and talk to us! First, we had Catlin, and she was a specialist in non-profited organizations. After Catlin spoke to us, we had Dan from the San Diego Wild Park. He talked about plants and a little bit on the diets of the vegetarian animals. He also explained what we would do that Thursday when we go. Next, we split into our groups( mine is animal abuse/treatment w/ Maddie and Myrna) and went through the Sunday/ Thursday news paper, looking for articles about our topics. Then, we collected our articles and discuss them.