articles

We took a Vacation with a Purpose and You Might Want to too!

and we did some great crafts and activities!

By Julie Follansbee August 27, 2015
This summer we decided to take a different kind of vacation. We had heard many stories over the years of families taking  mission trips and how their lives had been transformed by the experience. Our church, St. Michael's of the Valley Episcopal Church in Rector was putting together a trip to the Agua Viva Children's Home in Guatemala (yes, tis I in the cover photo!), so we signed on and joined the team that totaled 19 travelers from California, Seattle, North Carolina and of course, our fellow parishioners from Pa.

First up was coordinating a theme. Visiting teams are responsible for providing crafts and activities in the afternoon and after dinner for the 80+ children who live in Agua Viva. These kids have been surrendered by their parents, assigned by the authorities, or found homeless and fending for themselves on the streets. Agua Viva is an Oasis for them in a country that only requires a 6th grade education and where despite being the richest country in Central America in natural resources, corruption is rampant and a huge majority of the population is left without, while something like 2% manages the wealth for what seems like their own gain. Agua Viva was started after the earthquake in 1976 left more than a million people homeless and hopeless, and stepped in to raise the children and educate them in faith and knowledge in the hopes of growing a stronger community.  Said one of our mission hosts, "We do the work the government should be doing."

So where to begin? Our team was rich with educators from the Valley School of Ligonier, as well as teachers from Pitt Greensburg and other area schools, college students, business men and women, my family and me.  We brainstormed and came up with the "Creation" Theme. Following the verses in Genesis, we built a 3-D mosaic mural and an accordion storybook (we translated ours to Spanish) that the kids could keep long after we'd left. 

We started by hanging a plain white sheet in a prominent place in El Comedor (the dining hall) to represent the nothingness that existed before God's Creation. We had backed a variety of shades of blue paint chips with double sided tape. One by one, the kids came up and selected a paint chip and stuck it to the sheet to represent the sky. We followed with the green shredded paper that accompanies every package we here at Macaroni Kid Johnstown/Laurel Highlands/Altoona receive with any Simply Fun product.

The first day we made a Dancing Ribbon with one colored ribbon, and each day we added a different color to represent that day-being teachers and crafters, we love color coding! (Click on the highlighted links for the directions for all of the crafts).



Next we made Woven flowers on a DVD to represent plant life. Guatemala has a rich textile history so this was a perfect fit. The kids caught on very quickly.

The Creation of Sun, Moon and Stars came next and we used this template for the kids to color and decorate with glitter glue. After they dried, we suspended the stars to our mural with clear fishing line.

Animals of the sea and sky followed with butterflies and fish made from CDs.

Finally, God created us. With the help of Joyce Shulman (the Chief Macaroni Kid!) we received a very generous donation from our friends at Creativity for Kids Each child had their own Creativity Can to make whatever they wanted. Many made people, crazy animals, cars, aliens and houses, but one creation stood out from our friend Leo. He made a character and on the can wrote "Soy Bonita"-"I am beautiful."



We ended the week with a wonderful Color Parade that incorporated all of the colors we used that week in our ribbons and the inspired by a visitor I met at one of my WTAJ Central Pa. Live Segments. Unity Printing provided nice white t-shirts for our Color Parade and off we went! Well..not so fast-the kids were a bit reluctant to get their t-shirts dirty. They don't often get anything new that is just their own so we had to reassure them that the powder would wash out and THEN we were off! Off they marched through our lineup of blue, green, orange, pink, yellow and many more colors of holi powder! They had a blast and so did we! We were so worried that they would get it in their eyes, but they would gather some in their hands and wipe it all over their faces!





Here's our chief afternoon activities director Liz Thayer, giving one of the guys a piggy back ride through the parade. Liz made sure that every afternoon the kids had some great games and got a lot of exercise (as did we!) with games like "Gold Rush" where teams compete to see who can collect the most "gold" (gold painted rocks). Then there was the classic "Toilet tag" where of you were tagged, you had squat down and to wait for a team member to "flush" your outstretched hand!

No event would be complete without a bonfire at the end and we shared "Banana Boats" with the kids. They requested this in particular because the last time St. Michael's visited Agua Viva they did this. I wish I had thought to take a photo but I didn't.

Here's how to make them. Take a banana and peel a strip down the center without removing. Lay it on a piece of foil and top with chocolate chips and marshmallows. Close the banana peel and securely wrap in the foil, leaving the stem end exposed (makes a great handle). Cook directly in a blazing fire for a few minutes. Remove from the fire and enjoy!

There were cultural differences we learned to respect. Boys and girls alternated days when they played in certain fields and usually the genders were separated. Boys sat with boys at all meals and girls with girls. Even the men sat with the boys and the women with the girls. Only married couples could sit with the opposite sex if you were with your spouse.

All children participated in chores and as we were told, learned to wash their clothes in a wash tub, because it was unlikely that they would ever own a washing machine. The goal of Agua Viva is to prepare these kids for the world they would inhabit. In many instances that seems to conflict. They are learning computer skills and exciting science experiments (we were lucky enough to participate in their science fair) while performing many other tasks the way their ancestors did.

We also got an opportunity to meet an incredible woman named Kari Engen. she left her family to start a school for children who lived in a dump in Guatemala at the age of 19. Please watch the video of her amazing story and her school called Mi Refugio.

So why take a mission trip? It's true, we benefit in ways I didn't even realize until I got home. Would I do it again? You bet...but I'd learn Spanish first!

If you would be interested in sponsoring any of the kids at Agua Viva, please click here.
They would also love some help with their library program.

See more photos in our Facebook albums and Kari's story here.