Live, Laugh, and Love

Merging Blogs

2008-08-24T13:06:00.000-07:00

Wow, its been a while since I've posted.. not sure if anyone is even checking this anymore! But I thought I'd post this anyway, just in case.

Since I've been really busy this Summer, and will be even busier this Fall (Grade 12 year!) I've decided its too hard to have 2 blogs, and will now be discontinuing this blog. From now on, the blog I post on about all aspects of my life (and I promise I will actually post from now on!) will be at http://erins-ethiopia-trip.blogspot.com

However, that blog is also going to be stopped pretty soon, as I will be starting a new blog, which will be more relevant to some exciting news and a big change that's coming up for my family.. more about that on my other blog as soon as I know more! :)

So, goodbye Live Laugh and Love, you are no more.

~Erin~

Last Day!!!

2008-06-17T18:07:00.000-07:00

Today was the last official day of classes!! Now I just have 3 exams, and then I am officially..... GRADE 12!!! Oh man, I'm so happy, and so excited for the summer!

I don't really have anything else to post about, but here's a picture of my friend and I (friends for 14 years this summer! :D) about 2 hours before school ended :)

My Beautiful Babies!!

2008-06-11T15:36:00.001-07:00

Steven (my friend who went to Kibaale, Uganda) just gave me the video of my two GORGEOUS sponsor kids!!!!!

It is the cutest thing I've ever seen!! I just had to share... The translator is a little hard to hear, but basically the "message" is that the goat I sent to Jackie's family has had two babies (which you can see in the picture from the previous post). =)

I just took in the money for Reagan's house today, so that should be getting started soon!! :)

Jackie!!

2008-06-10T18:37:00.000-07:00

I deserve a slap or something for neglecting my blogs so badly!

Anyway, today I recieved some AWESOME pictures of my darling sponsor girl in Uganda. I had raised money a few months ago to buy her new land, and build a house, kitchen, and latrine, and today I got pictures of them!!

I love them soo much!!

Jackie and her mom with the goat that I sent them and its 2 babies

Jackie by the new house I had built for them!!

The inside of their house (the main room).. the two little girls on the left are 2 of her sisters, Jesca (closest to the edge of the picture- we met her when we were in Kibaale, and she's SUCH a sweetheart!) and Justine (closest to Jackie). The man is her father.

Jackie in front of their new kitchen!

Jackie in front of their new latrine.

One of my friends also just got back from Kibaale about a month ago (SOO JEALOUS!!) and he soooo kindly took presents along for me, and brought a couple pictures and an ADORABLE video back of both Jackie and Reagan. I'm getting the video tomorrow, so I'll try to put that on, but I have the pictures now.. so cute!! THANKS STEVEN!!! =) =)

Jackie and her class.. can you spot which one is Jackie?? :P

Jackie and Reagan.. Aren't they absolutely adorable??? I love how tiny Reagan is next to her :)

Another shot of them together (I think he said he had more, but the email didn't work.. they maybe coming soon)

On another note, I just got an email saying that Reagan's house is in a very bad state. It is only half completed, and they only have 3 walls, and no doors or windows, so the bug/rodent situation is terrible. Its so bad that they can't even live in it anymore.. I'm not quite sure where they're living at the moment, but they went to the Kibaale Centre, and requested money for the repair of their house. Unfortunately, Kibaale doesn't have the funds to do that right away, and even if they did, their first priority would have to be a child who doesnt' have any type of shelter at all, so they only way they would be able to get a new house is if I, as their son's sponsor, sent the money.

I talked to my AMAZING parents, and they said that they would donate a certain amount, if I would contribute the last small part of the money needed. So I am happy to say, that soon Reagan and his family will have a new house, kitchen, and latrine also!! I'm so excited for them!!

Please Pray..

2008-05-05T16:06:00.001-07:00

Today we had an emergency school assembly, and were told some shocking, tragic news. I'm still kind of in shock, and don't really know how to feel, or respond.

Nathan K, a guy in my grade, passed away in his sleep on Saturday night. We don't know any other details, other than he wasn't sick, and was perfectly healthy, and hanging out with his friends late Friday night. No one at school- and especially our grade, and his close friends- knows what to do right now, and school was all but shut down all day. The Auditorium was open all day for anyone to go in and just pray, or cry with friends; classes didn't really happen. Me and my friends were in the auditorium all morning, and then me and Carissa, one of my close friends just came home after lunch.

Please, please pray for his poor family.. I can't imagine what they're going through right now. And also for his closest friends, and those who really knew him well, and for our whole school; that we would all make it through this grieving time together, and that we'll be stronger, and closer after this horrible time. I didn't know him too well, but he seemed like a good guy. He could be a little annoying at times, but what high school guy isn't? He loved photography, and was amazing at it, and he always seemed so happy. I wish I had taken the time to know him better; the only good thing is that we know that he's happier than we could ever imagine right now, in Heaven with God.

We'll miss you Nathan, and won't ever, ever forget you.

I'm not going to post any pictures of him up, but here is a little sample of some of his photography.. as you can see, he was sooo talented:

Seena

2008-05-03T20:13:00.000-07:00

One of my friends from the team finally emailed me a couple of pictures from India.. so here is one of me and my sweetheart Seena (see post below). I had forgotten taking this picture, so I was sooo excited when I got the email!! :D THANKS Courtney!!!

India Part 4

2008-04-22T20:34:00.000-07:00

For some reason, this took a long time to post, so I had to re-post it today (May 2nd) .. I think its now showing that I posted it about a week ago though. Oh I don't know, I'm confused!! Anyway, here's Part 3 of my India Trip (I'll go faster after this, I promise!!)

The Conference (and more of my girls!)

So on Monday, after we visited all the classes, and met with the principal (called "Madam" :D) we went into the Auditorium, where the "International Stop Sex Selection Conference" was getting ready to start.

In India, since girls are generally thought of as not important, many pregant girls will find out the sex of their child, and then make the decision to abort if the baby is a female. This is a very sad, yet very real problem facing India right now, and the conference was dedicated to stopping that problem. It was actually quite a big deal, with video cameras casting it onto live TV! As it was an "International" conference, we were the international guests (along with the guests at the orphanage from Holland), and sat at the front while the conference went underway. We even made it into three local newspapers! (the picture was terrible too :S) There were some speakers, and then we went and sat down again to watch presenations by the girls. First some of the college girls came out a did a dance, and I took a short video of it:

And then here are the littlest girls doing a dance, and then the older, grade 9-grade11ish girls doing a dance.. the one in the older girls' dance that I focus on for most of the video, with shortish hair, who is supposed to be a "boy" is Yankila, and she's SUCH a good dancer!! Aw she was so sweet, I loved her :) Oh, and listen carefully to the music playing for the older girls' dance.. its our team's favourite song ever!! :D

Here are a few of the girls at the assembly, and a cute video of Nitu and Salu being silly.

And here are the rest of my precious little girls...

--> Seena: She is the sweetest thing. She was always with me, just holding my hand, or smiling at me. She was pretty quiet, but you could tell she loved to just be noticed, and to be with someone. She wrote letters for me (3 of them) my dad, mom, and sister, and a New Years Card for our whole family so that none of us would ever forget her. Aw, it was adorable. She's the one on the left of me in this picture (the other one is Devika, who I talked about in the last post)

--> Amy: Amy's full name is Amy Carmichael, and she is very special to everyone at the Michael Job Centre. I'm not saying that they favour her, but she was one of the very first little girls to be taken to the Centre. She was found when she was a tiny baby, buried up to her head in rocks, simply because she is a girl. Thanks to the Michael Job Centre, she is now one of the happiest kids I've ever met. She was always hyper, smiley, and full of joy. I swear it seemed like she was permanently on Cloud 9. The only time I ever, ever saw her not happy was 5 minutes before we left, when she began to cry.. but I'll write about that when it comes to it. Unfortunately, I don't think I ever got a picture with just her (but if I did, I'll get it from my friend later), but this is a picture of her with my friend Danielle.

--> Katherine: Katherine was such a sweetie.. I have a picture of her and me with a couple of other little girls, but its on (yet again!) my friend's camera, so I'll put that up later. She was actually a staff kid, but she was so sweet, and so involved with the rest of the kids at the Centre. She's the one on the left in the pink in this picture.

--> Susmitta: One of Salu's best friends, they were always together. Her, Salu, and I had this game where they would come up and pinch me, and I would have to go around chasing them everywhere until I could catch and tickle them. It was actually quite tiring, but they absolutely loved it, and Susmitta's grin was huge.

--> Srijana: Susmitta's older sister. She is so pretty! She was adorable too... I met her once the day before we left for our Easter Weekend away (which I'll talk about soon..) and when we came back, the kids were all so excited, crowding around us and asking us what their names were- one of their favourite games; "Auntie.. my name?" I would hate it when I knew all of them except for say one or two.. then I would just be like, "I remember you, but I forget how to spell your name- they're big into spelling everything- what's the spelling again?" And then they would be happy that I remembered them. Usually I did remember them, I just couldn't remember their names.. its not easy learning 306 names in a couple of days! Anyway, Srijana came to me, and asked me if I remembered her, and somehow I did. She had the hugest smile on her face, and said to me, "You are the first one to remember my name right!" and she hugged me. After that, she would always come and talk to me and teach me Nepali (her first language). In fact, she gave me this sheet full of Nepali phrases, and told me it was my "homework" and she was going to test me on it later! :) Sorry the picture's so little! The formatting didn't work on my computer.. she's the one of the right.

And of course there were many more beautiful and special girls.. Esther, Lia, Nitu, Neha, Honey, Dolly... but these are just a few (including Devika, Salu, and Rhoda from the last post) that especially touched my heart. And I miss them all so much.

India Part 3

2008-04-19T16:37:00.001-07:00

Today's theme is....

Monday: Our First Full Day at the Centre

I promise I won't do a huge post on every single day of our trip, but our first day was packed, and its just easier to write about it as a seperate post.

Monday morning was the first of many early wakeups. Not even a full day after arriving, and already we were thrown into the schedule, starting by getting up at 5am every morning. As we were getting ready, around 5:30, we heard a tap on the door, and our 2 wonderful "room-girls" (basically just in charge of making sure our bathroom was tidy, and bringing us tea.. we felt kind of bad!) Fay and Yankila came in with a tray bearing 4 cups of steaming hot Indian tea. It was so delicious, and right away we fell in love with it. As chapel was every morning at 5:45, we had to hurry out the door only a few minutes after recieving our tea.. we all went through the day with burnt tongues and throats!

Chapel was the same every day, but it was especially cool the first day, as we had never experienced it before. We would be sitting in the chapel, and the girls would all be on stage, singing in a choir (the same as when we first arrived). Then after a few songs, they would come down and we would all sing some worship songs together. There would be a speaker (usually one of the older girls, if it wasn't one of us) and then they would pray, and sing two more songs. The end songs were always the same, ending with "Abba, Father". I still can't get that tune out of my head;

"Abba, Father, let me be
Yours, and yours alone..."

I miss those sweet voices singing so earnestly, then turning around, eagerly trying to be the first to reach us, and gain possession of one of our hands. Devika, always the thinker, realized that if she draped my arm around her shoulder, and my other arm around someone else's shoulder, then not only could there be those two girls, but still another two of them (if not more) could hold my hands! This way I usually had at least 4 girls huddled around me.

After chapel, came exercise. That Monday we had no idea what they meant, but followed them anyway as they dragged us towards the back of the compound, saying "Now exercise.. now we run!" Despite their excitement, that really didn't sound too appealing to us jetlagged, exhausted Canadians. But off we went anyway.

We discovered that exercise consisted of one lap around the track, followed by various stretches, lead by their "gym" teacher. The girls all thought it was hilarious when we started to join in, and we seemed to be more of a distraction than anything!

After exercise there was about an hour until breakfast, so we went back to our room to get our journals, and waterbottles, and cameras so that we wouldn't have to keep going back during the day. It was then that we saw our first Indian sunrise. It was soo beautiful, and the view from our 'balcony' was gorgeous! The hallways of the hostel and both colleges, and the school were all open, like balconies, so it was very airy and cheery in the buildings, as the sun could shine in anywhere.

Here's a video of us enjoying our first sunrise! This is just outside our room, so when I turn the camera towards Danielle, the door that you see is leading into our bedroom.

These are the girls running to greet us, and take us to breakfast..

Breakfast started at 8:15, but they would go to the cafeteria at 8:00, and sing for 15 minutes until the food came. This happened at every meal, and was so cute! There was a birthday that day, so we first heard their special birthday song that morning. Its very similar to the traditional birthday song, but they have three verses. Its very cute.

"Happy Birthday to you,

Happy Birthday to you,

Happy Birthday dear *****,

Happy Birthday to you!

From all friends and (I think they mean "to") you,

From young hearts and true,

May God's love go with youuuu,

And happiness too!

Happy Birthday to you,

Happy Birthday, Happy Birthday,

Happy Birthday to you!"

The birthday girl was Correy (her full name was Correy Ten-Boom, after the famous missionary :D) and she was beaming all day, in her beautiful red birthday dress- they're allowed to wear whatever they want on their birthdays, instead of uniform. You can see her in the next picture.. the only one out of uniform!

This is Eve, the youngest non-staff child at the school.. she's adorable!!

After breakfast there was assembly at 9:00, where 3 of the tiniest girls recited an adorable poem (along with 6 other "items" of the day) and we introduced ourselves again, this time with the College girls in attendance. This is a video of the girls marching to assembly; they would do this every single morning (except for weekends).

After that we went around to every classroom, from Pre-school to grade 12, and greeted them, talked to a few of them, took some pictures, and went on to the next class. It was very cute, as the girls who we had met before would get so excited to see us, and be so proud that they already knew us, while their classmates didn't yet.

That day we also got to work on the lessons we would be teaching to the girls that week, and just get to know the girls more. Here are some of my special girls.. I met most of them on Monday, and a few the next couple of days. I'll just talk a bit about all of them now though, so that I don't forget to talk about them later.

--> Devika(9yrs): My first sweetie. She is so bossy, but still adorable. I talked a bit about her before, so I'll just leave it at this.. I don't have a picture of just me and her, but my friend has one on her camera, and she's going to email it to me soon, so I'll put it up then.

--> Salu(8yrs): She is one of the most adorable little girls I know. She was kind of everyone's little girl, but especially Danielle, then me, then Kate. We loved her so much, and she was seriously like a burst of sunshine in the centre. Many of the other girls were too of course, but whenever I think of Salu, I think of smiles and giggles :) Oh, and teaching her to speak French too! She thought it was so funny that her name means "Hello" in another language, so we taught her a little conversation in French. It went like this:

Us: Bonjour
S: Salut!
Us: Comment-ca va?
S: Ca-ba bien! (she couldn't quite get all the words right, but she was so good at it!)
Us: Comment t'appelle tu?
S: Je (she pronounced the "Je" as "Juh") m'appelle Salu.
Us: Bye-Bye!
S: Aurevoir!

She was so proud of herself, and we really wanted to get it on video, but we only have a tiny bit, and then we all started goofing around. Its a hilarious video though.. it shows Salu's adorable personality so well! It was during the second week, but I'll just post it here, so you can "meet" Salu. (this is in our EXTREMELY messy bedroom.. none of us are very neat or organized people, so it was pretty much in a constant state of.. filth :P)

--> Rhoda(6yrs): One of the sweetest little girls EVER!!! I seriously love that little girl so much, and I feel sad just writing her name. She was super shy, and it took her a while to come up to anyone, but one day she just came and put her hand on my knee (I was sitting on a little wall), and smiled up at me, and from then on she never left my side.. and also wouldn't go to, or talk to anyone else on our team! For example, one day one of our leaders was doing balloons, and she really wanted one, so she said (actually for the first week.. pretty much until the last few days we were there, she was so shy that she wouldn't really talk, she would kind of whisper into her arm, and I would have to stick my ear right in her mouth to even begin to understand what she was saying. Somehow that made her even more adorable :D) to me, "Auntie (they called us auntie.. so cute!!) me balloon?" And of course, I said, "Yes, you can have one. Go ask Uncle Pat for one." And she looked and me, and kind of smiled, and shook her head, and whispered "No, you please Auntie." awwww, my heart melted, just because she was so ADORABLE!!! NO matter what she did, she was adorable. Even when she was trying to get our chocolate from our bedroom, none of us cared, cause she was so darn cute!! I miss that girl soo much. :( Here's a quick little video (once again, our messy bedroom!) of her.

Well, this post is long enough, so I'll just put it up now. I'll post about the rest of my girls and the International conference we were guests at next time! :)

India Part 2

2008-04-17T19:34:00.000-07:00

It took a little longer than expected to get this next part up, as I've been catching up with tons of homework/tests at school, but from now on I'll be trying to post another part every/every other day. Promise!! I've really been missing the girls today, and just missing being with my team. I thought writing out the next part of my trip might help a little.

So, the next section of my Indian Adventure:

Settling In and Getting to Know The Girls

So after our amazing welcome, we had our first lunch there (it wasn't the greatest meal... the meat was almost all bones :S) and then some of the girls showed us to our rooms. Us girls were staying at the Arts and Sciences College, while the leaders and the guys were staying at the other end of the campus, at the Michael Job Hostel (except for Taylor, who was in a random room at the chapel all by himself :P). Despite the fact that it was supposed to be 3 girls to a room, Tiffany, Danielle, Kate and I all went into one room, and me and Danielle shared the big bed... lots of good times and memories shared in that room!

Anyway, us 4 went and played with some of the girls, and had an awesome time. We were the only ones who were actually up and out of our rooms.. everyone else was fast asleep! But we had lots of fun, and were glad we did, even though it meant we were extra tired the next day. This is just a short video of us playing tag with the girls that afternoon, in the courtyard by the chapel.

The girls were all obsessed with taking pictures and using our cameras, and were so sweet. They would come up to us and say, "Auntie, me now, me take picture now!" After a while it got a little out of hand, but it was so cute! It also resulted in my camera being loaded with useless pictures, but at least they had fun! :)

I met one of my special little friends that night. Her name was Devika, and she was absolutely obsessed with me. It sounds kind of conceited, but its the total truth. She would get so jealous if any other girls were with me, and would even push them away so that she could hold my hand. At first I found her slightly irritating (which made me feel so guilty! :S) but by the 5th or 6th day I had grown to love her. She was so sweet, and would always want to "catch" (which is what they said instead of carry) my things for me. She was still extremely bossy about who could be around me, but I loved her anyway.

That evening it was just us four again at dinner (joined by Taylor), and it was fun to just hang out with the girls, and be with them without our entire team being there.. not that I didn't like my team, it was just less stressful not having anything that we had to do. So, this post won't be too long, as its mostly just the pictures that will tell the story of the first few days, but I'm just trying to give you a glimpse as to what our whole trip was like.

Our Welcome Sign in the Auditorium/Cafeteria

Our first meal at the Centre

They were all soo excited to meet us!! :)

Showing us to our rooms. The girls you can see are Katherine (in the pink), Salu (in the middle, with the white and blue) and Tina (on the end with the green)... they're all such sweeties!!

Meeting the girls, and getting to know them. This is me, with Nitu (left), Ammu (middle), and Epseba (right).

Me and Ammu, Nitu, and Leana on the right

Me with Esther on the right, and I'm not sure what the other girl's name is.

Me and my first special little friend, Devika (on the right).

Playing Tag!

One of the many frogs that only showed up at night.

Some pictures of the Centre (its actually really nice!). This is the chapel, its right in the centre of the compound.
The two college's, with the girls' hostel in the middle. We stayed in the college on the far right.

The Michael Job Hostel, where the leaders and 3 guys stayed.
The Pre-School to Grade 12 school

The "playground" on the back field, which was known as the "Stadium".

Home from India!

2008-04-05T15:00:00.001-07:00

I know I've been neglecting my blogs, but now I'm back, and finally ready to post about my amazing trip. I have so many pictures, videos, and stories (and still accumulating more as my team members put them up on Facebook!), and it would take days to sum it all up, so for now I'll do it a section at a time. For today:

The Journey

Our 42 hour long journey began at 5:00am on March 14th, at the Vancouver airport (after getting up at 3:30 in order to Skype with my grandma, who lives in England and couldn't bear me going to India without actually saying goodbye!). I was the first one at the airport, and as more and more team members arrived, the excitement grew.

After we checked in, I said goodbye to my dad, and our adventure had officially begun. Our flight to Toronto left at 8:00, so we just hung out and ate breakfast until boarding time. The flight from Vancouver to Toronto felt like HOURS (despite the fact that it was almost the shortest leg of our journey), and when we finally got there we weren't really looking forward to the next 20 hour flight. But we had a few hours at the airport (my first time in Toronto! While I've traveled a lot internationally, I haven't really gone to that many places in my own country! BC and Alberta is pretty much it.) to rest up, and hang out.

We also got the chance to meet up with Team Slovakia, also from our school. We had thought we would be on the same flight to Vancouver with them, and were very disappointed when they were bumped to the 9:00 flight. We hadn't really said goodbye properly, so when we saw them at the airport in Toronto we were soo excited! That was a lot of fun, and we got a few pictures of us hanging out in the Duty Free Store! :D

Our next flight was almost 20 hours, with a short re-fueling stop in Brussels, Belgium (9 1/2 hours for the first leg, and 9 hours for the second leg of the flight). We flew Jet Airways, and were so surprised with how nice it was. The flight literally (no pun intended, promise) flew by! There were so many movies available (I finally got to see Juno- LOVE IT!!!! Ellen Page is sooo good!) and TV shows, and games, and even seat-to-seat texting and phoning that we weren't bored at all. Stopping in Brussels was very cool, and me, Danielle, Kate, Taylor, and Jason even got the chance to buy a little bit of Brussels chocolate. (very good by the way!)

We searched for about an hour to find a sign saying that we were in Brussels, but we finally found one, and got a picture beside it- the entire waiting area watched us pose for it too!

I slept for most of the flight from Brussels to Chennai, India, so that was very good.

Arriving in India was SOO exciting, despite the fact that most of us were exhausted, and sick of traveling. Here is an exerpt from my journal- this is the entry I wrote about 6 hours after landing in India, during our 10 1/2 hour layover in the Chennai Airport- oohh how I hate that airport):

"March 16th, Sunday (6:55am, India Time)

So here I am, more utterly exhausted than I've ever been in my life, sitting in the Chennai airport. I'm in India!! Oh man, I'm so excited, but yet too tired to be really excited.

......

The flight from Brussels to here wasn't bad- I slept/dozed for 8 our of the 9 hours, so I was happy with that. It was so exciting to see India for the first time. We walked off he plane onto the tarmac, just like in Africa, and my hands were immediately soaking, and the rest of me was hot and sweaty.

After our first experience of Indian guys [hitting on us girls] the guys on our team were warned to always "protect/guard the girls", and we were on our way. We went through baggage and immigration- disgusting bathrooms!- and then met up with Emanuelle from the Michael Job Centre. He brought us here to the waiting area, and since then we've just been sitting and waiting. We exchanged some money, and went to the bathroom- thank goodness Kevin has toilet paper in his carry-on!!!- but other than that we've just been sitting here. Since 2am. And our flight is not until 11:30.

I'm so bored and tired, I don't even know what to do with myself.

But still; I'm in India! And that's awesome!"

That layover was one of the hardest, most tiring, boring things I've ever gone through in my life. 10 1/2 hours of just sitting there. We couldn't even go to sleep, because it was those airport waiting chairs, where you can't lie down on them because of the armrests. Unless we wanted to sleep on the floor, which definitely wasn't an option!

But finally we got to go board the plane heading for our final destination: Coimbatore, India. That flight was only 45 minutes, and felt like 10. It was gorgous view as we took off and landed, and it seemed like we were in the plane for 2 seconds.

When we landed we were greeted by Dr. Job, founder of the Michael Job Centre for orphaned and abandoned girls, went through baggage claims, and went outside. As we were walking outside we noticed that we were being filmed, but thought it must be because of someone else on the flight. We were hoping to get to the orphanage, and go to sleep- we figured we could meet the girls after. Little did we know!!!

Dr. Job had us all line up, and suddenly this band started playing, and 15-20 girls from the orphanage were there with flower garlands which they placed around our necks. There were cameras and video cameras everywhere, and we so overwhelmed and didn't know where to look. Dr. Job kept on saying that we were "amazing people from Canada", and then he finally let us onto the bus. When we arrived at the orphanage, it was one of the most amazing experiences of my life.

All the girls were there, with the whole school band, waving flags and singing to us. Some of the littler girls came and gave us other garlands (this time ones from the Centre, with pictures of Dr. Job's martyred sons on it) and suddenly fire crackers went off across the street.. all in honour of us! It was incredible. We were led towards the chapel, and the girls were lining the path, all waving Indian flags and waving.

When we got to the chapel, all the girls (there are 306 girls staying at the Centre- not including the College girls, who don't stay, but come in to school during the day) sang many songs to us, and then we introduced ourselves.

Finally, after lunch we were allowed to go and get settled in to our rooms, which were so nice, with bathrooms and electricity, and air conditioning!! After settling in, and resting for a little bit, we went to go and meet the girls. But that's for next time, so for now just enjoy these pictures and videos (Yes, I finally got videos to work!!)! :D

Tiffany, Danielle, and me at the Vancouver Airport

Going to our gate..

Kate, Danielle, and me.. flying to Toronto

Meeting up with Team Slovakia at the Toronto Airport

Me, Ari (another Slovakia member), and Danielle

Flying to Brussels!

The picture that took 1 1/2 hours to take!

Flying from Chennai to Coimbatore

The Airport at Coimbatore

Welcomed at the airport

Driving to the Michael Job Centre

Getting to the Centre!!....

India Trip Update

2008-02-25T19:39:00.000-08:00

I know I haven't posted in a long time, but we just had another outreach meeting, and I thought I should give you some more news about our trip.

I now only have a tiny bit more money to go before I have raised $2900 for my trip, so that's very exciting.

Anyway, today we had someone come into our meeting who has been to the Hope for Orphans orphanage for girls, and he talked about the girls, and what it will be like. Its very exciting! And it sounds beautiful. The orphanage has 60 acres, internet access, 24/7 elecricity, and 24/7 air conditioning. The founder of the orphanage, Dr. Job, wanted the girls to feel like they were in a palace, and for them to know that each one of them was valued and loved. As each of the girls come from major trauma, and most of their parent's have been martyred for their faith (or the girls were abandoned, simply because they are female), this is a very important thing to do.

We watched a video about the orphanage, and the girls look so sweet. I can't wait to meet them! Our team is preparing lesson plans, and skits to do for them, and planning ways we can give to them (for example, at our meeting next week we're all spending an hour or so making special bookmarks to give to each girl- 306 in total!- this is something we were told they would value, and actually get good use out of)

I won't write a lot, but here is the link to the orphanage's website, and you can watch the video on there too. I would really appreciate your prayer as we continue to prepare for our trip, and when we finally travel, on the 14th of March. Also, once we're in India, for safety (both physically and spiritually) and health, and that we'll be able to truly connect and minister to the girls.

http://www.hopefororphans.ca/

Oh! And here is the design for our team t-shirts. We just saw this today, and we'll be getting the shirts on Friday, so its very exciting! We'll have three shirts (Black, Emerald Green, and a Golden Orange type colour) with the same design, but the colours of the design will vary, depending on what the colour of the shirt is. It should be really cool once they're made! (These are the colours for the orange coloured shirt)

Exams

2008-01-31T12:12:00.000-08:00

This week is exam week, and it has been one of the strangest exam weeks ever!

I had an English exam on Monday, which was fine, and actually a bit of a waste of my time! One of the easiest exams ever. Then on Tuesday I had Socials, which was very.. draining. I don't know if that makes sense, but I walked out of there, after 55 multiple choice, and 2 essays, feeling extremely tired and drained. Kind of wierd. Then on Wednesday, I was supposed to have my Math exam.

Now let me just add that there has been A LOT of snow here, for BC standards at least, and on Tuesday there was a snow day for all the schools (my school is Kingergarten to Grade 12- Primary School, Intermediate, Middle, and High School all on the same campus) except the High School. Well yesterday, there was a second snow day, except this time it was also for High School. The exams from yesterday were all canceled, and so I had an extra day off. Today, and Friday I didn't have any exams, so I was looking forward to being done for 5 days (Monday is a ProD Day).

Now, I will have 6 days off all together, and still not have taken my exam. They're thinking they will have to cancel school on Tuesday, and make up all the missed exams then! So its been a pretty weird week... and I'm still not finished math!! :(

What???

2008-01-22T21:12:00.001-08:00

Ok, I have to say this before I write my post: I am not obsessed with celebrities and their lives. I don't buy all the People magazines, and read about them day and night. I don't search them all the time on the internet to read about every detail of their lives. But when I heard today that Heath Ledger has died, I was so shocked and sad.

He seemed like he had everything going for him.. looks, fame, money. But then this happens, and it seems like maybe while he was all good on the outside, perhaps everything on the inside wasn't so great.

He was such a great actor, and seemed like a really neat guy. Its so sad that he should die, so young. So this is my "tribute" to him.

I don't know exactly what happened, but this article I found talks about it.

Heath Ledger's death not suicide says family

Academy Award nominee Heath Ledger, 28, has died of a possible drug overdose involving sleeping pills in New York, police have confirmed.

The actor was sick with pneumonia when he died, the TMZ.com website reports, saying it had been contacted by representatives of Ledger's family, who said they'd been told by police that the actor's death was accidental.

The representatives said the family was particularly distraught over media speculation that he may have taken his own life.

New York police said they could not confirm Ledger was suffering from pneumonia. "This is the first I'm hearing that,'' Lieutenant John Grimpal, from the New York Police Department, told Macquarie Radio. "The medical examiner, once he or she conducts an autopsy, will determine exactly the cause of death.''

He said police were continuing to treat the New York apartment, where Ledger was found dead, as a crime scene, but had initially ruled out foul play.

"Anytime someone dies, especially when they're so young, the detectives from the precinct conduct a thorough investigation just to rule out that criminality is not involved,'' Grimpal said. "Early on in the investigation it appears criminality is not involved.''

Found by housekeeper Ledger was found naked and unconscious in his bed at his $US23,000 a month apartment on Broome Street, SoHo, in Manhattan, by his housekeeper and a masseuse about 3.35pm local time, when they knocked on his bedroom door and got no reply. He had an appointment for a massage, said New York Police spokesman Paul Browne.

He was pronounced dead at 3.45pm (7.45am AEDT) by a medical examiner who went to the apartment. New York police officer Martin Brown said investigators would most likely not know the cause of death until an autopsy was held on the body. Prescription pills in Ledger's name were "found around the body'' , said Lieutenant John Grimpel, of the New York Police Department. He said he believed they were sleeping pills. Ledger's former partner Michelle Williams, who he met on the set of Brokeback Mountain and who he had daughter Matilda with, is reportedly on her way to New York after hearing of the death.

Problems sleeping

Ledger was taking sleeping pills after completing I'm Not There, in which he played one of the many incarnations of singer Bob Dylan.He told The New York Times in a November interview that he "stressed out a little too much'' during the Dylan film, and had trouble sleeping while portraying the Joker, whom he called a "psychopathic, mass-murdering, schizophrenic clown with zero empathy"."Last week I probably slept an average of two hours a night," Ledger told the Times."I couldn't stop thinking. My body was exhausted, and my mind was still going."He said he took two Ambien pills, which only worked for an hour, the paper said. Ledger's publicist Mara Buxbaum appealed for the media to not speculate on how Ledger died. "We are all deeply saddened and shocked by this accident,'' Ledger's publicist, Mara Buxbaum, said in a statement tonight.

"This is an extremely difficult time for his loved ones and we are asking the media to please respect the family's privacy and avoid speculation until the facts are known.''It's tragic, says PM Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said the actor's death was a tragedy. "It is tragic that we have lost one of our nation's finest actors in the prime of his life,'' Mr Rudd said in a statement. Mel Gibson and Nicole Kidman also spoke of their sadness and shock at the news.The director of Ledger's last Australian movie, Candy, Neil Armfield, told ABC Radio he was "incredibly saddened" to hear of the 28-year-old's death. "He was a young boy in many ways, still a boy when he left Perth and got into this whirlwind of his career," Armfield said. The president of Warner Brothers said the film studio was devastated. "The studio is stunned and devastated by this tragic news," Alan Horn said in a statement carried on the tmz.com website.

"The entertainment community has lost an enormous talent. "Heath was a brilliant actor and an exceptional person. Our hearts go out to his family and friends."

I know it seems kind of wierd, but I was actually really sad when my sister told me. I don't know why, but I just suddenly felt really depressed. I'm hoping that what they say is right, and that he didn't die because he wanted to take his own life. That's such a tragic way to die, and I pray that this wasn't the cause.

Anyway, that's my little blurb about Heath Ledger.

Just a little update on my trip to India... I don't know how much I've talked about it on this blog, but we now know that we are going to Coimbatore, India and will be working primarily in an orphanage for girls whose parents were martyred for their faith. We have started to get lessons and songs etc ready, but other than that, we don't have too much planned.

Oh, and we know about our flights now. It is crazzyyy!!

We meet at the airport the Friday before Spring Break starts (14th for us) at 5am (yup, AM, not pm) then fly to Toronto, where we'll have a 4 hour layover. Then from there we take a 16 hour flight to Madras, where we then have a 10 hour layover. We'll hopefully be able to do some kind of sightseeing while we're there. Then we fly for one hour to Coimbatore, and then drive to the orphanage. A total flying time of aproximately 22 hours, and 14 hours of layovers altogether!! So that's pretty.. exciting! :P

Letters!

2007-12-23T17:02:00.000-08:00

On Friday I got one of the best early Christmas presents ever... 3 drawings, 2 letters, and a handmade Christmas wreath for the Christmas tree from Jackie, a letter from her dad, and 2 drawings, 2 letters, and another wreath from Reagan!! I guess they were all piling up on top of each other, and they finally just sent them all together. I was so excited!!

Plus, one of the letters from Jackie talks about the money we sent for a house, and the other one, along with Reagan's, talks about the clothes I sent them! It really was an awesome Christmas present.

Here is the first one from Jackie (it was addressed to my family, in thanks for the money for her house):

" To Wiebes,
Am so greatful to greet you my dear friends. Hope you're doing well in everything! My life is alright. Am a student of Kibaale Community School and my clas this time is grade 2 East.

I have really loved the donation of money that you made up for me. its going to be important to me as we put it towards the construction of a new home for us. We had an abrupt need of shifting from the old home; after the inforcement of the Government's policy of reclaiming the wetland areas. Unfortunately, we lied with in the area of concern, yet the Government has not put up a budget to constructing the affected people new homes.

God has realy done my great through you!

Am so proud of being sponsored and having other friends like you! My mother, father, and my young sister Jessca are feelling blessed as well! We will then have a merry Christmas soon in Dec. And thats what I wish you and all your friends!!

Namulindwa Jackie"

This is the picture that was attached to that letter.. I thought the flower was actually really good!

And here's her other letter/picture. If you can't read it, it says,

"Hullo Erin Wiebe,

Thank-you for the gift of a dress and a letter, am very happy!

My mom is okay and my dad, only our sister is still sick, but improves slowly.
The dress fits me very well and I like it.

May God bless you and merry christmas.
From Namulindwa Jackie"

And here's the letter from her dad. It actually doesn't mention the money for the house, but I think they wrote it before the money was sent over. It was written by her dad, and I was so impressed with his language, and neat writing! :)

"Dear Erin Wiebe,

How are you? We pray that you and your family are doing well, and we send our greetings to them.

We are expecting a baby goat in April 2008 and the cow is doing well. Here in Uganda it is very cold now, we have rain and our crops are growing well. We shall be harvesting in Feb. 2008.

We saw the pictures you sent to jackie, it was very nice, and it must make everything look so beautiful as you said! (I sent her some pictures of snow.)

My daughters are doing well, and Justine is now doing well from fever. Jessca is going to school next year 2008. No any other daughter go to Kibaale school, Jessca will be going to Conerstone Nursery school Kibaale. We praying for you in your hard subject- so may God help you in what you are trying to achieve.

That is all now. Hope to hear from you. In fact, we very much enjoyed your letters as well as gifts. May God bless you.

From,

C.K. and family (her dad)"

And here is the letter from Reagan.. its so cute! :)

"Dear Sponsor,
Thank-you for being my sponsor, and thank-you for sending me such a nice letter and the stickers. The photos were nice and lovely, I liked your family its big and good. The parents are lovely and the kids.

I send my greetings to Joshua, Ayana, Moses, and Megan that I love them so much.
I wish you success in your studies and everything you do. Am now in my third term, its a term of promotion to another class. I enjoy studies and school as a whole.

I wish you and your family nice christmases festivals and prosperous new year. Did you recieve the Christmas wreath I made for you? Was it nice?

My family sends you greetings.

From,

Ssenyondwa Reagan"

This is one of the pictures/letters from him too. It says,

"Dear Erin Weibe,

Am so happy for the gift of a letter, clothes shirt and short and the pictures of snows and you.I love you and wish you a merry Christmas.

from, Ssenyondwa Reagan."

I love this one, because the other one, while so cute, sounded like the translator had helped him write most of it. You can tell that this one is actually the words of a 6 year old boy!

I also stuck the wreath from Jackie in the scanner, and it actually worked really well! So this is the one Jackie made, and then I have one from Reagan too, which is the same, but a little smaller.

Youth Banquet Pictures

2007-12-23T15:04:00.000-08:00

Here are the pictures from my Christmas Youth Banquet I tried to put on the last post. :)

Me and my sister, Megan

Me and friends, Kirsten and Sarah

Me and friends, Kirsten and Angela

Me and friends, Kirsten and Alyssa

Me and Kirsten

Me and my friend Megan

Me and sis, Megan

Me, Megan, and my dad

Finally...

2007-12-23T14:26:00.000-08:00

I'm back! And I promise not to take any more month-off-breaks from my blogs any time soon! Actually, I did write a really long blog post about Les Mis three weeks ago, but it never actually got posted. So I'll just copy it onto here. (I still dont' have any pictures of my brother being a STAR but I'll put those on as soon as possible!) ...

"Things are finally starting to calm down, after last week.. one of the craziest weeks of my life! We were at Les Mis for what felt like every single second of the entire week (in reality it was about 50+ hours), but it really paid off!

We had six performances; a matinee on Wednesday afternoon for our school only (it was really more of a dress rehearsal), a matinee and evening performance on both Thursday and Friday, and an evening performance on Saturday.

Josh was Gavroche (for those of you who aren't familiar with Les Mis, I'll copy a short summary of the story on here :D) for the Friday night performance, and he did AMAZING!!!! I was soo proud of him, and out of all five Gavroches, every single person I've talked to, or other people have talked to have said that Josh was the best one. He was seriously so good, and in his death scene, I think he was actually crying (as were many other people)! The High School is pretty much obsessed with him.. even some of my teachers came up to me and told me how good he was :D It doesn't really do much for his ego, but I guess he deserves it, because he really did an excellent job.

The girl who plays Eponine (Sarah-she's on my outreach team :) ) was also phenomenal! She has an amazing voice, and can act so well. She was probably one of the best actors, with the Thenardier's coming second. The entire cast was really talented, but those three (plus Josh) were amazing.

I'd have to say that Friday was also our best performance all together. It seemed to go almost perfectly, and I had so much fun throughout the entire thing. The fact that it was the one that we had all our friends and family coming to made it even better!

Now, when people think of high school plays, its not often all that amazing. I have to say though, my school always puts on good plays. Many people came up to us afterwards and told us that they almost forgot it was a high school production.. one person even said they liked it better than the professional adaptation (although that was a cast member's dad, so I'm not sure how biased he was!)

All in all though, it was an awesome experience, and I'm very sad to see it over. It was my life for three months, and I actually miss it so much, despite the complaining I might have done about the amount of work it took.

I have a few pictures of it (we'll be getting a disc of over 1000 pictures soon, but I have a few that I stole from the yearbook committee :P) and while I know you probably don't really care, I just have to put some on. It was such a big part of my life, and I want to share it.
Here is the synopsis of Les Miserables (please note that this is the adult version, and the student version that we performed was slightly more... "dumbed-down" for lack of a better phrase :D) Sorry its so long, but I couldn't find another version that actually made sense. Plus, this shows you which songs are sung, and when! I've bolded the parts that Josh was in, in case you just want to see what his role was. And if you want to know what part I was in.. read the whole thing. I was in the chorus :P

ACT 1-1815:
In this musical version of Hugo's 1861 novel, the peasant Jean Valjean is freed from prison after serving nineteen years for stealing a loaf of bread (Work Song). However, he discovers that his new life is "another jail, another key", for wherever he goes, he must display a yellow passport declaring him a convict, and face the resulting discrimination.

With nowhere else to go, he lodges with a kind bishop for the night and repays the man by stealing his silver. Yet when Valjean is arrested, the bishop claims the silver was a gift and gives his precious candlesticks as well (Valjean Arrested/Valjean Forgiven). Stunned by the bishop's kindness, Valjean breaks his parole and vows to start a new life (What Have I Done?).

1823:
Valjean becomes mayor of a small town. One of his factory workers, Fantine, is secretly sending money to innkeepers in another village to pay for her illegitimate child. When this is discovered, she is fired from her job at the factory and left without a way to pay for the girl (At the End of the Day) (I Dreamed a Dream).

Now desperate and extremely ill, Fantine is forced to sell her necklace, her hair, and her body (Lovely Ladies). When she defends herself against a cruel customer, she is about to be arrested by Inspector Javert, but "the mayor" arrives and demands her freedom, apologizing for turning aside from her before.

The mayor then saves a man trapped under a cart, and Javert, a former prison guard, recalls the unusual strength of convict 24601, Jean Valjean, whom he has been tracking for eight years. He says, however, that he has already found the real Valjean, and that the man will be sentenced and sent to prison.

Valjean is then faced with an agonizing moral dilemma (Who Am I?): let an innocent man go to prison in his stead, or destroy the safety he has worked so long to preserve. He confesses his identity, and, as Javert arrives to arrest him, he promises a dying Fantine that he will care for her daughter, Cosette (Come to Me).

Meanwhile, young Cosette dreams of a better life as she is horribly abused by the innkeepers, the Thernardiers, and is sent out to fetch water in the dark (Castle on a Cloud). As Mme. Thernardier dotes on her own daughter, Eponine, the innkeeper explains his highly successful method for cheating his customers out of every single sou (Master of the House). Valjean, who has escaped Javert, finds Cosette wandering in the dark and gives the Thernardiers 1,500 francs to let him take Cosette away (The Thernardier Waltz).

Paris, 1832:
Unrest is brewing among the poor as a popular leader, General Lamarque, is close to death. While the urchin Gavroche mingles with the beggars and prostitutes, the revolutionary students, led by the charismatic Enjolras, wonder when the fighting will begin (Look Down). Thernardier, now living on the streets of Paris, leads a gang of robbers and murderers who plan to ambush Valjean and Cosette. The Thernardier's daughter Eponine, now grown and no longer coddled by her parents, flirts with the student Marius, who is ignorant of her feelings and falls for Cosette.

Now stationed in Paris, Inspector Javert prevents the robbery of Valjean, but only realizes who he has saved when Valjean and Cosette have disappeared. He then muses on his duty (Stars), unaware that Gavroche is watching him.

Consumed by thoughts of the mysterious girl he has met, Marius asks Eponine to find her address. Eponine sadly obliges as Marius enters the revolutionary meeting late and still dreaming of Cosette. Enjolras reminds Marius that he serves a higher cause and speaks about the way the world is changing (Red and Black).While the students prepare to fight, Gavroche bursts in with the news that General Lamarque is dead, and the students take to the streets to stir up popular support (Do You Hear the People Sing?).

Meanwhile, Cosette has fallen in love with Marius and wonders if he shares her feelings. She entreats Valjean to tell her about her past, but he refuses, stating that some things are better unheard, better unsaid (In My Life).

Eponine brings Marius to Valjeans garden, where Marius and Cosette declare their love for each other (A Heart Full of Love), as Eponine looks on and prevents an attempt by her fathers gang to rob Valjeans house (Attack on Rue Plumet). Valjean rushes in after hearing Eponine scream, and Cosette claims the cry was her own. Convinced that Javert has found him, Valjean tells Cosette that they must leave for England at once. As Valjean prepares to escape, the students prepare for battle, Marius and Cosette mourn losing each other, Eponine laments over Marius, Javert plans to join the students as a spy, and the Thernardiers plot to get rich robbing the corpses (One Day More!).

ACT 2-Paris, 1832:
As the act opens, the students build their barricade. When he sees that Eponine has joined them, Marius sends her away with a letter to Cosette. Valjean intercepts the letter and decides to join the students at the barricade while Eponine wanders the streets, musing about her love for Marius (On My Own).At the barricade, the students defy a warning that they must give up [their] guns or die (The First Attack).

Javert tells the students that "there will be no attack tonight", but Gavroche appears and denounces him as a police spy (Little People).Eponine is shot as she tries to return to the barricade, and she dies in Marius's arms (A Little Fall of Rain). The students declare that her death will not be in vain.

Valjean enters the barricade and is not entirely trusted by the rebels, but they allow him a gun, and he saves Enjolras's life as the National Guard attacks. In return, Valjean asks permission to kill Javert, and Enjolras consents.Claiming that he holds no grudge against the inspector, Valjean sets a shocked Javert free without the students knowledge and fires into the air. Javert vows never to stop hunting Valjean.

The insurgents settle down for the night, reminiscing about the life that used to be (Drink with Me). The student Grantaire poses the questions: Will the world remember you when you fall? Can it be your death means nothing at all? Is your life just one more lie?Meanwhile, Valjean prays to God to save Marius from the battle that will come (Bring Him Home).In the morning, Enjolras announces that the people have abandoned the revolutionaries, but the revolutionaries will not abandon the people.

He realizes that they are fighting a losing battle and sends the women and fathers of children away from the barricade.The students again battle the National Guard, and when Gavroche overhears that they are running low on ammunition, he runs out to collect extra bullets from the bodies littering the street. The National Guard shoots at Gavroche repeatedly, finally killing him, and they offer the insurgents one last chance to surrender. The students vow to make them pay for every man and Enjolras calls out his last words, "Let others rise to take our place until the Earth is free!"

All of the rebels are killed, except for Valjean, who escapes into the sewers with an unconscious Marius. Javert, looking among the corpses, realizes where Valjean has gone, and waits for him at the outlet of the sewer.Valjean collapses, exhausted, and Thernardier, who is robbing the corpses (Dog Eats Dog), takes the opportunity to steal a ring from Marius. Valjean then emerges from the sewer only to find Javert waiting for him. He begs Javert for an hour to bring the wounded student to a doctor, promising to return, and Javert consents.

Left alone with his thoughts, Javert realizes that his unbending beliefs have been shattered by Valjeans mercy, and discovering that he cannot come to terms with this new viewpoint, he throws himself into the Seine (Javerts Suicide). A group of Parisian women come to terms with the bloody end of the insurrection, and its many casualties (Turning).

Marius, meanwhile, also comes to grips with the fact that all of his friends have died on the barricade (Empty Chairs at Empty Tables). He recovers in Cosettes care, all the while wondering who saved him on the night the barricades fell. Valjean grieves over losing Cosette, and confesses to Marius that he is a former convict. Despite Mariuss protests, he insists that he must leave the young couple, and Marius agrees not to tell Cosette what Valjean has admitted to him.

The Thernardiers appear at Marius and Cosettes wedding and attempt to sell information to Marius. Thernardier claims that Valjean is a murderer and produces a ring he stole from the corpse Valjean was carrying.Marius recognizes the ring as his own and realizes that Valjean was the one who saved him. He then punches Thernardier and throws money at him, calling to Cosette to come quickly.

The Thernardiers celebrate their good fortune (Beggars at the Feast) as Marius and Cosette rush to Valjeans side.Thinking he has been forgotten, Jean Valjean prepares to die, praying to God to "Take me now" and telling the spirit of Fantine that he is ready. Marius and Cosette rush in, Marius thanking Valjean for his life and Cosette begging her father not to die.Valjean reveals to Cosette that he has left a paper for her, "a story of those who've always loved you", and Fantine and Eponine lead the old man to heaven.

All of the characters, living and dead, reappear for a reprise of "Do You Hear the People Sing?", expressing hope for a brighter future (Finale).

** There are pictures here from "At the End of the Day", "The Docks", "Castle on a Cloud", "Master of the House", "People's Song", "On My Own", "Drink with Me", "Javert's Suicide", "Turning", "The Wedding", and "Epilogue". **"

I'm in this one! :)... black dress, kind of the middle, blue apron and head wrap.

I'm somewhere in this one.

I'm sitting on the step in this one, black dress, on the left.

And this one..

And this one...

Eponine, singing "On My Own".. amazing!!

There's me again, very right of the picture, all in black!

Javert's suicide.. also amazing!

I'm the one on the very right, looking at the sheet.

There's me on the left! This was one of my favourite scenes, because me and my friend Carissa got to be the two maids in the Wedding Scene. We didn't actually do anything, but it was just fun! :) It was completely random too.. our director was like, "We need maids for this one.. umm.. Erin and Carissa, go up there." yay! hee hee :P

Me, very far left on the balcony.

I'm somewhere here..

And here...

This is the entire cast (minus the Gavroches and little Cosettes), taken on closing night.

Anyway, that's my old news from a few weeks ago. More recent news is that we finally found out about where we're going on our outreach trip (with my school). And it is....

India!!

I wasn't too excited at first, because I really had my heart set on going to Africa again, but I'm getting used to the new location, and I'm really, really looking forward to it now. We're going to be staying at an orphanage for girls whose parents have all been martyred for their beliefs, called Hope for Orphans.

They have girls of all ages, a school for K-12, plus connections with a University if the girls want to continue after High School. It looks like a great ministry, and I'm really excited to be working with them... especially as we'll be focusing on the younger kids! :) We'll even get to ride elephants!! How cool is that?? The only low point is that we won't be able to see the Taj Mahal, but I'm sure our experience all together will completely make up for that!

Anyway, I guess that's all for now (this post is so long, you probably don't want to read anymore anyway!), but from now on I won't forget to keep posting! I'm just going to put a few pictures from my youth Christmas Banquet my friends and I went to last night, because we took a few cute ones that I'd like to share. (I'll put them on a seperate post, because Blogger wont' let me put more pictures on this post)...

Sad News, and an Update

2007-11-20T20:33:00.000-08:00

Again, if you haven't read either my Big Sis of 4 blog, or my Egypt blog, please check out my Egypt blog (http://erin-egyptandbeyond.blogspot.com). We just recieved some sad news. :(

And now.. a Les Miserables update! :)

Its now only a week and a half until opening night on November 29th. Actually (very strange, I know, but what can you do?) we have a dress rehearsal on Tuesday, a matinee for our school only on Wendnesday afternoon, and then a matinee open to anyone on Thursday afternoon.. all before official opening night, but whatever. It'll work.

Anyway, we have been working like CRAZY!! I can't even tell you. While I said a minimum of 12 hours a week a few weeks ago, its now more like 16+ hours a week! And next week.. oh man. Let me lay out our rehearsal schedule for you.. its crazy:

Monday- rehearsal from 8:00am-4:00pm (we miss the whole day of school)
Tuesday- rehearsal from 3:00pm-8:00pm (dress rehearsal starts at 4)
Wednesday- 10:30am call time for the noon matinee.. till about 3:00pm
Thursday- call time 10:30 for matinee, then till about 3:00, then call time for the 7:00 performance at 5:00 (we'll be there until about 9:30pm)
Friday- same as Thursday
Saturday- call time at 5:00, the performance will officially be over (costumes and makeup all put away etc.) at around 9:30, then we'll have our cast party. We'll be there until around 10:30/11:00.

So, in total, next week we will be there for about (forgive me if my math skills aren't up to scratch) 46 hours!! I don't even know how I will get through homework next week.. I'm trying not to think about it!

As much as I love being in Les Mis, I'll be glad when its over!

Anyway, there's not too much going on in my life to talk about, other than Les Mis and my outreach trip.. and the fact that I'm always extremely exhausted! Farewell for now. :)

Finally...

2007-11-08T20:18:00.000-08:00

Ok, I know that not everyone will understand this, as each state/province/country has different rules for driving, but let me just get this out there, since I'm so excited :).. I got my L!! (Learner's Permit).

I could have gotten it on my birthday, which was in August, but I've been so busy that I only just had time to get it now. But I don't care... I can legally drive (with an adult in the car) now! Yay for me! :) And I passed the knowledge test with 91%! :D

I have to keep this for a minimum of a year, when I can then take the road test, and get my N (Novice Driver), which I then have to keep for another year and a half. (It takes a looong time before I get a full license!! But now I'm one step closer.)

So I just thought I'd share my little bit of exciting news with everyone.

Now I'm just going to wait for them to send me my driver's license in the mail (should be here within a week).. I'm hoping that the picture isn't too bad! :P

A New Letter

2007-11-05T19:41:00.000-08:00

Today I got the very first letter from Reagan in Uganda!! I was so excited to get it. It wasn't a very interesting letter, as he hasn't recieved my letter yet, and it was just the basic letter the kids usually write at the very beginning, but I was very excited to get it none the less. Since it was pretty short, I'll write it down here.

"Dear Aunt Erin Wiebe,

I greet you so much in the name of Jesus. How are you?
And how is your country?

I am so glad that you are my sponsor.

I was born on 13th Jan. 2001 and my parents are living.

I have 3 brothers and 4 sisters.

My chore at home is washing dishes.

My school is Kibaale Community. I am in Nursery class.

I love my teacher Mrs. N. Vicky. My best play is football.

Thank you very much for sponsoring me;
may God bless you.

Yours faithfully,

Senyondwa Reagan. "

Its so cute! I can't wait until he starts responding to my letters, and I get to know him a little bit more. He's such a cutie.

I also got another letter from Jackie (that was really fast.. I only got the last one a couple of weeks ago! :D) This one was really long, and so adorable. Probably one of the cuter letters from her yet.
I'll copy some of it in, but not all of it, because its pretty long, for a sponsor letter.

"Dear Sponsor Erin, praise be to God!

I thank you for sending me such nice stickers and letters.
The letter was nice and am pleased when you say you
liked my pictures and drawings. The school is good and
am doing well because I want to pass to another class.
My favourite subject is language (Luganda)....

And how is Joshua, Megan, Ayana, Moses, and parents?
I send them my greetings. You asked me about my grand mom,
but she died. I have a grand father. My mom, Naluguma
also loves you, they are saved (Her Parents), and am also saved. ...

I've been told about Reagan and I have met him is a good
young boy. We look forward to enjoy Christmas.
At Christmas, we eat a lot, and visit new places and friends.
How do you celebrate Christmas?...

I love you, have a nice time.

Namulindwa Jackie."

It is such a sweet letter! And I'm so pleased that she got to meet Reagan. Now they both know each other, and maybe will get to be friends (or at least see each other sometimes.. I'm not sure how realistic it is for a 9 year old girl to be friends with a just turned 6 boy, but you never know!) I'm not entirely sure what she means by "have a nice time", but I suppose she could be refering to Christmas. Or possibly my trip to Egypt that I told her about. I'm not sure!

I'm not sure what this letter was in reply to, because with the last letters I sent to each of them, I also sent along an outfit (like I mentioned previously), but I'm assuming that they would have mentioned those if they had recieved them already. Hopefully they get those soon!

I can't wait to hear more! I'll hopefully be hearing about Jackie's house situation, and whether they have started to build their new house yet. I can't wait to hear about that. They said that they'd try to send a picture too, which will be so cool! I'm so excited to hear about that. I'll be sure to post as soon as I hear more.

Sixteenth Birthday "Bash"

2007-10-29T20:20:00.000-07:00

While my birthday was in August, I didn't actually get around to having my party until this last weekend. It was one of my best parties ever! I didn't have a huge party or anything, but I invited my closest friends, and we all went and spent a night in a hotel at Whistler. (I think I've mentioned Whistler before.. its a major skiing village here in BC.. so cute! :D)

We hung out, and did each other's hair with my friends amazing curling iron (it curls anyone's hair beautiful! I'm getting one now!), did manicures (actually just my one friend Megan did them for everyone, because she's so good at them.. I love mine!) watched movies (The Invisible- I really liked it!- and The Bratz Movie- sooo cheesy, but cute :P), and went window shopping.

My mom was soo awesome, and drove us all up to Whistler, stayed with us the whole time (not hung around, but stayed at the hotel with us :P), and drove us back down.. a big Thank-You to my awesome mom!!

When we got tired of shopping, we decided to take pictures, and with my friend's camera, we actually got some gorgeous pictures. It was really good, because we haven't had any recent pictures of us all together, so it was pretty fun. I'll show you a few, because they're just so nice! Oh, and because she's so proud of them, I'll point out all the ones that my mom took! :P

This is just to show how nicely the curling iron works.. and this is someone who can never curl their hair! :)

Yes, the Olympic games 2010 will be held in Whistler (some of them), and we already won some pre-games medals :P.. I got Gold!!

My mom took this one... (These are my best friends: [left to right] Kristie, me, Carissa, Kirsten, and Megan.. aren't we a gorgeous group? :P)

And this one...

And this one...

And this one! And more, I just didn't put them all on.

Me and Carissa

Gorgeous picture of Kirsten!

I love these two of me! They're so cool :D

Soo pretty of Carissa :)

This one's so cute :) It actually wasn't posed at all!

And this is what we were trying to do in that last one.

These were insane.. they are actually real!

Me and Kirsten

These are about a quarter of the amount of pictures we actually took! I just didn't think I'd inflict you to hundreds of pictures of me and and my friends..I just showed you some of the ones that really turned out nicely.

Random Pictures

2007-10-23T21:11:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I think I mentioned a while ago that we recently got a scanner; a fact which made me very happy, and scanner-crazy. When you get a new scanner, you have to use it... else there's no point. Because of this, I now have a huge collection of pictures which were previously only available in photograph form.

First of all, we just got our school pictures back last week, and I decided to scan mine into the computer. I think it turned out pretty good (the random blothes/spots etc. when you zoom in are from the scanner, not the actual picture! I do not have a green blob on my forehead in real life! I promise!!)

Anyway, here is my Grade 11 School Picture:

Some other pictures I've scanned are from when I was little. I won't go into detail about them, but I'll show you a few. Get ready to meet mini-me! (These are in no particular order by the way.)

And now, just for fun, here's a picture of my mom when she was around my age, or a little older (I'm pretty sure she was a bridesmaid here- that, or just at a wedding)

I hope I didn't bore you with so many pictures of me.. I understand that not everyone will find pictures of me quite as interesting as I do; I just felt like sharing a few. :)

Good News!

2007-10-17T22:17:00.001-07:00

I want to say a huge thank-you to everyone who was so generous and gave money towards Jackie and her family. We have raised enough for a plot of land, a house, a kitchen, a latrine, and then some! I haven't dropped of all of the money yet, but I'm going to tell the school to use the extra in whatever way will most benefit Jackie.

The school was so excited, and thankful, and even sent a special thank-you letter to us! We're expecting to hear more news about the family soon, so that will be good.. they might be sending us a picture of the family with their house once its built, so I'll keep you updated.

Another exciting note was that I recieved a letter from Jackie the other day, along with (first time ever!) a letter from her parents! I was very excited.

Jackie is so sweet, as always. I won't put both the letters on, but I will put a portion of each.

Jackie wrote:

"Hi, my aunt, Erin,
I sent you greeting in the name of the lord Jesus- I am your daughter Namulindwa Jackie whom you love very much. Let me frist thank you for the money you are paying for me in Kibaale Community Primary School.
I also thank you very much for a hand ring and letter that you sent to me. I gladly recieved the gift, and it was just so nice and marvelous!
...
It really feels too hot in summer here in Uganda. I have consulted and I have been told that the temperatures are about 42degrees C right now. In winter temperatures can fall to 5degrees C.
...
I appreciated the photo of you and the nice birthday card that you gave me. You are nice!
God be with your life,
Jackie"

By hand ring, she means bracelet- I'm assuming that was part of the translation, not her literal words. :) I love how she went and researched the weather for me.. I think I made a passing comment in the last letter, something like, "Here in Canada it is starting to get cold. Is it still hot in Kibaale?" She's so cute! :D

This is the picture she sent with the letter:

Her parents wrote: (I am writing exactly what they wrote, spelling and all...their English is actually extremely good, as they wrote this themselves, without the translator!)

"Dear Erin Wiebe,
It is high time now to appliciate for what you are doing for Jackie and the family. In fact you have written many letters without repply as a family. You have now written six letters since you started sponsoring Jackie.
We appliciate so much for the gifts you are sending Jackie...
We as a family, we were very excited to hear that jackie got a good sponsor like you!
...
We hope you family is doing well and we are praying for you.
May God give you what you like most and help you in all you are trying too achive.
It is now time to pen off may God keep you for ever and ever, hopping to heare from you as a family stay well
C. K.- father
N. H.- mother"

I love getting letters, and I hope to get more soon!

I have just sent a letter in reply, and a letter to Jackie, and Reagan. I also sent each of them an outfit (Jackie a dress, and Reagan a shirt and shorts) with a teacher from my school who is going out there.

Hopefully he will bring letters back with him!

Urgent Prayer Request for my Sponsor Child

2007-10-06T16:49:00.000-07:00

Last night I was checking my email, and decided to check my "junk email". The one that I put for different websites, or online orders; the one that all my facebook emails go to. I only check it occasionally, although after last night, I realised I should probably check it more often!

I was going through it, deleting all the junk emails, when I came across one entitled "More about Namulindwa Jackie's living situation."

I was so excited, as I love to get news about my sponsor children, so I opened it immediately.

What I read horrified me. The following is the email I was sent by administrative assistant for Kibaale:

Hi Erin,

I wanted to give you an update on Namulindwa Jackies living situation.

A division of the Ugandan govenrnent called NEMA (National Environmental Management Authority)protects the wetlands, lakes and forests. They are are known to be very difficutlt to deal with.For the past two years, they have been issuing warnings to all residents of land near to swamps and Kibaale River. Many plantations have been destroyed by NEMA as they try to reclaim the swamps of Uganda.It has affected many of our KCF families.

Namulindwa Jackie's mother came in to KCF to tell them that NEMA came to their home yesterday and gave them notice that they have two weeks to get off the land and move somewhere else. If they don't move, then NEMA will knock down their home and put the parents in jail.

Because of this situation the family is now in need of a plot of land, a house, kitchen and latrine. The first priority would be a plot of land ($700). We are in no way expecting you to meet this need, but perhaps your family could keep her in prayer for this specific need.

Thanks,
H.S.

PAOS - Adminstrative Assistant

I'm so worried about Jackie and her whole family now, and I really want to be able to do something. I emailed her back, asking exactly how much time they have left, and how much money it would be to provide all the things she mentioned in the email (land, house, kitchen and latrine). Through my experiences with them in the past, I estimated that it would be about $1750 in total, which compared to here in Canada, is nothing.

I'm going to try to raise the money, through my church, and my parent's home group, and friends (and myself of course!). I really want to be able to help, and I know they need all the prayer they can get. If you could please, please pray for them, that they will be able to find land in time, and that I (and others) would be able to help provide for them, I would really appreciate it.
Thanks.

In Memory of a Special Little Friend

2007-09-14T22:18:00.001-07:00

On Sunday the 9th, a little 7 yr. old boy from our church passed away. He had been very sick since the age of two, and was in the hospital for these last 7 months. He was in a lot of pain for the majority of the 7 months, but he was so brave throughout it all; he was a very special little boy, and he touched everyone he met.

He was very close to my heart, and I'm really going to miss him. I'm not going to give away any information, or names, because his parents might not be comfortable with that; I just wanted to give that special little warrior the recognition he deserved.

He's definitely in no more pain, which is wonderful, but those he left behind are grieving. Please pray for his parents, as they prepare for his "celebration of life" service, which is this Saturday, and get through this extremely difficult time. And also for all the rest of his family and friends who loved him dearly, and will truly miss him.

Way to go bud. You were the bravest knight of all, and you'll always be my special little hero.

I worked hard, tried out for Les Mis, and....

2007-09-12T22:13:00.000-07:00

Got in the chorus. As did most of the other people who didn't get a main role. Haha!

But that's ok. I really wasn't expecting to get a main role, and being in the chorus will still be a lot of fun, especially as all of my friends will also be in the chorus with me.
There really aren't too many main roles for Les Mis, so its fine.

However, there are some areas of the casting that I have some issues with. Mr. J, Mr. M, Mr. R and Mrs. H (the teachers in charge of the musical, and the casting) have all said that the priority for roles goes Gr 12, then Gr 11, then Gr 10, then Gr 9. That way, the grade 12s, who will never have another chance again, will have a better chance of getting a main role, and the younger grades, who still have more years ahead of them to be in other musicals will still have fun, but give more of the grade 12s a chance. Well, this is what is supposed to happen.

So imagine everyone's surprise (kind of.. I'll explain in a minute) and disgust, when a grade TEN got the role of Cosette, one of the more major roles in the whole play. Now, this grade 10 is very nice, and does have a good singing voice, but she is also a known favourite of 2 out of 4 of those teachers (the 2 teachers with all the say in this matter- the other 2 are supposed to have a say in it, but everyone knows they don't!).. as were the rest of the people cast as main roles. I'm really not going to mention any names, as its not anything personal against those people.. I'm sure they'll all do a great job. And its certainly not because I didn't get a big part that I'm saying this.. like I said before, I wasn't expecting a main part. Its the fact that the teachers have favourites, and they make it well known to everyone who those favourites are that really gets to me.

I know its bound to happen, that teachers will pick favourites, but when that affects the entire school, I don't think it's right. There were several grade 12s who were excellent in both their auditions and their call backs, worked extremely hard for it, and are well known for being wonderful at both singing and acting, that not only did not get the part they were trying out for, but did not get any part at all.

All this to say.. I really don't think a school should run on favouritism. Having said that, I'm still really excited about doing it! It'll still be a really fun experience, and we'll get to sing the songs, and dance, and get cool costumes!! lol.. the only downside is the amount of rehearsals we have to attend. The first one is tomorrow, and its from 3-9:00! We also have October 4 and 5th off, along with Thanksgiving weekend, and we have Rehearsal ALL day on BOTH those days (not Thanksgiving.. the Pro-D days)! So that part kind of sucks, but oh well. It'll be fun!

And I just want to emphasise again that I was not complaining because I have a personal dislike against the people who were cast.. for the most part I like them, and I think they'll do great. And I was also not complaining for my own sake, because I wanted a role... I hope it didn't come across that way. Sorry if it did! :S

Oh, and on another note.. my brother also tried out, for the part of Gavroche, and I'm pretty sure he made it! They are going to have 5 young Cosettes, and 5 Gavroches (which is stupid, and makes it really hard for rehearsing, in my opinion), but Josh is most likely one of them, which will make it even more fun! They still haven't told them for sure, but all the teachers we've talked to have said that they're sure that Josh has a role, because the "judges" were all talking about how awesome he did! Aww, I'm so proud of him.. especially since I taught him the song (Gavroche's song- Little People), and all his actions, which they said were very well done! Yay for Erin and Josh.. what a team! :P

Egypt!!!!

2007-09-08T00:16:00.000-07:00

Some of you might know that I applied to go on an outreach team with my school.. well, I just found out today that I'm on Team Egypt!! Yup that's right... in springbreak, I'm going to be going to Egypt!! I can't believe it, I really can't! Oh man, I'm so excited!!!!!

I've made a blog for my trip (already.. can you tell I'm excited? :P), so there's more details on there:

http://erin-egyptandbeyond.blogspot.com

Check it out! :D

My Cousin's Wedding

2007-09-04T18:01:00.000-07:00

Here are some of the rest of the pictures from my cousin's wedding in 2002. I was 11, so I was a little old to be a flower girl, but a little young to be a bridesmaid, so I was a Junior Bridesmaid! :D I felt so important... but it was a lot of fun. Megan was another flower girl, and Josh was the ringbearer... Ayana and Moses weren't with us yet!
My uncle is a photographer, and these are some of the pictures from his website.
If you want to see more, I'll try to find the link to his site, and post it on here soon. But for now, enjoy!

Wasn't she adorable!!

My cousin Chris (younger brother of the bride).

Rachel, my cousin and her husband Jon.

The whole wedding party.

I love this picture.. its so cool! Look at Megan's face! :D

Josh hanging out.

Me, Megan, Josh, Rachel, and Jon.

I love this picture too... its just a cute shot!

Josh and another cousin, Scott (not brother to any of the wedding party)

During the ceremony.

My brother, always the comedian... Jon's full name is Jon Schmidt, so Josh went up during the reception and sang "John Jacob Jingle Heimer Schmidt" a few times! :D

Jenna (my cousin, and younger sister of the bride) and Josh at the reception.

Something wierd is happening with my Blogger, so if the spacing in between the pictures is all messed up, I did not to it intentionally.. its Blogger's fault!!

Picture of the Week

2007-09-01T10:12:00.000-07:00

We're on our way to Whistler (leaving in 2 minutes!), as our last little holiday before school starts. Before we leave, I'm just quickly posting this.

Ok, so it obviously wasn't from this week, but I found it this week, and I just like it so much. My uncle took it at my cousin's wedding in 2002. Megan and I were flowergirls (I still maintain that I was a Junior Bridesmaid!!), and Josh was the ringbearer. This was during the picture session, and everyone was taking a break. There's lots of gorgeous ones that he took, and I'll post more later this week.

School is coming....

2007-08-30T20:57:00.000-07:00

..Oh no..
....Oh dear
.........Oh dang..

...Its coming...

...It really is!

I was kind of in denial about it, but today I had no choice but to face up to the fact that school is starting up next week! Today was spent... school shopping. And when you're school shopping, you kind of have to realize that school may be just around the bend.

I know it won't be that bad. Its not even school that I'm dreading (although I can't say I like homework.. and Grade 11, I'm sure, is full of it!).. its more the fact that I am no longer free to have fun and do whatever I want.

But, actually, I'm kind of looking forward to parts of it. For one thing, I applied to go on a missions trip this year. Every year my school takes out 10-12 teams of students to countries all around the world, where they do manual labour, community outreach, and help out in orphanages and schools. Its only open to grades 11 and 12, so after years of watching the teams come and go, I'm finally going to be part of it too!! I am so excited, but quite nervous too. We don't find out what team we're on until next week, at the start of school, so that's one incentive to go! I'll let everybody know, the minute I find out where I'm going to be going.

Another exciting thing coming up is our school musical. Every year (except for this last year) our school puts on a musical. They're usually really good, and in fact get even better every year. This year they announced that its going to be Les Mis, so that should be really good. I'm going to try out, and I'm REALLY nervous!! I'm totally not the kind of person who is comfortable singing in front of other people, but I really want to be part of this. So, I'm going to step out of my comfort zone and audition. I'm singing "Castle on a Cloud", which is quite easy to sing, as all the notes are exactly in my range. But, I'm still really scared. My sister takes singing lessons, so before the audition (maybe tomorrow), I'm going to go and see her voice teacher, and get her to give me a couple last minute tips, so that should be really helpful! But still, its a scary thought! I'd really, really like to get a part, so I'm going to try my hardest, and work really hard these last couple of days, to touch it up, and make it absolutely perfect! (I hope! :S)

My school schedule is a little crazy, but shouldn't be too bad. I'm taking Math 12 in second semester, in order to have NO math at all in grade 12, which will be SOOOO nice!! (I hate, abide, and detest that horrible subject!! I'm not terrible at it, I just don't like it. What sucks was that one of my favourite teachers ever is a math teacher.. why couldn't she teach English, or Drama??) But apart from that, its not bad. I really want to find out who my teachers are. We get our schedules at the end of June, so if we want to, we can go around, and figure out which classroom is which teacher's and everything, but I usually never bother, and just get there, and find out when I walk in! Unfortunately, there's the possibility of getting my worst teacher ever (Miss M). She used to teach grade 8 (our school is K-12), so when I moved out of the Middle School, I thought I would be done with her forever! But then, she decided that she wanted to teach High School, so she asked and since she's been teaching for a long time.... they kicked out my favourite teacher (yup, the math one- Mrs. P), who was SOOO AWESOME, and brought Miss M up to High School in her place!! Everyone is so mad and upset, so maybe they'll eventually bring back Mrs. P... I'm crossing my fingers!!!

Anyway, I really should go now, and unload the dishwasher (my dad's been telling me to do it for a while! :S). I'm really trying to make the most out of these last few days, so I think I'll go to bed, and.. I dunno... read for hours or something! :P I can't sleep in, because I have to babysit, but I'll sleep in all I can on the weekend... my last chance ever!! Well, until next weekend.

My Beautiful Cell Phone! :D

2007-08-26T17:49:00.001-07:00

As I mentioned before, on August 10th I turned 16. I had a great birthday, with awesome presents, and lots of fun. I went shopping with my mom and Megan in the morning/early afternoon to use some of my gift certificates, andthen in the afternoon we went to Chapters and Starbucks. I was so proud of myself.. I got a $40 gift card for my birthday, and with it, I managed to buy six books! And three were hardcover! Yay for Erin and her crazy shopping skills! :P
In the evening we went out for dinner (my whole family was there, and at Chapters too) at Milestones, and then my mom took me and Megan to see Becoming Jane. Ok, I am not a big Anne Hathoway fan. I like her in Princess Diaries 1, and mostly in number 2, but in anything else, she just kind of bugs me. I have to say.. she did a very good job in this movie! I didn't really think it would fit when I first heard about it.. I mean Anne Hathoway, as Jane Austin? How could that work? But I actually really enjoyed that movie, and had no idea what a sad life Jane Austin had! Well love life at least.. its so sad! But all in all, that was a good movie, and a very good birthday.

One of my favourite presents (for anyone in my family reading this; I liked them ALL! :D) was my cell phone, which I got from my parents. Its a Black Red Motorola Razr. If that doesn't make sense, maybe this will be better.. its a black M(RED) Razr. Its from the Red Campaign, and I just LOVE it!! Its soo gorgeous!

I just love it so much! The picture doesn't really show it properly (its just from Google Images) but its so nice. It was a huge surprise to find it in my presents!
My parents promised to pay for the first two months, but then I'm on my own. I don't really mind, because we've made an agreement. They like to go out at least once a week together. I told them I would give them 2 free hours of babysitting a week, and that will pay for my cell phone plan. Also, when combined with the allowance I already don't get in order to sponsor Jackie, it is enough to pay for Jackie's sponsorship, my cell phone, and almost enough for Reagan. I will only owe them $9 a month, which is nothing. So I am happy.. free babysitting isn't bad, and I really don't mind giving it, and in return, I don't have to worry about my sponsorship or cell phone financing. Its really my money thats going to all of it, but its way easier this way, because I would go crazy trying to remember to pay for everything myself.. this way it just comes out of my parents account! ;D It sounds kind of complicated, but trust me.. I've worked it all out in detail!

Picture of the Week

2007-08-25T10:43:00.000-07:00

Ok, now that we're back from holidays and everything, hopefully I can get more into the routine of regularly posting... for example, putting up a picture of the week every week, and on the right day!! But we've been busy for a while, so here is this week's picture. Its been kind of hard to choose, as there haven't been that many pictures, and not that many are amazing, but I finally chose one...

Ok, so its not amazing.. no special lighting, no professional photogrophy; I just like it, because we're all together, and we're all actually smiling (I would say at the camera, but just look at Ayana's face! What a little prima donna!), and its cute. This was on our one year Gotcha Day anniversary (which was on Thursday, if you haven't read my other blog about it), so its a really special picture. So its not perfect, but I really like it; its cute and special to me! :D

Senyondwa Reagan

2007-08-24T18:16:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I'm home, and I can now get the pictures of Reagan outside of his house. When the house is finished, it will actually be a very good house, for that area of Uganda, but right now they are living in it only half finished. They also, as I said before, will not have a kitchen, or a bathroom.. merely a fire and a pit, which I hope to do something about in time.
Reagan is the one in green (he's only wearing a shirt, which just breaks my heart.. I'll send him some clothes soon.).. look at his grin! He was just told that he has a sponsor! :D The older man is his big brother (one of 4 brothers), and the three girls are 3 of his 4/5 sisters (I'm not sure about the exact amount of his siblings).

This is the other picture, that I just cropped in.

Namulindwa Jackie

2007-08-24T13:18:00.000-07:00

I was able to scan the pictures I have recieved of Jackie, so I thought I would share. Once again, I am babysitting, but they have let me use their scanner (we don't have one), so I can access the pictures from right here.

I also recieved, just yesterday, pictures of Reagan, with 4 of his siblings, in front of his house! I was so excited! Apparently he doesn't have a latrine, or a kitchen, and their house is only half finished, as their dad is trying to build it in between trying to find work. Its so sad, and I want to buy them a kitchen, although it costs about $200- nothing compared to what it would be here!

When I get home, I will post the picture of Reagan with his family.. some of them anyway; he has 4 brothers, 3 sisters, and at least his dad. I haven't heard about his mom yet, so I'm not sure whether she is still with them.

Anyway, here are a couple pictures of my little girl...

This is the first picture I recieved, when I started sponsoring her.

This is the second picture I recieved.. they update them about once a year, unless you send gifts, in which case they send pictures of the child recieving the gift you sent.

This is Jackie recieving some cooking essentials, and a goat that I sent to them for Christmas '05 (I'm not sure who the woman with her is.. I'm assuming it is her mother, but I'm going to try to find out for sure.)

This is Jackie recieving the cow I sent her for Christmas '06.

I also sent her a blanket and matress, which she has just chosen out here.. I sent her a sweater and a pair of shoes for Christmas too, but in the names of my sister and brother (Megan and Joshua) so they were the ones who got pictures of those.

Those are some of the pictures I have of her.. I also have some from when we visited Kibaale in 2005, but they aren't on this computer. Hopefully I'll be able to put those on, but if not, I'll definitely put on the ones I have of Reagan, once I get back home to my computer.

So that is my beautiful little Jackie.. just a note; in case you were wondering why her head is shaved, I thought I'd let you know that the school makes it a policy that all students must have their heads shaved, because of lice, or head fungus. It makes it easier to manage.. thankfully Jackie has neither!

I do feel sorry for the Secondary students, and even the older Primary students. Hair is a big pride issue in Africa, so to have to shave it all off, without having any choice, in order to go to school seems a little unfair. I understand that with the younger children its a hygene issue, but I would think that the older ones (the school goes up to S5, which is Grade 12.. that's like 17, 18 year olds!) would be able to take care of themselves.
But, if I post any more pictures, you will probably notice that all the children have shaved heads, and that is why!

My Sponsor Children

2007-08-21T13:52:00.000-07:00

I don't think I've mentioned my little sponsor girl before. I've been sponsoring her for 2 years now, ever since I got back from our trip to Uganda we took in summer of 2005. We went to visit the school that my school is linked with, and sponsors. Its called Kibaale Community Center, and is comprised of a school, from pre-school to grade 12, a clinic (anyone can come in.. its the only one for miles, so its always full), and a vocational training center (for the kids who don't do so well in school, but don't want to waste the good opportunity). The campus is huge, with great fields for the kids to play on, and matoke (a kind of banana that is harvested all over Uganda) plantations in the back. Only the "poorest of the poor" are allowed to go there, and they really stick to that. This means that many of the children, as young as 4, are walking for miles and miles, often barefoot, to get to school. We met a little boy, who was 7 years old, who walked 1 1/2 hours to school, and had to leave at 5:00, in order to finish his chores, get ready and be able to set off in time. It also means that the lunch that is served to all the students is often the only meal the children will get. It is a wonderful school, and I really admire them, and the people who work there.

I met this little girl there, who was so sweet, and I really loved her. Her name was Namulindwa Jackie. When I got home, I just couldn't get Uganda off my mind.. I had been thinking about sponsoring a child from Kibaale, so I thought I'd go on the website and take a look. When I was looking through the pictures of children available for sponsorship, I saw Jackie's little face looking out at me! I was so excited, and I immediatley became her sponsor. I send regular letters and gifts, and I occasionally get letters back (it is very hard for them to send letters, as they have so many sponsored kids, so they usually just wait until guests go to Kibaale, and then just send the letters back with them). I love being able to help her, and her family, and since 100% of the money goes to the child, and their education, I know that I really am making a difference in her life. She just turned 9, and a friend of ours recently got to visit Kibaale and see Jackie.. I can't believe how big she's grown!

Last week, I was thinking about Jackie, and how much I love helping her, and sponsoring her, and decided to look on the website again, at the available children. I looked through the Nursery students, memorising names and gazing at their adorable faces. A couple stood out to me, but there was one that just really captured my heart. His name is Senyondwa Reagan, and he is 6 years old. That night, we got together with our friend, who had just got back from Kibaale. I mentioned his name to her, and she went, "Oh! He's so cute! I really want to find someone to be able to sponsor him!" When I heard that, I knew that I had to. God really spoke to me, and told me that I needed to sponsor him, as well as Jackie. I requested sponsorship of him, and just yesterday got an email confirming it:

Dear Erin,
I have just checked my files, and am able to confirm that Senyondwa Reagan, in Nursery, is available for sponsorship. I will add the $25 to the amount already coming out of your account.

You will recieve pictures and information about him sometime next week.
Thank-you for sponsoring, and helping these children.

In God's name,
G.H.

I am so excited! I am now sponsoring 2 little African Angels over in Kibaale, Uganda. When I get home, I'll post a picture of Jackie, but I can access a picture of Reagan from this computer already. He's so adorable!

If you want to look into sponsoring a child from Kibaale, just follow this link:
http://www.paoutreach.net/pages/kibaale/kibaale_sponsorship.htm

Check it out! Like I said, 100% of the money goes to the child, and pays for their education, a feeding program, medical care, and family agricultural needs. Its also possible to send additional gifts to the family, such as a new roof, a cow, a goat, blankets, shoes etc. Its a really good program, and the children really benefit from it, as well as the sponsors. I, for one, can not wait to get my next letter from Jackie, and my very first letter from Reagan! I love them both so much.. they're like my little sister and brother, over in Uganda. They call me Auntie Erin, and in each letter (Jackie does.. I haven't recieved one from Reagan yet) express just how much my sponsorship means to them.
And I know that many people say this, but really; think about it. For Primary School students (Pre-school/Nursery- Grade 7) its only $25 a month- that's less than a dollar a day!

Lots to catch up on!

2007-08-21T13:42:00.000-07:00

Well, we've been away a lot, and very busy this last month, so, as you may have noticed, I've been neglecting my blogs! Lots has happened, and I'll try to fill you in on everything. I'll have to do it later though, as I am at someone else's house babysitting, and I really want to post pictures. So instead, here's a quick snapshot of what I've been doing:

-Capernwray Summer Bible Family Camp; I mentioned it in a previous post, but I'll try to go into more detail later on when I can put more pictures on. It is such an awesome experience. It is totally geared towards families, but also each member of the family seperately, as their own person. There are family sessions, adult sessions, and teen, pre-teen, kids, toddlers and baby groups. In each there are amazingly cool activities (for example, one night the teens go to a campsite, and have a campout, under the stars!) and its just overall tons of fun.

- Pentiction; we went with some of our friends, and it was lots of fun. We rented a boat twice, and went waterskiing and tubing, and for some crazy-fast boatrides. Seriously, I was at the front, with my brother and his friend, and we were like terrified.. I honestly thought I would fall out. Eventually we all screamed at the driver (the dad of my brother's friend... we've been friends with them for about 13, 14 years) to stop, and we all climbed into the back, where we were safe.. I had the hugest headache after that! We were getting some serious air!!

- My 16th birthday!! I can't believe I'm able to get my L now.. I know in lots of other places its younger, like 14, 15.. but I'm so excited about it! :D Ayana was so excited about my birthday for days ahead of time, talking about "bifday cake" and "bifday pesents" and "singing".. she was so excited, I almost wonder if she thought it was her birthday coming up!

- Lots and lots and lots and lots of babysitting. Like I mentioned before, I'm babysitting right now. The kids are on a nap, so I thought I'd take this time to actually post something! I'm pretty much a daycare leader for them! I babysit them all day, three days a week. They're really sweet kids (Cate is 4, and Cen is 2) but they are full of energy!! I'm glad when its nap time!

So there you have it; a glimpse into the last couple weeks of my life. Hopefully I'll be able to go into more detail later, with pictures and everything, but for now, I have to say goodbye. I still have to go clean up from lunch time!

Picture of the Week

2007-08-04T17:42:00.000-07:00

I missed yet another one last week, but this time I actually have an excuse! I was gone with my family to a family camp on Thetis Island. If you've heard of Capernwray Bible College, you may have heard of this. They host a family camp every summer (the one on Thetis Island- I'm not sure about any of the other Capernwrays), and we just love to go. I'll write all about it later, but first let me update my picture of the week. Because we were gone, it was very hard choosing a favourite picture of the week.. there were so many!! So I compromised, and this week, you get TWO pictures of the week!! I just think they are both so so beautiful! Of course, there were many beautiful ones of everyone in my family, but these two just stood out.. next week I'll chose one of someone else, other than Ayana! :P She's just so darn cute!

I think the lighting on this one is just gorgeous, and her expression is so cute!

I love this one, because Ayana and Abigail (the little girl in the background), had so much fun together.. this just shows a glimpse of how happy they were while playing together.

Picture of the Week (a little late! :S)

2007-07-24T15:32:00.000-07:00

Whoops! I'm not off to a very good start with this whole picture of the week thing, seeing as I've already missed one, and its only the second week! :S But my cousin got married on Sunday, and its been very busy getting ready for it this past week (my little sister is a flowergirl!), so I kind of have an excuse! Anyway, here is my favourite picture from last week... It was actually on Sunday, so its kind of from this week, but its just so cute, I had to share!

Its from my cousin's wedding day, right before we left.. Josh and Moses were matching! They were both very excited, and very adorable all day!

Slumber Party!

2007-07-18T13:32:00.000-07:00

On Sunday my sister and I had a little slumber party for one of our friends. Her name is Kohl, she is 6 years old, and this was her very first sleepover ever. Her older sister had gone for a sleepover with one of her friends, and we though she might be kind of jealous, so we invited her over to have one with us. :) She was so excited! The first thing she said when she walked in was, "Oh wow! I can tell this is gonna be fun!" We wanted to make it really fun for her, so we gave her a little mini spa, with a manicure, and pedicure... it was all very cute! Here are a couple pictures of our "exciting slumber party" as she named it. :D

So excited!

Pedicure Time!

Bed time..... (she actually didn't fall asleep until 11.. which is very late for a 6-year old! But she had fun, so we kind of didn't mention that to her mom! :S)

Whoops! Major red eye! (You can see my major burn line on my neck in this one, which made my face look extremely pale! It's almost a tan now though! :D)

Picture of the Week

2007-07-14T13:04:00.001-07:00

I saw this on someone else's blog, and thought it would be fun to do. (Thanks Nikki! :D) Every Saturday I'll post my favourite picture from that week. It could be of anything.. my friends, siblings, kids I babysit, my rabbits, even scenery.. it'll just be the picture I liked the best from that week. So here is the best picture of this week....

This is my gorgeous little sister Ayana. I put this one on my other blog too, but I just love it so much. I love the lighting, and how the green from the grass, and the tree goes with her dress, but also contrasts with her beautiful skin. She also looks so happy, and loving being there, modeling for me. :D Thanks Ayana, for the picture!

Me and my siblings

2007-07-13T22:42:00.000-07:00

This was taken at Stanley Park the other day.. I love it because of the light, and the fact that everyone is looking, and smiling, which is quite hard to get when there is both a 1 year old, and a 2 year old involved.. although Ayana can be quite a show off to the camera when she feels like it! :D

2007-07-06T18:56:00.000-07:00

Famous For A Day!!!

Since I mentioned it, I thought I might as well tell how we were "Famous for a day". Yes, we were in the newspaper, front page! Very cool, actually! :D
A newspaper had asked our adoption agency if they knew of any families who were already home with their adopted children, and we were the closest ones, so they told them our phone number. Of course, when they phoned up and said, "Would you mind being in the newspaper?".. well, who would say no! So they did an over-the-phone interview about the adoption with my mom, and then a photographer came over to our house for a photo shoot. It was very cool, and he did some very cool, professional shots of our family.. he loved our staircase, because it kinda of twists around. As soon as he came in, he was like, "Perfect! That's where the pictures will be!" I guess its good for artistic poses or something.

Anyway, he did tons of different pictures, and then said that he had enough shots, and he would email us the ones they ended up using. "Oh yes" he said as he was leaving. "Since the surrey paper (our local paper) is the sister paper of the one doing the story on you, they might decide to do it too, is that all right?" Of course we didn't mind! Two newspapers doing stories about us! Even better! So the next Saterday, in the top right hand corner, there was a little picture of my mom and Moses, with a little caption saying, "In Tomorrow's Paper: Crossing Families; International Adoption" We all thought that was very cool, and didn't expect much more than that. So when we got the Sunday paper, and saw (no joke) our family pictures blown up across the entire front page.. we were pretty excited! I was famous at school for about a week after that! My teachers would all be teaching, and then catch my eye, and suddenly say, "Oh yes, did everyone see Erin and her family in the newspaper this weekend?" Everyone was soo excited.. some people were even more excited than I was about it! :P
But I just thought that was really cool.. I mean, who wouldn't like to be a little famous, even the tiniest bit? Oh, and our really good friends are neighbors with the paper boys, so we ended up getting not one, not two, but a total of 7 or 8 copies of that paper! :D And the paper boys were pretty excited too.. as they came to the door (it was open, so we said hi), they looked down at the paper, then back at us, then whispered, then said, "You're the people in the newspaper!" Yes we are! :D
It was kind of funny though.. for the next few weeks, even in the grocery store, complete strangers would come up to my mom and say, "Oh your kids are so cute.. hey! I saw you in the paper!" We even ended up meeting a very kind Ethiopian man because of it. He had seen the pictures, and read the story, and ever since then, had been desperate to meet us. It just so happened, that he was friends with the owner of the Ethiopian restaurant we always go to, so when we showed up, the owner called him. Suddenly, my dad was handed the phone, and was soon talking away with this sweet man who was saying how excited he was to see that we had adopted one of his countries children, and how excited he was to talk to us! It was so sweet!
So it was a pretty cool experience all together!

The Picture in the corner of the Saturday Paper.

The Front Page Picture.

The picture on the inside, with the story.

A Little About Me

2007-07-04T15:10:00.000-07:00

Hi There!
My name is Erin, and I go to high school in British Columbia, Canada. I have two wonderful parents, four siblings, three rabbits, and a large extended family, stretching all the way to England, which is where my mom is from. My family is actually very international.. my dad's parents are from Siberia, my mom and her family are from England, and, the newest addition to our family, my two youngest siblings are from Ethiopia. You can read all about that on my other blog:

http://erins-ethiopia-trip.blogspot.com/

That is the story of my little brother and sister, Ayana and Moses , and how they came to be in our family, and different stories since they came. It started off as just a way to communicate with my friends while I was in Ethiopia picking them up, but I changed my mind, and I now write in it pretty regularly, althougth sometimes I forget to! I will be updating that blog, as well as this one, so feel free to read both! :D My other two siblings are Megan, and Josh, and they are both biological.

I have been to many different places, most of them with my family:

1991, 1993, 2002, 2003 (Every Season!)- England

2002 (Fall)- Portugal

1998 (Fall)-China

2004, 2005, 2006 (Spring)- Mexico

2005 (Summer)- Uganda

2006 (Summer)- Ethiopia

I love traveling, and I just know that there is a lot more in store for me over my lifetime. If you're wondering how we were able to travel during the fall, well the answer is.. I was homeschooled from Kindergarten until Grade 5. My parents tought me, and no.. I couldn't go to school in my pajamas! =)

Anyway, here are a couple of facts about me:

Name: Erin
Age: Turning 16 soon! :D

Interests/Hobbies: reading, going on the computer, hanging out with my friends, taking pictures of.. everything! :P, playing with my brothers and sisters, traveling, babysitting, scrapbooking

Favourite Movies: oh wow... tons.. my friends say I like every movie. But I'd have to say my favourites are probably LOTR (all of them), Pirates (all of them again), A Walk to Remember, Bridge to Terabithia (sooooo sad!!)

Favourite Books: that's almost harder than movies, but: LOTR again (I've read the whole series 7 times! :P), Inkheart, Inkspell, Dragonrider, and the Katherine Kingsbury series (Redemption, and Firstborn series)

Family: David, my dad; Lesley, my mom; Megan, my sister; Joshua, my brother; Ayana, my sister; Moses, my brother.

This is a picture from a while back of my whole, wonderful family. It was actually in the newspaper! But I'll tell you about that later. For now, I've got to go. Talk to you later!