This Intensive Learning taught me a lot about the Camden community. Moving forward with my volunteer time going back to Camden is a good possibility. I really enjoyed volunteering at the soup kitchen and seeing all the grateful people and how happy someone can be, despite being in the position they are. I would...
Continue readingFinding Meaning Through Service
This week we went to a lot of places where people were really in need and we helped them by donating food and clothes, serving them breakfast and lunch and simply giving them someone to talk to. The two places that impacted me the most were the Cathedral Food Pantry, which we went to one...
Continue readingSouth Jersey Service: Youth Engineering and Science
Exploration: something that everyone desires, but only a few get to grasp. So many people aspire to spend even a fraction of their lives exploring places, ideas, memories, yet barely a handful of them find the lucky key that unlocks the time for exploration. Today, the key was handed to us, as well as...
Continue readingInvigorated by Service, Then Salsa
Wednesday, March 29 Today we woke up at 8:30 to eat breakfast and get started on the exciting day we had planned. After breakfast, we split into two groups. Most of our group went outside to the street in front of the church to unload a bus carrying 312 cases of Bibles for the...
Continue readingService in Camden: Cathedral Food Pantry & Anna Sample House
We made sandwiches for distribution at Cathedral Food Pantry on Market Street. We ate lunch at CK Cafe, a social enterprise project through Cathedral Kitchen, where MFSers frequently help out. We also did some work at the Anna Sample House through Volunteers of America....
Continue readingLet’s Sew for Babies, Day 6: Final Stitches
This morning when we arrived at the Greenleaf some of us put the final stitches on our projects and some made simple projects to add to the collection. Alden, Josh, and Alex had finished all their projects and cooked us breakfast. They made eggs, bacon, and hot chocolate. Once we wrapped up all of our projects...
Continue readingSacred Spaces Philadelphia: Highlights
We concluded our exploration of Sacred Spaces with a an enjoyable visit to the Penn Museum. The museum has three floors of gallery space that feature materials from the ancient Mediterranean World, Egypt, the Near East, Mesopotamia, East Asia, and Mesoamerica. You can also find artifacts from the indigenous peoples of Africa and Native...
Continue readingSouth Jersey Service: Collingswood Methodist Home
Mortality: a paradox constantly stressed but often neglected. We know our time is of the essence, yet we sometimes forget to act upon it, and end up sometimes breathing instead of living. On average, our species lives seventy-nine years before our parting breath. Us humans go through life constantly waiting on the next step,...
Continue readingThe Final Day of Blacksmithing
Today, Jack, Christian, and Jakob worked diligently on household utilities such as a fireplace poker and a spatula. Bruce brought the cows over to the forge area to keep us company and to graze new lands. Some brave blacksmiths even went over to confront the animals and became friends. Liz, Robbie, Roman, and Tanay...
Continue readingQuilting: Binding it all Back Home
We spent most of our day using our sewing machines or hand stitching the binding onto our quilts. The pressing of fabrics and cutting of cotton also occurred at various points during our day. We were rewarded in the end with pretzels and Starbucks from Main Street....
Continue readingBayshore: The Sun Appears!
Today at Bayshore was extremely productive. Upon our arrival we proceeded to remove the winter cover from the Meerwald. We removed the cover and took away the pipes holding it up. We then proceeded to paint a glossy white coat on the Meerwald’s cabin and rails. It was absolutely beautiful later in the...
Continue readingHard Work, Rewarding Work
Monday, March 27, 2017 Today was a great day for the Cuba trip! We began the morning at 8:30 with a breakfast of bacon, eggs, bread, and cheese, along with fresh fruits and guava juice. At 9:30, we were off to a Friends Church in a coastal town of Puerto Padre,...
Continue readingGive Kids the World: Some Final Words
As I find myself in the airport reflecting on the week, I would first like to thank the parents for allowing us to take this wonderful group. They worked hard, knew how to interact with kids and adults, and they had lots of fun. It was nice not to have to be a chaperone...
Continue readingWhat Does it Take to Keep a Tall Ship Up and Running?
It started raining and thundering today, keeping us from applying the final coats of Penetrol to the spars. We were able to move some smaller pieces of the boat undercover, where some of us scraped some paint off the wood and then repainted it. Those of us outside got drenched in horizontally-falling rain water, so it...
Continue readingGYLI: Rock Climbing & Final Reflection
Today was a long day for us at GYLI. We left MFS and went to Elite Climbing for the day. After we had a quick training, everyone was scrambling up the various climbing wall. Although the rock climbing is really challenging because most of us have never tried this, and we were all really...
Continue reading