by webtester | Nov 5, 2011 | Community and Service, Front Page, Grade 10, Grade 9, The Grades
There’s this certain line graph that tends to make an appearance whenever individuals or groups are preparing for cultural immersion. It purports to show the emotional “roller coaster” that many people go through, beginning with the “high” of the new experience, which...
by webtester | Nov 4, 2011 | Community and Service, Front Page, Grade 10, Grade 9, The Grades
I was never very good at Tetris, so perhaps I wasn’t the best choice to help the masons fit the rubble stones together, jigsaw puzzle-like, along the first layer of concrete as we began to build the walls up from the ground. It’s an art form, wedging those hundreds of...
by webtester | Nov 3, 2011 | Community and Service, Front Page, Grade 10, Grade 9, The Grades
We awoke to a steady rain that had us worried about the prospect of work. After the success we had on Tuesday, I hated the idea of being stymied by the weather just as we’re about to start a three-day stretch at our sites. We passed an hour playing cards and laughing...
by webtester | Nov 2, 2011 | Community and Service, Front Page, Grade 10, Grade 9, The Grades
We were standing on a veranda overlooking a wide river. Cameras clicked away and laughter was heard, the sort of silly laughter you only hear from adults when they’re seeing something truly exceptional. “Normally we only get to see this on the tele,” Ineke remarked,...
by webtester | Nov 1, 2011 | Community and Service, Front Page, Grade 10, Grade 9, The Grades
The sound of the rain on the roof of our 15-passenger van was in competition with Renzo’s music as we made our way to the work site. Wyclef Jean’s “Gone ‘til November” was today’s choice, an appropriate welcome to the new month. After the physicality of yesterday’s...
by webtester | Oct 31, 2011 | Community and Service, Front Page, Grade 10, Grade 9, The Grades
It was 9:30 in the morning and everyone was already drenched with sweat. Miss Khadija and I were busy clearing away a site before we began digging the foundation for a kitchen. Old chunks of concrete crumbled in our hands like brown sugar as we tossed them aside into...
