Day Three of Community Service

We made good progress today on the beautification project in the school auditorium, but scraping off three former coats of paint is definitely tedious work. Justin Moryto wanted me to point out that he has never worked as hard as he did today. I can´t vouch for his past experiences with physical labour, but I can confirm that he worked very hard today. Another hour of work tomorrow morning and we should be ready to start the actual painting. Tomorrow is our last day at this school, so we really hope to have something positive to show for our efforts. At least we know that whatever we don´t finish this week will be completed by the next group when they arrive. They´ll have the easy task of painting a scraped, plastered, and nicely sanded wall in the auditorium. We´re making better progress in the school library, though. Sandi spent the day in there with Kelsey Boland, Colin Glen, Stephen Townsend and Robbie Williams. They have the walls painted and have now started on sanding down the ceiling (which the principal decided as an after-thought that she would like to have painted. Their efforts are paying off, although the other group will have some final touches to complete in there as well.
Toward the end of the afternoon today we spent almost an hour playing with the kids at the school. This is clearly the favourite part of the day for our boys as well as the children at the school.
We finally received an update from the sailing group this evening as well. They say that the boating is going great. The weather was bad on Monday night, so they didn´t leave until 5:00 a.m. on Tuesday. They sailed for 12 hours straight and most of the boys were sea-sick, but they got over it within a few hours. They docked that day at Ilhe Grande and slept there for the night. On Wednesday they swam to shore and went on a great hike to a beach on the opposite side of the island. Last night they returned to the small village on the island after having dinner on the boat. Danielle says that meals have been fantastic.

That´s all for today. We hope everyone at home is well.

Mid-way Update: Group 1 Sailing

Wednesday, August 3rd

The sailing group has spent the last two days voyaging from Marina de Gloria in Rio to a beautiful island, creatively named Ilhe Grande!

When we arrived at the boat Monday, we spent the first few hours getting acquainted with the captain and his crew. We had our first meal on the boat, then after lunch we spent some more time getting to know the crew as it was too windy to set sail. We went to bed early with plans to make a 12-hour sail in the morning.

Tuesday we awoke at 5am to find there was absolutely no wind to be found! So the captain resorted to the use of a motor to get us started. We travelled by boat until around 4pm. By noon, we had all gotten over our seasickness, but the hours from 6-11am were tough for most. When we finally anchored at Ilhe Grande, the boys jumped into the ocean and swam to shore. This island is around 190km2, but the small beach we arrived at was empty. After spending some time on shore, we returned to the Tocorime for dinner, cards, and finally to bed.

This morning, we slept in until 7am, had a great breakfast, then went in to shore once again. We took a beautiful hike around the island to find a gorgeous beach on the other side. It was a bit overcast, but the boys had a great time in the ocean and playing soccer on the beach. We returned to the boat for a late lunch and sailed around the island to anchor in front of the only village located on the island. After a light dinner, we took the dingy in to shore and are spending the evening exploring this tiny town.

All members of the crew on the Tocorime have been amazing. The boys´favourite is Nina the chef, whom they believe to be a miracle worker! We are looking forward to another great hike on Ilhe Grande tomorrow, which will take us past two beautiful waterfalls. We can´t wait! Internet may be unavailable until Sunday, so expect another update then.

Day Two of Community Service

The group that is currently in Salvador has now finished its second day of community service work at the Escola Aberta do Calabar. This is a community funded school run by an association of volunteers. They receive no government backing and, therefore, depend on support from international donors. Due to limited donations over the last couple years, teachers have virtually been volunteering their time and they´ve had to cut back by half on the number of students they can accommodate. Our donations have not yet been distributed, but there is no question that they are badly needed and will be very much appreciated.

We´ve been working on three major projects at the school so far: planting a garden around the inside perimeter wall of the school yard; sanding, plastering and painting in the auditorium; and sanding, plastering and painting the library. The garden is now finished, so all of our manpower will be focused on the library and auditorium for the next two days. The work is tedious, but we have regular interuptions from the children at the school as they come in at every possible opportunity. They have tonnes of energy and love to play with our boys. Some of the girls are convinced that Mark Denton is actually Justin Bieber, so he has received his share of attention. Luke Mitchell is also really good with the kids; Sandi and I are amazed at how he keeps up with them. Aidan Romeril seems to have a fathering instinct and has already chosen one of the kids that he´d like to bring home. Is that okay with you Pam and Elliott? The strongest members of our group seem to be Reid Sisson and Brennan de Langley as they can frequently be seen with four or five kids on their backs and shoulders, as well as under their arms. Our only student that seems to be able to match the kids for soccer prowess is Sapheer Somani. He´s a hidden talent.

Day One of Community Service

It is now Tuesday, August 2 and the groups have split up. Miss Richer, Mr. Giel and their group are on the tall ship Tocorime while Sandi Chasson and I are with our groups in Salvador. We have already done a tour of Salvador yesterday afternoon and we´re now preparing to depart for our first morning of community service. Salvador is a beautiful city and our hostel is right on the coast. Jon Cannon went for a run along the beach this morning and Brennan de Langley and Kelsey Boland went for an early morning swim. The rest of the guys were a little slower to wake up, but even just being able to eat breakfast on a terrace overlooking the ocean is a treat. The photo to the right shows our group in the historic district of Salvador. Tonight after our project work we´ll be heading back there for a street festival with live music and dancing in the streets.

Photos from Rio

Day Three in Rio de Janeiro

It is now our third day in Rio de Janeiró. Yesterday we made it to the Christ statue and got some great photos of downtown Rio, the beaches, and so on. The views from the lookout points were quite spectacular and despite the wind and occasional cloud cover, it was well worth the trip. From there we found our way to Ipanema Beach in time for a late lunch and quick swim before dark. We then made our way back to Lapa, which is the subdivision in which our hostel is located. We´re becoming quite comfortable with the use of public buses now, and we´ve found the people of Rio to be more than willing to lend a hand with directions and translations. The city is actually very welcoming and we´ve seen no signs of the dangers that people from North America talk so much about.

Today we are back at Ipanema Beach. Sundays are clearly a popular day for heading to the beach as there were thousands of people just along this one stretch of sand. Sunday is also the day for a weekly market located one block off the beach in Ipanema. We spent some time looking through the market for various souvenirs.

Tomorrow two groups will be off to the airport very early to catch our flight to Salvador while the third group makes their way to the port where the Tocorime is docked. We´re all going to miss Rio and look forward to our return in a couple weeks. That being said, we have much to see and do between now and then. Ciao!

Day Two in Rio de Janeiro

It´s now 10:30 a.m. on our second day in Rio de Janeiro. All aspects of our flight went smoothly and we made it to our hostel without a hitch yesterday. We thought the boys might be tired after almost 20 hours in transit, but that did not turn out to be the case. They were too excited to explore the city. After some time to shower and clean up, the entire group walked down the hill to a local restaurant for a taste of Brazilian barbecue for lunch. From there we caught a city bus to Copacabana beach. We spent the afternoon swimming, playing frisbee and football, and sipping on coconut water right out of the coconuts. Travelling with a group of 40 people has proved to be challenging, and we certainly attract some attention, but we already seem to be getting the hang of moving around in this city.

The plan for today is to make our way to the Christ Statue followed by an afternoon of fun on Ipanema beach. I hope to have some photos to attach with my next update.

Countdown

One week remains before the start of the 9th annual SASSAW trip. Thirty-four students, five teachers and two Old Boys will be embarking on a three week adventure to Brazil. Site-seeing in Rio de Janeiro, a community service project in Salvador, a sailing expedition along the coast of Brazil from Rio to Paraty, a trek in Chapada Diamantina National Park, and a tour of Iguassu Falls are among the many adventures in store for our group. Departure: Thursday, July 28.