Blog Entries tagged 'international'

Saying Goodbye

tbrozyna

By Sarah Heady

BuildaBridge is coordinating a Diaspora of Hope Artist on Call program this Thanksgiving in Guatemala City, Guatemala, Portau Prince, Haiti and Nairobi, Kenya. November [...]

Rehearsal and Celebration, Part Two

aforeman

Just before the afternoon session began, it started to rain—really, really hard. It was raining sideways, and, because the school is at the base of a valley, all of the water flows downhill towards it. While it normally trickled down the steep bank towards the sewage creek, the water shot o [...]

Rehearsal and Celebration, Part One

aforeman

The afternoon storm had threatened houses and created swirling rapids in the sewage creek. The following day, as the children arrived for their final presentation, “mineros,” miners, took advantage of the lowered water level to search for recyclables to sell. The color and enthu [...]

La Limonada-The Other Side, Part Two

aforeman

On the balcony earlier, Evertsz said that some time ago God had come to her in a dream, instructing her to visit the gang member with whom we had spoken outside of the school. While she was afraid, she went anyway. Later on, he was shot. This was one of the first times he had [...]

La Limonada-The Other Side, Part One

aforeman

“See all the shotgun blasts? That’s why people don’t like to
have windows.” While the rest of the group continued their teaching, I ventured
“al otro lado,” to the other side. There is no fence separating the two sides;
the gan [...]

The First Day in the Slum

aforeman

A four year old child responding to an inquiry about how to solve problems or conflicts made a comment about bringing a machete. This begs the question, what has he seen? La Limonada is one of the most dangerous and poverty-stricken areas of Guatemala City, and seventy pe [...]

The Weekend

aforeman

The days were devoid of the rain that came daily at the beginning of our trip, and they lacked the intensity of prison visits, overnight stays with Mayan families and trash dump observations. Wrapping up our first week in Guatemala, Friday, Saturday and Sunday were certainly l [...]

The Trash Dump

aforeman

Think of a postcard of a beautiful blue lake surrounded by volcanoes. Now, think of dirt hills covered in trash. From afar, the hills look covered in a light coat of snow, sprinkled with touches of color here and there. Now, add hundreds of people picking through the trash to make thei [...]

Days Two and Three, Part Two

aforeman

David Melby-Gibbons, an Eastern Graduate student,
played guitar while we sang several songs, among them: Amazing
Grace—first in English, then Spanish.We concluded the bonfire by
roasting some “angelitos,” marshmallows, which we enjoyed with the
children.

It was n [...]

Days Two and Three, Part One

aforeman

It’s hard to pick the high point of our second full day in Guatemala. It could be the three hour ride from Guatemala City to the Lake and surrounding Mayan villages—the farms, the colorful towns, mudslides and mountain vistas. Perhaps it was the choppy ride across Lake Atitlan during an afternoon downpour. Or maybe it was the nighttime ride hanging off the back of a pickup truck with about 20 other passengers, followed by a wonderful dinner and bonfire sing-a-l [...]

Overseas Institute Participants

aforeman

From their respective cities, five overseas visitors traveled over 17,000 miles to reach Byrn Mawr, Pennsylvania and the BuildaBridge Institue, traveling from Oslo, Norway, Drammen, Norway, Guatemala City, Guatemala and Lejre, Denmark.

After receiving a grant three years ago to visit churches and religi [...]

Artists on Call: Estrategia de Transformacion Mural-Final Day

ncorbitt

We didn’t have the proper party we were hoping for when we finished the mural today. The tall, sturdy ladder we needed to reach the top half of the wall was in use at the prison hospital most of the day. I had brought with me a change of nice clothes for the event, but someone spilled black paint on the blouse while it wa [...]

Artists on Call: Estrategia de Transformacion Mural- Day 3

ncorbitt

Today the men made us lunch. It was a nice surprise! Two fries eggs with beans and a lot of bread. One of the chaplains who translates for us was excited to take several photos of me eating it. One or two chaplains sit with the men every day. While I am here they are my guides and guards.

The men who gather to watc [...]

Artists on Call: Bonzai in Guatemala

ncorbitt

Leah Samuelson. It's hard to know what to think about the painting gangsters. They have such a strong and violent reputation here (no one will work with them), and I'm getting feedback from different outside sources:

One opinion is that these guys aren't a good use of our resources, which

would be better spent in poor villages with people who aren't murdering people. </

Another opinion is that the real enemy lies within the church- among those who d [...]

From Scotland With Love

ncorbitt

Take some origami birds from the kids of the Create! Achievement after-school program. Accompany Dr. and Mrs. Corbitt and Dr. Nix-Early on their recent

visit to Glasgow, Scotland where they presented "Arts and Transformation" to a lively group of artists and community workers from [...]

Group Leaves for Cairo and Cross-Cultural Discovery

ncorbitt

It is late in the evening--should have been sooner--and we are on our way for the land of the Pharoahs, pyramids, camels, and one of the largest cities in the world with a growing sprawling urban population. This land of contrasts of the Lexus and the Olive Tree will be the discovery tour through the 15th with stduents from Eastern Univerity and guests.

O Little Town of Bethlehem

katlac00

Christmas in Bethlehem was quite an experience. A lot of stores had Christmas decorations, not put up in August like the United States, but at a more reasonable time just a few weeks before December 25th. Although I was in the most amazing

place to celebrate Christmas, to celebrate the true meaning of Christmas anyway- it didn't feel like Christ [...]

Teaching English in Aida Refugee Camp

katlac00

I've been living in Aida refugee camp for almost two weeks now, and am finally becoming familiar with the smells and sounds. There is no real system of garbage collection in the camp, and most of the waste is thrown into empty gardens or on the streets. The smell of garbage is mixed with smells of spices and cooki [...]

Beautiful Resistance

katlac00

I am finally settled in Aida refugee camp in Bethlehem. In the camps you can see poverty and the poorest living conditions in the town, but living in the camp builds a sense of community with those I will be working with.

Last week I arrived safely in Tel Aviv, Israel [...]