Volunteer trip March 2012

Lily Cavangh, Gina Stickney and Melinda Erickson go to Guatemala to volunteer in La Limonada.... things keep getting better...follow us here, good news is growing www.reachup-reachout.org

Unforgetable Summer 2011

These are probably 1/10 the photos from my time volunteering in La Limonada. I hold deep gratitude to all the children, teachers, volunteers, staff and families I worked with and met this summer. A special thanks to Rebecca Gant for her time and many of the images. This album is dedicated to my friends Lucky & Irma. I love you, even if I am not with you, you are with me every minute of the day and you will be for the rest of my life.
Gracias por todo el tiempo con tigo.
Te quiero siempre,
Gina

GRACIAS OM YOGA GUATEMALA

Thank you to everyone that participated in the workshops at OM YOGA GUATEMALA CITY last weekend. It was a total success and we raised over Q4, 000 that's about $534.00 in two workshops. One word comes to mind A W E S O M E N E S S!

Here are a few pictures, we didn't get a lot because the photographer was also my friend Rebecca Gant, Child Sponsorship Coordinator from Lemonade International She was also participating in the workshop....she was rockin' it!

VIDAS PLENAS and LEMONADE INTERNATIONAL

WE RAISED OVER Q4,000 for VIDAS PLENAS!
www.vidasplenas.org

Who is Vidas Plenas? The Guatemalan NGO creating change in La Limonada though 2 schools for children ages 5-14 (these are the schools where I volunteer.), a safe house for children in need of a home, micro finance and community empowerment.

I am a volunteer with Lemonade International, working with the teams in place in Guatemala City who are a part of Vidas Plenas.
www.lemonadeinternational.org

Magical Guisquiles

This week was week to of my very dear Guatemalan friend, Michelle Urdales. She is awesome and teaches Computer Science at the American School here in Guatemala City. We met through my other friend Monica basically we all love and practice yoga and the rest is history. Michelle had been asking me about coming with me to La Limonada to help me teach and finally we found the right time.

Last week was the first week we team taught together and it reminded me yet again why team teaching is not only awesome and helpful for the students to learn, but also a lot of work. Thank God Michelle and I get along like long lost best friends so it was easily. It also helps that she loves kids and is a FANTASTIC teacher and story teller.

This week we chose to teach the kids again through story, but through doing the poses while we read. IT WAS A HIT. Not to mention extremely cute. VIDEO TO FOLLOW SOON! Here is the story!

Untitled from Yoga Moves Gina on Vimeo.

MAGICAL GUISQUILES!

Written by, Michelle Urdiales & Gina Stickney. (an adaptation of a fable Michelle heard, story in Spanish still to be added!)

Once upon a time there was a beautiful garden patch with lots of nutritious and delicious vegetables. In the far corner of this garden, near the safety of the surrounding bamboo, you could find a magical guisquil patch. These guisquiles loved to dream.

Some of them would dream they were warriors, strong and brave to protect their loved ones. Others would dream of being a fast and powerful eagle fling high above the trees. Some even dreamt of becoming a bright shining star coloring the night sky for all to see. Some were more interested in living on land as a wise old tree for hundreds of years, others wished to be a frog playful and fun jumping here and there to explore the world, would you believe many often dreamt to glide through the air as a colorful butterfly happy and carefree, some guisquiles dreamt of moving like a turtle slow and steady, patient and protected by the strength of their shell but even others dreamt of becoming a long slithering snake cunning and swift and respected by all.

One morning the guisquiles woke up to share their dreams with each other but they realized they and their dreams were all different. So they started bragging about who was better. “I’m better because I will protect our families” “No, I’m better because I’m wise” “Well, your wrong because I can see things way up in the sky”, “No I’m better because I’m patient” “No, No I’ better because I get to have fun all day” “I’m can shine brighter then you” “No I’m better because I’m beautiful” “I’m better because everyone respects me” The fight went on without stopping and their anger turned into strong words that hurt each other, they were so selfish and wanting to be the best that they forgot about the rest.

A dog heard all the commotion and came over to sniff out what was going on. He barked really loud for them to stop arguing and listen up! “I heard you, I heard that you are angry with each other because of your differences and I can see you are upset. Its ok to be angry like any other emotion, but when we start to hurt each other we are actually hurting ourselves too. I want you to close your eyes and breathe in and breathe out slowly with me to calm yourselves down.”said the dog. “And now I want you to reach out your hand and touch the top of your head… now follow your stem and see where it goes.”

There was a long silence for a moment in that garden because the guiskeles realized that they were each a part the same plant and therefore all one. And then the dog continued saying, “You are fighting about different qualities but in reality you each have these qualities inside of you. “Each of you is strong, brave, fast, bright, wise, playful, beautiful, patient and cunning so there is no reason to fight.

And from then on the quiskeles were kind and respectful with themselves and each other appreciating their differences because they remembered that they are all one.

THE END

symbolism and strength

This week was AWESOME! My friend Michelle came to class with me both Wednesday and Thursday....awesomeness. We taught a story that she basically made up on the fly. Her story was tells how God created all these different plants for different things, but there was one special thing that was created for many different reasons. We then ask the kids to describe all the different characteristics of the bamboo..... then we make the connection that we are like bamboo. I love when we ask them what the think the light means and hearing the different things they say, not that I always know what they say, and I love to see there faces when they come up with an idea. Kids are great.

After the story and the yoga poses, I teach them a song...
incorporated it into the song I taught for the second time at this school. It is one my friend Jean-Jacques taught me and I taught in November of 2009 at the art camp in Guate with kids from La Limonada.

WE ARE HOLLOW BAMBOO, OPEN UP YOUR HEART AND LET THE LIGHT SHINE THROUGH!

We translate the song so they know what they are saying, but they sing it in English. It is really hard for them, especially "and let the light shine though." Usually they say something that sounds like "loo-ka-lu shampoo." I absolutely love it, cute cant even describe the level of how adorable kids can be.....I know that the words are totally different linguistically, but many of the children do know it clearly and when asked to sing it SOLO in front of the class I had two very very smiliy kids after they were done.

Wow, that was one of those moments every teacher knows them....when you realize you want to try something with a shy student who understands the current topic. You ask them to explain or display it to the class and when they do, they nail it. In that moment all you can think of is "thank you God for giving that moment to that child, they really needed that!" or "I am so glad I had the huevos to ask that student do that!" "Thank goodness that student felt supported enough to share that with the class" etc etc...

After the song, we get the kids in a circle to all sign their names on a huge stick of bamboo as a sign of our community and depending on which class or which day, they then rest on their back in svasana (final rest pose) for 5 minutes..... This is the hardest part for some classes, but I feel often the most beneficial.

Next week???? Michelle please come back!

La Sistema Respiratorio

Breathing, yoga and La Limonada. Why yoga in a place where people are struggeling to find work and food? How will yoga make a difference. I ask myself this all the time and people ask me as well. The last two weeks have been even more insightful to me why God has brought me here. We have been connecting the practice with a short lesson about the respiratory system.

I don't have statistics related to kids in La Limonada using drugs, but in the last 2 weeks I have seen 2 kids walk by me right in the street (about age 14-16) huffing glue. Glue is C H E E P. Here in La Limonada kids buy it by the Q. The Q=Quetzal is the currency here. 1 doller=7.5 Qs.....so when kids are buying glue by the Q that tells you that they get there hands on drugs for less than a dollar. They simply go to a house and buy it in a plastic bag. A plastic bag full of glue they carry around with them until it evaporates while they breathe it up. What the inhalents do is basically eat you from the inside out....fast. really fast. And they get hooked even faster.

By teaching the children about the respiratory system, the will experience breathing deeply, how when they breath clean air it strengthens their body and how the body becomes weaker if exposed to chemicals and smoke. They breathing exercises also give them a gang to know how they can breath deeply so if they are

exposed to huffing, they can feel the difference in the strength of their lungs from when they use and when they don't. I tell the kids that the breathing exercises are also ways for them to calm themselves down if they are scared, angry or worried.

The pics in this blog are from this week.
PLEASE FOLLOW THIS LINK.....