Today my group went to two different locations. This morning
we went to the Lockport Home for senior citizens. It is a complex of buildings.
The first one was built in the 1800’s and was home to Abraham Lincoln’s
Secretary of the Treasury who was on the $1000 bill. The other buildings are
connected and were built at various times. At the Lockport Home we talked to
seniors and played a word game with them where we had to unscramble the letters
in a phrase to spell a new word. My team won with the word “polycarbonates”.
After that we talked with the residents and drank smoothies. One senior named
Bob fought in World War 2 in the Battle of the Bulge. He told us about the
worst 12 hours of his life and how he earned his Silver Star. This was really
cool because this week’s theme is about storylines and Bob told us a lot about
himself. We also did some chair exercises which was very interesting. Tomorrow
we are at the Lockport Home all day and there we will be having the Annual
Lockport Olympics which should be very entertaining.
We then ate lunch and left for our housing site which was
where our second project was. On the way we got some shakes at a local restaurant
and bakery. We arrived at St. Raphael’s and got to work sorting and cleaning sandals
that had been thrown away after people used them at the Cave Winds Attraction
at Niagara Falls State Park. These went to places locally and abroad.
Next was showers and after those we saw Micah who we met
earlier in the week and gave us his story. Micah is a native to Niagara Falls
and has Asperger’s and also had brain cancer. He introduced us to his barber
who also gave us his story. We went to the Falls this evening and saw Micah
there too. Today was a really good day and I thought it was really cool to
learn other people’s stories since that is our theme this week. –Luke
Today the group I was in worked at two churches at the first
one we worked with older people and played bingo and ate lunch with them at
Trailblazing Seniors. The people there were very nice and very hard working and
I got to talk to a lot of cool people. At the second church which was also the
home of the person who instructed us we helped set up the stations for a kids
club. We did things like setting up a slip and slide and a speaker system. We
filled up water balloons and set out sidewalk chalk. Then we set up a coloring
contest and made lunches for the kids. We got it done pretty quick and even met
some kids that came bye while we were setting up so we had a little bit of fun
while we were there Noah went on the slip and slide in his shorts so he was wet
for most of the ride back to the church.
After dinner which was taco Tuesday. After word we went to Niagara
Falls there were so many people and it was very beautiful there was a park and
the Falls were very beautiful with mist that flew high into the sky. We then
went on the Maid of the Mists where we had to wear ponchos because of how much
mist came of the falls when you went bye them it was so beautiful and interesting
and I really enjoyed it. After the ride we walked around looked at the gift
shop and walked to Goat Island where the falls started we got to look of the
falls and in the dark light were shined on them with red, white. And blue for
the Canadian and American Flag. And at 10:00 they showed fireworks over the
falls, they didn’t last very long but after they ended we stayed a little long
and headed back though we ended up going the wrong way back but we just took a
path through the town to get back and I had so much fun today and I am glad
that I got to help people and met new people. –Elizabeth
When I first arrived in Niagara Falls I made an assumption
that everyone would be well off and have lots of money. The first evening
activity that we did was a poverty simulation which put into perspective of
what poverty was really like there. Around 60% of people were on some form of
government assistance. This was shocking to me because I have never been here
and just assumed that everyone would have jobs and be rich because of the
falls. I was mistaken when I went to see the falls, they were beautiful, but
what I also noticed is that in Canada there is so much going on, but in America
there is only one casino. This made me think about how could this be possible
for a place to have such a beautiful landmark to still be in poverty, not to
mention that more of the falls are on the American side, but on the other side
you have so much to do. The poverty simulation person said that there once was
a time where everyone was working and had a job working in factories around
there, but that those factories closed and people lost their jobs because of
it. Just driving around there a plethora of factories that are abandoned. It
was sad to see this and I also got a more personal account of what life was
like around the Niagara when I spoke to some of the kids in my kids club. Today
I talked one on one with about 3 or 4 kids and just asked what it was like
living next to the falls, and what they thought about it. They all told me that
I needed to go to Canadian side because the New York side was boring. I
personally enjoyed the New York side, but I can’t blame them for saying what
they thought. The whole time in the background I saw a big Ferris wheel and
hotels, zip lines, and it all just made
me want to come and see what was going on.
Today we lead a discovery station and the kids got to share
some of what they had discussed about the reading, some of the kids told
personal stories of what they answered. The question was “What is a moment when
you thought something bad was going to happen but something good had come out
of it.” One person said that their sibling (who was sitting right next to her)
had survived cancer and has been perfectly fine for 3 years this girl was
around 8 or 9 so she has been struggling for a while. The next person shared
that one time she made a mistake and thought her dad was going to be mean to
her and her little sister, but she was surprised and happy when he was not mad
at them, she said whenever she made a mistake he would always be mean to her.
The final person spoke about forgiveness and being accepting, she said when she
went to school she was bullied, and that people used to beat her up. She said
that they are now best friends and that they worked everything out. The thing
that I learned from this is that I should not have had a prejudice against the
kids. I thought they hadn’t been through anything, and it made me think these kids
are only 8 and have been through more hardships than I have. They did not let
it get them down, and I think that is something I will want to take away from
this mission trip, that I shouldn’t assume so much until I talk and get to know
someone. –Ryan
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