Almost home!

We are on the train, and almost home!

Sunday, March 10

Our last day. 

The kids got to sleep in a little bit today (though with daylight savings they didn't really sleep in too much). This morning we will do our final reflection and think about going home.

Last night one group went to the shelter with the dinner we had cooked. The shepherd's pie was a huge success!

During the evening we sat around the fire, played basketball, and the kids ate a lot of donuts!

After reflection this morning we will walk to the cathedral for mass, and from there get shuttled to the train station.

One note to friends and family - be gentle to them as they come home. A trip like this one can be a very profound experience, and it is not always easy to talk about. Give your kids time to share. They might need a few days, and some will probably be pretty quiet on the car ride home. That is ok... They will tell you when they are ready.

They have been a remarkable presence here... Such an open and caring group, who really came to help and to learn. I am so proud of them.

Thank you for the opportunity to have them here.

Saturday March 8

Well, the work never stops! We got up early and were out working by 8:30. We met with a group from Cristo Rey high school, a catholic school in Philadelphia. Our kids worked with them to paint a mural of the sky and clouds inside the school basement. Mrs. McNeil organized the design, and our students painted all day long, just finishing at about 5 PM.

Another group cooked shepherd's pie for the soup kitchen tonight... Enough for 85 people! Jacob and Mr. Sears stayed in the kitchen the whole day, cooking beef, vegetables, and lots and lots of potatoes!

Mr. D and Mr. Fitz led the outside cleaning crew, cleaning out the alley and then sweeping out Northgate Park. 

Tonight we were joined by a group from JMU and from Riveria College in N.H. They will work here the rest of the week.

On our last night, a group will go to Joseph House, the homeless shelter, to serve dinner.

The kids are very tired, but so happy and very present to their experience here. Tomorrow we will get up, have our closing reflection, and then get ready to come home. The time has gone by so quickly!

Friday March 7

Today was a very busy and a very rich day.

This morning, after breakfast, we walked to the cathedral of the Immaculate Conception. On our walk, we stopped at a memorial for two young men who were killed two summers ago. Fr. Mike has worked with the mom to care for the site, and a group from WA actually built the small shrine last year. We stopped there to pray. 

From there we split into two groups to do morning service. One group stayed at the cathedral to work on the sandwich ministry... They made sandwiches and handed them out to the homeless. We also did some cleaning around the cathedral, and organized clothes that would be given out to the needy.

The other group went to a place called New Visions, a day shelter for the homeless. It is a place where people can come to get in off the street, warm up, and have something to eat. We had a chance to talk with them, and even play chess against one of the guests. Mr. Sears put up a valiant struggle, but eventually lost his match!

After the morning was over, the students came back and went to lunch and recess at Holy Name school. Then it was time for the bodega meal… Where the students are divided into four families, and every person gets one dollar each for the meal. This represents what families in Camden have available to buy food. We go to the local corner stores and the students have to buy their dinner there. There are no regular grocery stores in Camden, in most families have to subsist on what is sold in these tiny shops. It is an eye opening experience.

This evening, after cooking our meals, half of our group went to a local AA meeting. It is run by Rick, who spoke with our group yesterday. Our kids had the chance to hear the stories of those in Camden who are struggling with addiction.

Tonight we have Mass at 9:30, and then we will end the day with some reflection about our experiences.

The kids are tired, and are working very hard. But they are in great spirits, in the house is filled with laughter. You would be so proud of them, to see how hard they work, and how open and compassionate they are to the people they're meeting. I am so grateful to be able to be here with them.

One last note – the kids were very excited to see Mr. Fitzpatrick, who is joined us this evening. He will stay tonight and through the day tomorrow. It is great to see him again.

Dinner

We cook and eat as a community, and Blake, Caitlin, and Teddy cooked a wonderful chicken and pasta meal tonight!

We are here!

We arrived safely at about 12:30. We were greeted by Mike Morgan, who is on staff here, on a borrowed school bus, who drove us to our home for the next three nights. There we met Fr. Mike McCue, the director of the program. After a brief orientation, we listened to Rick, who works with DeSales Service Works.  He shared his struggles with addiction and what it has been like to stay sober.

In a few hours, we will go to Holy Name school, a small catholic school across the alley, to help with after school care. Then we will cook dinner together, and half the group will go to Joseph house, a homeless shelter. The other half will stay behind to watch a film about Camden. The rest of us will go to the shelter on Saturday night.

We are on our way!

Everyone was on time and ready this morning! A big thanks goes out to Mr. Green, our math teacher and track coach, for driving us on the big bus!

Now the kids  are watching movies or sleeping. We are a few miles south of Fredericksburg, VA. 

Thanks to all of those who help to make this experience happen.

I will update the blog each evening... Depending on the day it might not be until late in the night.

The students seem really excited... for some of them this is their first train ride!

Spring Camden Trip is coming soon!

Our spring trip is less than a month away! 

Today the group is meeting together for a brief orientation about the trip. Here are a few resources that might help you to get ready for Camden.

DeSales Service Works: http://desalesservice.org/

On Being podcast on Poverty in America: http://www.onbeing.org/program/seeing-poverty-after-katrina/feature/history-poverty-america/2150

Camden Video from 2011: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FBBRQbtHEx8

 See below for some practical info about our trip.
Transportation We will be departing for Camden on Thursday, March 6. Students must be at Walsingham Academy at 5:15 AM on Thursday morning. We will drive in the big bus to Richmond, VA, where we will take the Amtrak train to Philadelphia.

 YOU MUST BRING AN ID FOR THE TRAIN. 

 Our train is #174, and it departs Richmond Staples Mill Station at 7:10 AM. We arrive in Philadelphia at 12:12 PM, and will be picked up at the train station for our short ride to Camden.

 We will return to Williamsburg on Amtrak on Sunday, March 9. Our train is # 99, and departs Philadelphia at 2:12 PM, arriving in Williamsburg at 8:23 PM.

Students should be picked up at the train station on Sunday evening.
(Amtrak arrival info; (800) 872-7245) The station is located at 468 North Boundary Street, near the public library and Post Office.

What to bring / not to bring:

Clothes:  Students are encouraged to pack simply, limiting their luggage to one bag. Bring a sleeping bag or blanket, and a pillow. Dress for our retreat is casual. Students should pack clothes appropriate for working (painting, cooking, etc.) and for the weather. Students must bring clothes appropriate for the weather. The weather is projected to be spring-like, but please bring a jacket in case it gets cold. Students should bring something appropriate for Church on Sunday – however this can be a nicer pair of jeans, etc. No need to bring anything very dressy.

 Cellphones, computers, iPads, etc. Students are encouraged to check in with their families by cell phone. In the interest of the retreat, however, calls should be limited so that students are able to fully participate in all activities. We ask students to stay off their phones during our activities. Students can feel free to bring iPods or video players for the train rides, but should leave these things behind during our service work each day.  

Meals and money All meals are included in our retreat stay. However, we will spend several hours on the train each way, so students are encouraged to bring spending money for meals and incidentals. Homework As this is a retreat, I strongly encourage students to leave homework behind if at all possible. I realize there will be time on the train to do work, but I also want students to be able to fully enter the experience and not to be worried about schoolwork. I leave this up to each student to decide.

 Students will be given a journal for this retreat, and may want to bring a Bible.

Video.

We usually make a video of our trip.

You can see it here: http://youtu.be/oFhZAOTvNt0

Thanks again for all your support.

Home.

We are on the train home. The kids are talking, playing games, doing homework, and sleeping.

This has been a wonderful four days. I wish you could have seen how well your young people did here in Camden. Their courage and openness, their honesty and compassion, their love and compassion - all of these things flowed out of them so fully and easily. 

I am very proud of them.

One note to friends and family - be gentle to them as they come home. A trip like this one can be a very profound experience, and it is not always easy to talk about. Give your kids time to share. They might need a few days, and will probably be pretty quiet on the car ride home. That is ok... They will tell you when they are ready.

Thank you again for your trust and support over these days. 

God bless.

More pics from day three!

Day three.

Another wonderful and very busy day! We spent the morning working on three separate projects – one group planted trees with the New Jersey tree foundation, another group helped build the play ground floor at the school playground, and the third group went and led the music at an ecumenical prayer service. Then in the afternoon we went back to painting, shoveling and trimming, and working outdoors.

Our students continued their incredibly enthusiastic work, jumping in with abandon to any project they were asked to do. Today was a day of hard work – digging, cutting trees, planting trees, raking, lifting heavy foam mats, etc. Our students earned their dinners!

One thing I have not mentioned is how we reflect each evening. Our students spend about 10 minutes writing in journals about what they have experienced today. Then we go around and each person shares their thoughts, questions, reflections from the day. It is a wonderful way to unpack the experience that they are having, and it is a very holy time of day. It is the time when our kids open their hearts and share how hard it is to come to a very poor place like him and to see such beautiful and wonderful people, and not always know how to help. But we are here to have our hearts opened, and to invite God into our hearts. And the people of Camden somehow have the key that opens us up.

One last thing... We have spent the past two evenings in the backyard around the fire pit... And having some intense Camden basketball games!

Cooking dinner!

Day two.

It has been a really fun and really busy day! A few of us went running this morning over the Ben Franklin Bridge to Philadelphia and back. It was cold, and uphill both ways, but we made it.

After breakfast and morning prayer, we walked to the Catholic Cathedral of Camden where we split up into three groups for our morning volunteer service. One group did the sandwich ministry and handed out the coats that students have collected this fall to bring to Camden. They served homeless men and women who lined up for food and clothing for over two hours.

A second group went to New Visions, a homeless shelter where people can spend the daytime. The homeless often spend their days being pushed from one public place to another, never really able to rest. This place gives them a warm place have a meal, look for a job, take a shower, and to feel safe.

Our group sat and talked with them with the morning, listen to their stories, and learning about what their lives are like.

The third group was ready for manual labor! We raked leaves, cleaned up trash, and then the heavy work – moving huge blocks of granite that have fallen from the old convent building. The boys even built a granite stand for a large cross that was placed in the cathedral lot – a reminder of God's presence even in a very broken place.

After lunch we went back to holy name school and played with the kids at recess.  After recess, we came back to the house to talk with Rick, a young man who shared his story of drug addiction. He was a powerful speaker, and helped us to understand a little of the plague of drugs that cause such pain in Camden. 

Later we were broken into family of five students, and we went to shop for our dinners in the local corner stores. Each family had one dollar per person, and that was all they had to buy their dinner. It is an interesting and very eye-opening practice to try to shop on such limited funds, which is what most people in Camden have to eat for each meal.

After shopping we went back to Holy Name for after school care, and now the kids are cooking their "family meals". This evening we will have Mass together in the house chapel, and another time to reflect.

We are all weary from working so hard, but it has been a very wonderful day.