spring is here - South Burlington High School - Website

School News
The Last Word 2009 The Rebel Word Page 6
PLANTING HOPE IN NICARAGUA
by Emily Perley
San Ramon is a small, poverty
stricken village in western Nicaragua,
about 30 minutes south of
Matagalpa. In coordination with
the Planting Hope organization,
and a People’s Academy exchange,
Scott Britt, Sara Weinberg, Andrew
Thompson, and Hannah Kay,
traveled there under the guidance
of Mr. Shields. Their goal was to
create a documentary to chronicle
and complement a book written by
Nicaraguan students about their
village.
While there, the students spent
a lot of time at the local schools,
working with the children in the
village. They delivered donations,
including new baseball and soccer
uniforms. At the library built
by Planting Hope in La Chispa,
the children learned to tie-dye and
make bracelets.
Students stayed with families
in the village, sharing meals and
homes. They played soccer, visited
local landmarks, and learned
about the culture. The weather
was oppressively hot, 95 degrees
at night and well over 100 during
the day. But that didn’t stop them
from going on a zipline tour of the
forest canopy, and swimming in
a volcanic crater. A favorite treat
was chocobananas, frozen bananas
dipped in chocolate to create a
Popsicle.
Joining the students was a set
of South Burlington camera equipment.
With loving names like
“Percy” and “Gretta,” these cameras
were responsible for capturing
the experiences. All the film taken
on the trip will be cut and edited
into a documentary corresponding
to the book written by Nicaraguan
students. This video should be
complete sometime next fall.
Andrew Thompson and Scott Britt.
Andrew Thompson, Sara Weinberg and
Scott Britt out on a shoot.
Hannah Kay
HABITAT FOR HUMANITY LAYS ITS FOUNDATION AT SBHS
by Kendra Pillsbury
Habitat for Humanity is a nonprofit,
Christian housing ministry.
Habitat’s main goal is to eliminate
poverty and homelessness
from the world. By providing
housing for those in need, they
seek to make decent shelter for
all a matter of conscience and
action. Habitat has built more
than 300,000 houses around the
world, providing more than 1.5
million people in more than 3,000
communities with safe, decent,
affordable shelter. Habitat was
founded in 1976 by Millard Fuller
along with his wife, Linda.
A common misconception is
that Habitat just gives houses
to people. The families that
are chosen to receive a home
must contribute a $500 down
payment. They must also take
homeowner classes to make sure
they can maintain the home they
purchase. The families must
also put in 300 to 500 hours of
work on their home or someone
else’s home. The houses are
built through volunteer labor
and donations of money and
materials. Throughout the world,
the cost of houses varies from as
little as $800 in some developing
countries to an average of nearly
$60,000 in the United States.
Habitat has a presence in more
than 90 countries, including all
50 states of the United States,
the District of Columbia, Guam
and Puerto Rico.
This year was SB’s second
trip to volunteer for Habitat
for Humanity. Both times SB
traveled to Rocky Mount, North
Carolina over April break. Rocky
Mount is seven hundred and sixty
three miles away, which is about
14 hours by bus. 23 SB students
and three chaperones volunteered
for this year’s trip. Junior class
member Megan Titus said, “It was
a really fun but rewarding way
to spend my April vacation.” On
our first day we met at the school
at 7 a.m. to travel to Washington
DC where we would be staying the
night. We woke up early the next
morning and started driving the
rest of the way to Rocky Mount.
After getting settled in we started
our work at the work site. We
worked on three houses while
we were there. The first house
we painted. The second house
we installed a door, put up trim
and caulked where necessary.
We did mostly finishing work on
the second house because the
family needed to move in soon.
Meghan explained that it was
great to meet that family. She
appreciated witnessing their
gratefulness toward all of SB’s
hard work and generosity. The
third house the group worked
on was just walls when they got
there. The SB group installed
windows, put up siding, worked
on roofing, and landscaped. The
work on the third house showed
the most improvement. Seeing
it go from looking like a work
site to a home was the greatest
feeling ever. Senior class member
Ty Myers recalled, “I know that
the person who moves into that
house will appreciate our work.”
When we were done with our four
days we all felt good about what
we had accomplished. David
Manago also a senior leader on
the trip said his favorite work site
experience was that, “No matter
continued on page 7