Red Umbrella Photography - The Heyens Family

I made my way out to Stoney Creek today to spend some time with the Heyens family. Here are a handful of the shots from our afternoon together. I had such a fun time with these guys - they are hilarious. What a great family!

Twelve Days!?

I can't believe it's been twelve days since my last training post! Talk about slacking!! I'm glad to report that I have been working out even though I haven't been blogging about it. Okay- so maybe I haven't worked out every day but I am trying to keep at it. I'm not going to lie, it's super difficult to keep motivated at it while I'm stuck here in cold Canada while Carolyn (BWC's blogger) is in Jerusalem and Julia (BWC cyclist) is in Bolivia! To be perfectly honest, I was on Trip Advisor today looking up flights to Cali...oh how I wish I could spend my birthday weekend there -I'd bike every day and eat avocados!

Here's the truth of the matter. Coach Chris :) directed me to move from the elliptical to either running, swimming or cycling. This was fine for the first week or two because I was staying at a hotel and they had a decent gym which allowed me to get my full cardio workouts in using the treadmill and pool. Once I got home though I had a choice between my elliptical and my bike (or running too I guess...but I don't want my runners to get all slushy). I opted for my bike. It was one of those freezing cold days out and my chain fell off while still in my driveway. Unable to handle the freezing temperatures on my bare fingers, I gave in and didn't do my cardio that day...or the few following that.

Nearing the end of last week I figured doing a workout on my elliptical would be better than nothing so I started up on that again. I also added in some hot yoga and have been doing that two or three times a week (which I love and fully attribute to my lack of blogging - I'm wiped by the end of the day).

Peace :)

Hann

Dave.

Homeless. Bum. Hobo. Street person. Drifter. Beggar. Pauper. Vagabond. None contributing zero.

Society has a lot of names for people who don't have a home. I don't like most of them (I cringe every time a friend refers to a street person as anything that allows them to forget about the person part. Especially the term "bum". Hate it.).

I have had the opportunity to learn a bit about the homeless situation in Toronto and Montreal and have met a number of people who live on the streets in both cities. Their stories never cease to amaze me. Many of them are just people who fell upon difficult times and simply didn't have a community to provide support. One was a prof at U of T before his wife died suddenly and he couldn't handle the loss of his lifetime partner. Two had been Master students at U of T before spiraling out of control under the pressure to perform.

The idea that one would have to go to one of Canada's big cities in order to witness the problem of homelessness is obviously false. The problem exists in Kitchener-Waterloo - just drive down King Street and you'll see them. The "two dollar guy" is particularly well known. There's Kenny White - he loves to write and will share all about his family if you give him the opportunity to. There's the guy who sits between Coffee Culture and Cafe 1842 and will ask you for change every time you walk past (even if you walk past three times within five minutes)...I really should know his name by now. I could go on.

I live on the south end of King Street in Kitchener and pass by a number of people living on the street each time I bike to/from Waterloo. My roomie (and fellow BWC team member) volunteers at a local soup kitchen every day and at Out Of The Cold once a week. She knows most of the people we bike past from one of the two programs.

Well, last night took a turn of events neither J or I expected though somehow I could have predicted it (and kind of did...more on that later). Around 11pm we heard a man yelling very clearly upset and very drunk. Our first thought was that it was the couple in the main floor apartment. It sounded like he had been drinking too much (it was Super Bowl Sunday after all) and was hitting his girlfriend. I was shocked since I had never heard them fight before and asked J if she had ever heard him yell at her like this before - she hadn't (thankfully).

We listened a little closer as the yelling crescendoed. We quickly realized it wasn't them at all. It was a homeless man banging on our basement door (accessed only from outside) trying to get in. We could tell by the yelling that whoever it was was very angry and felt entitled to a night's stay in our basement. After letting the other tenants know what was going on we all prepared to peak outside to see what was up. I was really rather nervous about this because he was so angry I was afraid he'd try to run at us or something. J peaked around the corner and didn't see anyone so I peaked out a bit further and still didn't see anyone. It didn't make sense - we could still hear him.

It occurred to us that this mystery man was actually already in our basement! Why he was yelling I don't know.

The four of us (J, the couple from down stairs and I) snuck through the knee-deep snow to the basement door on the side of the house. We slowly opened it and found him sitting on the steps immediately inside the door. Despite knowing most of the homeless in the area, J had never seen him before. All completely shocked we didn't really know what to say. What DO you say to a homeless man who has somehow found his way into your basement on a cold winter night?

Questions were flying around. Who are you? What are you doing in here? How did you get in here?

The answers were a little less than coherent. Something along the lines of, "It's okay, I paid him...I paid him. He let me in."

"Who let you in?? Who did you pay?"

"No really, it's okay. I won't hurt anything or make any trouble. Please let me stay here. It's so cold out and I don't have anywhere to go. I'll be okay. Just please let me stay here!" All spoken a little bit (or a lot) slurred and rather slowly. My heart couldn't help but break for him.

"Sir, the only reason we realized you were in here was because you were making noise and trouble. We could hear you all the way on the second floor."

After exhausting our options -he was too intoxicated to go to Out Of The Cold or any other shelter and we certainly didn't feel safe having him in the basement in general but especially considering how drunk he was (with another half bottle of something in his hand)- I resorted to calling the police. We really didn't want to. In fact, I walked out to the sidewalk before calling because I knew J wouldn't want me to involve the police. We really just didn't want them to fine him.

The police arrived quite a while later and found him in the very back corner of the basement. They said it looked like he had been squatting there for a while. We learned his name is Dave.

There's a bit more to this story. I've been half-joking for the past 6-8 weeks that someone was living down there. I was never serious enough about it to search the whole basement but my intuition knew. I've lived here for two years and one night about two months ago I got home and noticed the basement light on. Being someone who tries to conserve energy I wanted to turn it off. You know that feeling when you're a little kid and you run up the basement stairs because you're afraid *something* might get you even though you know nothing is there? That's the same feeling I had that day - I was afraid to go in because I just knew someone was down there. I dismissed my fear because I "knew" nobody was really down there...but I couldn't shake it. I was nervous to open the door and turn out the light even though the switch is right inside. I had never had this feeling with this basement before. From then until now, every time I came home at night the light was on and I wondered.

So where do we go from here? The police took him to detox and then he'll just be out there again, living on the streets of our city. He has no community to support and lift him up in this difficult time. Meanwhile, we have an empty room with a mattress and blankets made available to strangers regularly Granted, they're couch surfers who quickly become friends but they are strangers to begin none-the-less.

I can't help but wonder, "Why not invite him to stay here?"

My logic answers, "Because he has a problem with alcohol and anger and so it wouldn't be safe".

"Since when do I life a safe life though?" I challenge back. "I want to move to one of the most heated conflict areas in the world (this week in particular my heart has been aching to go back to Jerusalem). I lived through a rocket attack in Israel/Egypt last summer (okay so I didn't even realize it was going on at the time...but I heard it and dismissed it for something not dangerous :p ). I'm bravely biking across Canada in the face of a lot of opposition (including from our current government) and expect to face loads of challenging situations. None of this is really all that safe by society's standards."

Logic interrupts, not missing a beat: "Safe and street smart are two different things."

I invite your thoughts on this.

Want to DO something?
Consider joining your family and friends February 26th in the Coldest Night of the Year, a 10km fundraising walk in support of the hungry, homeless and hurting. Taking place in Toronto & Waterloo.

Google "homeless blog" or other things along those lines and you'll find loads of interesting reading material.

Here are some services provided in our area:
Food Bank Of Waterloo Region
House of Friendship - Men's Hostel
Marys Place - Women's Hostel
Supportive Housing of Waterloo
Homelessness And Housing Umbrella Group (HHUG)
Supportive Housing Of Waterloo
Homelessness in Waterloo Region

First days of biking

I'm not a cyclist.  The last time I owned a new bike was when I was in 6th grade.  I played on my bike all the time when I was little, but haven't ridden since about 7th grade!  I rode a few times last year but definitely not on a regular basis. Recently, Julia suggested we bike across Canada and I thought it was a great idea! And just like that, I've started biking in preparation for our 2011 adventure.

The first time I went out biking a few weeks ago I realized how completely out of shape I am! Bikig uses muscles that I haven't used in a long time!  With that said though, it isn't taking long to get back into shape now that I've started biking on a more regular basis.

I've compiled a "to do" list of things I need to do and/or learn in these beginning days of biking.  Eventually I'll add another list of bigger things I need to do before Julia and I leave to bike across Canada.  I'll update it as we go with the date I complete each item.  This will look like a pretty basic list at this point because I'm literally starting from scratch.

-buy a bike lock (done!)

-buy a bell

-buy lights for the front & back of the bike

-buy & attach a water bottle holder to my bike

-bike without squeeling in fear haha (this took a few rides, but I'm fine now!)
-bike in the rain (done!)
-fill my tires
-learn how to fix my chain when it falls off (Corrie showed me how today, but I haven't done it on my own yet)
-learn how to change my gears haha...lame, I know!
-bike at night (done!)
-buy a basket for the front of my bike
-bike from my place to Waterloo (did this today, and I'm sure this will be done MANY more times this year!)
-ride down a curb (done!)
-ride up a curb

That's all I can think of for now.  Any other suggestions for someone just starting out?

Love travels to Haiti :)

I logged onto Facebook one morning a few weeks ago and in my newsfeed saw a video link a friend had posted; it was entitled Young Artists For Haiti - Wavin' Flag. I'm sure many have already seen this by now but if you haven't, check it out.

I can't put my finger on just what it was, but something in the video really touched my heart and I immediately knew I had to go to Haiti to help. A friend of mine, Julia (I think you'll hear a lot about here in this blog since she has quickly become my partner in crime when it comes to traveling) had told me of her plans to go to Haiti in September. Her plan was to buy a one way ticket and stay indefinitely. I called her right away and made plans to meet her there for the month of October.

Later that day, Julia and I met up to go to the movies. As Julia and I stood in line to see Alice In Wonderland 3D our conversation turned to past travels, and aspirations for the coming years. During that 90 minutes in line (yes, we waited that long, and to top it off, I fell asleep during the flick!) we birthed the idea of a non-profit travel organization.

Each of us are frequently approached by friends with questions about how to get involved with volunteering around the world. We have both had the opportunity to travel extensively and have worked with organizations in many countries. Our idea is still very much in its birthing stage and not yet launched, but even so, I'll tell you a little bit about it.

Love Travels will provide guidance to people who are interested in traveling with the purpose of learning about the people and history of the region, as well as baring witness to the current struggles in that area. We will be partnered with organizations around the globe who are making a difference in their local communities in order to ensure the people we send will be helping in practical ways.

It was two days later when Joe, the Pastor of The Embassy, approached us with the idea of sending a team to Haiti to help with relief efforts. He hadn't heard about Love Travels yet, since it's still being formed, but Julia and I saw this as an opportunity to put our ideas to action before officially launching our newest endeavor.

We spent two weeks getting in touch with organizations in Haiti, putting together an application package, generating interest, and developing what we believe will be a successful orientation and debriefing.

We will be taking a team of around 12 people to help with building initiatives and delivering relief packs to families in need. I'm excited to share that we've sent out the application packages to the 20+ people who have shown an interest in joining the team!! I can't wait to get the interviews going, select the team, and begin the orientation.

This is the cover we designed for the application package...

Please pray for our discernment throughout this application and interview process and as we begin the orientation. It's a time during which the foundation of our team will be built, and we hope it will be a strong one!

Mesi!! ("Thanks" in Haitian Creole)

Hannah