Since I am currently back in southern California for a couple weeks, I don't have much to write about. For those that rely on this blog for some sort of weekly entertainment I decided to post a few videos.
This first video is from the Urban Promise Banquet last year. Bruce Main talks a little bit about what it is that we do in Camden. I know almost all of the people in this video and there is one scene with Garret Poper who is my friend from APU that encouraged me to go to Camden.
These next two video's are from the Documentary "The Poet of Poverty" which is a documentary about Father Michael Doyle. Father Doyle is the priest at Sacred Heart Church in Camden. I have done some work with Sacred Heart during my time in Camden. Father Doyle has been in Camden for over 40 years and has an incredible story. And yes that is the voice of Martin Sheen.
This last video is an interview with Tupac Amaru Shakur (2pac) during the Christmas season, which I thought was fitting. He has some interesting things to say about poverty and the inner city. This interview was conducted when he was just 21 years old. There is a great little moment at the end where he calls you out.... "YOU need to do something!". I love it.
Hope you enjoyed the videos. I'll get back to posting actual material in a couple of weeks.
Monday, December 21, 2009
Sunday, December 13, 2009
I suck at tag
Last Saturday I went to New York with a handful of other people. We didn't do a whole lot there but it snowed which was cool for me since I hadn't had any snow here yet. The one memorable part of the trip (other than the snow and the splendid company) was a burger place that someone here at urban had recommended. It was called the burger joint and it was in this posh hotel that no one would ever expect to house a establishment of this sort. In the very back corner of the lobby of this hotel one finds a door with a sign above it that reads: Burger Joint. Entering through this door is like entering another world. All of a sudden there is the chatter and laughter that one would here in a crowded dive bar. All of the walls are scribed with the names and drawings of every former customer who happened to have a pen in their pocket. The menu consists of 1/2 pound burgers and pitchers of Sam Adams. For someone who isn't overly keen on the "Manhattan scene", this is definitely a hidden gem that needs to be checked out. We of course got a pitcher and some burgers and they were both absolutely delicious. Now that my little restaurant review is out of the way, on to the rest of my week.
This week camp went really well and I was able to get all of my kids to do their homework during the time designated for them to do homework, which was something that I needed to focus on. On Tuesday I took a group of kids to McDonald's after camp and on the drive home I saw yet another homicide crime scene. The kids don't even act as if its a big deal. They point it out casually as if its just a fender bender on the side of the highway. I asked them to pray for the family of whoever it was that was killed. When we pulled up to on of my kid's (Jeffrey's) house, I jerked my wheel and pulled my emergency brake sliding to a stop in the middle of the street. When Jeffrey got out laughing, I noticed that his neighbor was outside and that she spoke with Jeffrey before he went in. The next day I asked Jeffrey what his neighbor had said (assuming it was something along the lines of "why is that guy driving like an asshole on my street?"). He told me that she just asked why he was in the car with a white guy. He told her I worked for urban promise and she was satisfied and went back inside.
Tarre doing homework
On Thursday's we do what we call cell groups in our classes. This is where we plan some sort of lesson and talk to our kids about God. This week I decided to tell my kids a little bit about my life story and allow them to ask me questions. At first most of the questions were about what drugs I've done, what I've been arrested for, and the like, but after those were out of the way they started coming with the good ones. They asked a lot of questions like, "What made you decided to stop doing drugs and Why did you stop doing bad things". The one topic that we ended up spending a lot of time on was, "Why would you quit a job where you made decent money to come work here?" They had a lot of trouble understanding why I would do that and absolutely refused to believe me when I told them that money doesn't make you happy. Many of the good questions I was able to answer came from the street leaders (high school age workers) instead of my camp kids. The street leaders are really the age that I enjoy working with the most and it is because they are really able to connect with my experience. The issues that I've dealt with are far more relatable to the older kids. I feel like the class went really well and all of the kids got something out of it.
On Friday I went down to Harrisburg PA to hang out with a girl who goes to Messiah College that I've been talking to quite a bit. There was actually snow on the ground there which was awesome for me since I haven't really had that since coming out here (or really ever outside of the mountains). We went to dinner and then out for a few drinks and I stayed in a hotel room which meant I got to sleep in a king size bed for a night rather than my little lumpy twin that I don't even fit in (I also got to watch sports center which I often fiend for since I don't have cable here).
Saturday I drove back to Camden and took Jeffrey and Eman (one of the street leaders) to the mall in Cherry Hill. I then went to a dinner for the street leaders and afterwards three other interns and I decided to take a spontaneous trip to Atlantic City. We arrived in Atlantic City at around 10pm. I was rather unimpressed with the city and its casinos but it is pretty bad ass that it is literally on the beach. The other interns decided it would be fun to play tag in the casino. At some point I was tagged and didn't immediately find someone else to tag so I went up to the bar, ordered a beer, and played some video poker while watching the Purdue Alabama game. This allowed me to enjoy myself while all the others got to believe that they were doing a tremendous job of hiding from me. When they did find me out however, they weren't overly happy. We headed back to Camden after a short stroll on the beach and got to bed in time to get a few hours of sleep before having to get up this morning.
Ceasar Agustus gettin in the holliday spirit in AC
This week camp went really well and I was able to get all of my kids to do their homework during the time designated for them to do homework, which was something that I needed to focus on. On Tuesday I took a group of kids to McDonald's after camp and on the drive home I saw yet another homicide crime scene. The kids don't even act as if its a big deal. They point it out casually as if its just a fender bender on the side of the highway. I asked them to pray for the family of whoever it was that was killed. When we pulled up to on of my kid's (Jeffrey's) house, I jerked my wheel and pulled my emergency brake sliding to a stop in the middle of the street. When Jeffrey got out laughing, I noticed that his neighbor was outside and that she spoke with Jeffrey before he went in. The next day I asked Jeffrey what his neighbor had said (assuming it was something along the lines of "why is that guy driving like an asshole on my street?"). He told me that she just asked why he was in the car with a white guy. He told her I worked for urban promise and she was satisfied and went back inside.
Tarre doing homework
On Thursday's we do what we call cell groups in our classes. This is where we plan some sort of lesson and talk to our kids about God. This week I decided to tell my kids a little bit about my life story and allow them to ask me questions. At first most of the questions were about what drugs I've done, what I've been arrested for, and the like, but after those were out of the way they started coming with the good ones. They asked a lot of questions like, "What made you decided to stop doing drugs and Why did you stop doing bad things". The one topic that we ended up spending a lot of time on was, "Why would you quit a job where you made decent money to come work here?" They had a lot of trouble understanding why I would do that and absolutely refused to believe me when I told them that money doesn't make you happy. Many of the good questions I was able to answer came from the street leaders (high school age workers) instead of my camp kids. The street leaders are really the age that I enjoy working with the most and it is because they are really able to connect with my experience. The issues that I've dealt with are far more relatable to the older kids. I feel like the class went really well and all of the kids got something out of it.
On Friday I went down to Harrisburg PA to hang out with a girl who goes to Messiah College that I've been talking to quite a bit. There was actually snow on the ground there which was awesome for me since I haven't really had that since coming out here (or really ever outside of the mountains). We went to dinner and then out for a few drinks and I stayed in a hotel room which meant I got to sleep in a king size bed for a night rather than my little lumpy twin that I don't even fit in (I also got to watch sports center which I often fiend for since I don't have cable here).
Saturday I drove back to Camden and took Jeffrey and Eman (one of the street leaders) to the mall in Cherry Hill. I then went to a dinner for the street leaders and afterwards three other interns and I decided to take a spontaneous trip to Atlantic City. We arrived in Atlantic City at around 10pm. I was rather unimpressed with the city and its casinos but it is pretty bad ass that it is literally on the beach. The other interns decided it would be fun to play tag in the casino. At some point I was tagged and didn't immediately find someone else to tag so I went up to the bar, ordered a beer, and played some video poker while watching the Purdue Alabama game. This allowed me to enjoy myself while all the others got to believe that they were doing a tremendous job of hiding from me. When they did find me out however, they weren't overly happy. We headed back to Camden after a short stroll on the beach and got to bed in time to get a few hours of sleep before having to get up this morning.
Ceasar Agustus gettin in the holliday spirit in AC
This morning we got up at 7:30am and picked up about 20 kids from each after school program and took them to the Dollar Tree for a shopping spree. Each kid got ten items for their families and then we brought them back to Urban to wrap the gifts and eat pizza. After pizza, Santa came and gave all of the kids presents. It was a ton of fun helping the kids pick out gifts at the dollar store and it was definitely worth getting almost no sleep.
Me, Tarre and Angel after the shopping spree
About a month ago my mom sent me out the two skateboards that I had left in her garage. I gave one of them to one of my 8th graders (Angel) and told him that alot of other kids wanted it so he better use it often. Today I saw him with the skateboard and it was so torn up you couldn't even tell it was the same board. I said it looks like he'd been getting alot of use out of it and he said, "You told me I had to, I use it everyday". It really made me happy to see that he had been getting so much use out of it. Also some of the older kids that skateboard in the parking lot at Urban have told me that skateboarding everyday is one of the main things that keeps them from selling drugs so it is good to know that Angel now has that same activity to keep his attention.
Also the statistics from 2008 cam out and Camden NJ was ranked as the most dangerous city in the United States. This is sad news but I thought I provide the link if anyone wants to read the article. So here it is..... http://www.courierpostonline.com/article/20091124/NEWS01/911240338/-1/towns04/Report-ranks-Camden-most-dangerous-U.S.-city
About a month ago my mom sent me out the two skateboards that I had left in her garage. I gave one of them to one of my 8th graders (Angel) and told him that alot of other kids wanted it so he better use it often. Today I saw him with the skateboard and it was so torn up you couldn't even tell it was the same board. I said it looks like he'd been getting alot of use out of it and he said, "You told me I had to, I use it everyday". It really made me happy to see that he had been getting so much use out of it. Also some of the older kids that skateboard in the parking lot at Urban have told me that skateboarding everyday is one of the main things that keeps them from selling drugs so it is good to know that Angel now has that same activity to keep his attention.
Also the statistics from 2008 cam out and Camden NJ was ranked as the most dangerous city in the United States. This is sad news but I thought I provide the link if anyone wants to read the article. So here it is..... http://www.courierpostonline.com/article/20091124/NEWS01/911240338/-1/towns04/Report-ranks-Camden-most-dangerous-U.S.-city
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Last week we had Thanksgiving dinners for all of our afterschool programs (all 5 of them) which was alot of fun but actually made me sick of turkey by the last day. On Tuesday night my parents flew in and on Wed. morning we headed up to the Poconos for Thanksgiving. As soon as we got there they started feeding us and didn't stop untill we left on Sunday. I literally don't think I went more than a half hour without eating for the entire weekend. Joey, Diana, Brett and Brandon all flew out as well. It was great to see them and really fun to hang out with the east coast side of my family.
My parents decided to fly out Sunday instead of Monday which worked out well because I had a date planned for Sunday night. I took my parents to get cheese steaks at Geno's in Philly and then dropped them off at the airport. I went to Cheesecake factory on my date which was awsome because I hadn't eaten there since moving (and when I am home my family eats there at least once a month). After my date I went back to the house and hung out with all the other interns and to my suprise I was actually really glad to be back. On tuesday night all the interns did kareoke and it was rediculously funny. Of course I can't sing so I just did rap songs which tended to be far more inapropriate than the others... which i guess kind of suites me.
My roomate and teaching partner for my class moved back to St. Louis last week so this has been the first week that I have had my 8th greaters to myself. It's gone really well so far. One of my kids did get suspended for getting in a fight with a 5th grader which was a little disapointing.
Yesterday, we had our devotional time in the morning and all of the interns went around and prayed for each other. It was pretty intence and it was crazy to hear the things people were praying about for me. It was alot of stuff that I have been really struggling with but haven't even talked to anyone about. It was things like what I am going to do after the intership and stuff that I am still dealing with from the past. It was shocking. It is really nice to be back into the swing of things and have all the crazyness from the past couple of months behind me. Our schedule gets a little less intence from here on out so I am really looking forward to that.
My parents decided to fly out Sunday instead of Monday which worked out well because I had a date planned for Sunday night. I took my parents to get cheese steaks at Geno's in Philly and then dropped them off at the airport. I went to Cheesecake factory on my date which was awsome because I hadn't eaten there since moving (and when I am home my family eats there at least once a month). After my date I went back to the house and hung out with all the other interns and to my suprise I was actually really glad to be back. On tuesday night all the interns did kareoke and it was rediculously funny. Of course I can't sing so I just did rap songs which tended to be far more inapropriate than the others... which i guess kind of suites me.
My roomate and teaching partner for my class moved back to St. Louis last week so this has been the first week that I have had my 8th greaters to myself. It's gone really well so far. One of my kids did get suspended for getting in a fight with a 5th grader which was a little disapointing.
Yesterday, we had our devotional time in the morning and all of the interns went around and prayed for each other. It was pretty intence and it was crazy to hear the things people were praying about for me. It was alot of stuff that I have been really struggling with but haven't even talked to anyone about. It was things like what I am going to do after the intership and stuff that I am still dealing with from the past. It was shocking. It is really nice to be back into the swing of things and have all the crazyness from the past couple of months behind me. Our schedule gets a little less intence from here on out so I am really looking forward to that.
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