What do you do that matters?

Yesterday was our final day of service.  Our kids worked very hard yesterday and ended the service opportunities on a high note!

Last evening we all drove over to Saint Joseph Collegiate Institute, the Lasallian high school here in Buffalo.  This school just celebrated its 150th anniversary and is absolutely stunning.  They have about 750 boys and are a real jewel here.  We were treated to a presentation by Andrew Beiter, a graduate of Saint Joseph and currently a teacher at Springville Middle School and the Vice-President of Educators Institute on Human Rights.

Andrew's presentation was in three parts.  His first one spoke of his time in Rwanda and he focused on the 40 pound water jugs the people there have to carry in order to get water.  He had one of the jugs filled with water and had each kid hold it to get a sense of how heavy it is.  The point was well taken - we can simply turn on a faucet and get water no problem.  But for many people in the world, this is their reality, fetching water and then carrying it day after day.  It was a humbling reminder to the kids (and the adults frankly) about not complaining and not worrying, for example, about not having AC (like many of us this week).

His second part was about his work on teaching on the Holocaust and genocide.  He showed the kids how you can contact your US representative and/or senator by calling 1-800-GENOCIDE.  They ask you for your zip code and they put you right in touch with whomever you wish to speak.  Andrew called his representative thinking he could get a voicemail but someone answered and he spoke to him about a bill dealing, I believe, with Darfur.  Pretty cool.

Finally he passed out index cards and gave the kids a formula:

Your cause+
Your talent=
Your event

That is, kids were to come up with a cause they are passionate about, find a talent of theirs to help raise awareness of this cause, and then do something.  Pretty neat and actually along the lines of an idea we are kicking around at Trinity.

Following the presentation, we were treated to a tour of the school.  I was blown away by their chapel and had Kasie Bourque '14 take tons of pictures as I have some thoughts on renovations to our chapel.  We were then fed with some delicious pizza and wings and then headed back to Niagara.

Today is our excursion day.  Most of us are going to the US side of Niagara Falls while one is going t the Canadian side and another to Six Flags.  Tonight is our final prayer service and sending forth, always a powerful moment.