Guatemala Trip

wrapping up

2012-01-18T06:37:00.001-08:00

last tuesday i returned to Dunton school who had supported me and christina in 2010. to give them an over view of the 2 last trips to Guatemala. the children listened really well and were so interested in everything i said. i put on my traditional guatemala dress and the necklace and earrings made by the class at America Latina. i showed them clips from the DVD and some of the artifacts i had bought home with me. it was such a blessing to be there and to see how interested they were.

in October I also visited Yelling chapel. they have been great supporters of the project and were very interested to hear what we had been doing. I had a 10 min slot and tried to pack in as much info as possible. they were very interested.

I have also given a talk at my own church of potton. i didn't have my dvd then, but God willing I will be able to make a shortened version to show to all people who are interested.

sadly, there are no plans to return to Guatemala this year. this is for a few reasons. Through the Roof would like to concentrate on the evangelism surrounding the Paralympics and the olympics themselves. also it was also hoped that we have given people enough tips and ideas for them to try out themselves, so for this year at least, there are not plans to return. TTR is not returning to Uganda this year either.

I won't pretend that i found the decision that we were not going to Guatemala this year easy to deal with. I was and am really upset about it. I believe that God is doing a great work in that country, and I pray that he will keep doing that work. and that he will enable disabled people to be included. and if its ever his will, I pray he will let me go back there, to help in any little way I can! what a blessing these trips have been to me. how i thank God for the opportunity, and for my many new friends.

belated Guatemala post

2011-08-30T04:50:00.001-07:00

This is a belated blog post summarising the work in Guatemala. My only excuse is that although I’ve been in the country, I haven’t been home. So here goes:

The ten days we were out there we visited 4 schools, 4 churches, 2 children’s homes, a hospital, and a disability club. We were able to give tips to the teachers and prospective teachers about how they could include children with disabilities. It is very hard in a class of up to 70 children to do much more than crowd control, but the teachers came to the workshops because they wanted to find out how they could help the children who were slipping through the net. Quite a lot of the questions were about children who were behaving badly in the class room. We explained that this could be because of a disability such as ADHD (either diagnosed or undiagnosed) or autism. Some children were reported to be fiddling with things all the time or in some cases with the child next to them, or not interacting with the group etc. in our team was Alice who has been a teacher in a special needs school for a number of years, and she came into her own sharing tips with the teachers such as giving children something to keep in their pocket to fiddle with like a stress ball or a stretchy man, giving the teachers strategies to try and stop bad behaviour or answering back such as “speak and spin” (saying “I would like you to get on with your work” then turning and walking away) or “broken record” (not listening or responding when the child answers back, simply repeating the instruction such as “I would like you to do your work”).

Michele and I made play dough which was a novelty out in Guatemala. We explained that it could be used to make shapes and model things, such as getting the children to model characters to go with a story that either they or the teacher was telling.

I shared my personal experience of growing up as a blind person in a mainstream school, and, where appropriate, my testimony as a Christian.

We also gave the biblical basis of disability wherever we went, which Mike read out and I tried to expand slightly on the verses.

Alan also gave his testimony (as well as being the team leader). He told about losing most of his sight overnight when he was 9 and how that had affected his school and home life.

At the churches we spoke to youth leaders, Sunday school teachers, church pastors, church members, and children about how to include disabled people and their families in church life.

We visited a school that already include children with disabilities in their school. We were able to spend time with the students and teachers, and were very impressed and touched by the caring attitude of the teachers and the happiness of the students. They were mostly included in the main classes, but were taken out if a lesson was too difficult for them and brought into a class especially for them.

We spent time at the family day of the Ministry of the Fragile, who run a monthly club for people with disabilities to meet together and do activities. It was so nice to be there and see how much love there was for all the people in the club, and to be part of their special family day.

We visited love the child again this year, spent time with the children as they played. We also visited another children’s home and ran a brief workshop on including children with disabilities, including parachute games, singing a well-known song “Jesus loves me this I know” and showing them the English signs to it.

It was a joy to visit all these places, and a joy to see all our partners again. There is so much hope for Guatemala and I believe that God has his hand on that country and will continue to bless those who work in his names sake.

I am hoping and praying that there will be another trip next year, and look forward to seeing what God has done then!

Thank you all for your support, prayers and interest. Until next time, God be with you all!

nearly time to go!

2011-07-19T06:37:00.001-07:00

There are only 1 and a half days till we leave for Guatemala! I’m surrounded by luggage in various states of packed or unpacked. My suit case feels as if it has got led in it, but I think it is just the 3 parachutes and 5 hymn folders I’m carrying, plus the other esentials which I can’t live without like tea bags for example!. I will have to have it weighed soon, but will have to hold my breath that it doesn’t go over the limit!

I hope and pray the rest of the team’s preparations are going well! I can’t wait to see everyone at the airport and get going! Our t-shirts are all printed and ready, and will hopefully look great when we ware them to the workshops.

I have managed to remember my passport so that’s a relief!

So, only a matter of hours now before we bid England a fond “see ya later!” 

meeting the team! :-)

2011-06-28T04:42:00.001-07:00

The team day was on Sunday 26th June. It was a really wonderful day and I enjoyed meeting up witheveryone. It is a team handpicked by God and we have already gelled together! I am looking forward to the trip so much. I want to pack my suitcase right now! I have been nominated to be worship leader, so will put together a booklet of hymns for us to sing. Also I need to order parachutes and t-shirts. Many thanks to those who have donated/been involved in the plans towards this trip! Couldn’t have done it without you!!!

I am still getting sponsor money in from the bike ride, and also the ladies at my church have been selling calendar’s and pads for the trip funds. God has richly blessed me! I should not have worried about never having enough money to go. As one of our team members said, I need to “let go, let God.”

If anyone else wishes to donate (and thank you!) the website is

www.justgiving.com/philippa-woodcraft2011

God is Good-the last of the fundraising

2011-06-21T04:03:00.000-07:00

Well! Since I last wrote, lots of things have happened. Judy and Amy from New Life school Guatemala came over for a visit and I was able to meet up with them at the Through The Roof office. It was so wonderful to see them again!!!!

I have had 3 fundraisings for my trip to Guatemala:

• A sponsored bike ride! 15 of us did 16 miles from our cycle track in Sandy to Bedford. We nearly all managed the whole thing, apart from my brother in law got 2 punctures so had to stop, my nephew Connor and my niece Courtney stopped at 8 miles also. We were so thankful that God sent the sun because the rest of the week had been rainy and cold, even the practice was done in the rain! A big big thank you to all those who rode, sponsored and supported!!!

• I spoke at Yelling chapel-spoke there last year also. They were very receptive and attentive. I explained what we would be doing in Guatemala and what we had done last year.

• Blind awareness evening went really really really well. We had about 30 people come, to take part in activities such as pouring their own drink, buttering their bread, hovering the carpet, doing their hair or make up, and guess the objects. Sounds simple, but when I tell you that they had a blindfold on for each activity, you realise its not simple at all! They even got a turn on the back of the tandem.

So now all my fundraising is done. I just have to collect it all and send it on. The bike ride will have raised approx. £400 when I have collected it! Yelling were very kind to offer a £50 donation, and 2 of the members donated themselves-thank you!!! The Awareness evening raised £130 too which is wonderful!! This brings me up to, and over, my total of £1000! God is so good!

I am now very very excited as on Sunday we are having the team day! We have already got our packs with the details of flights etc! Guatemala here we come!!!!!

concert!

2011-05-22T07:15:00.001-07:00

The concert last night was a great success! The performers were wonderful! We had Rosemary, Kirsten, the Peregrine recorder Orchestra, Time After Time-barbershop quartet, Kayleigh-anne Robert Fisher and Ed Beard (piano trio), Tash, tony and me. I had to do all the announcing because we could get nobody famous to do it!

About 40 people came, and we raised £283! I think they all enjoyed it, I know I did!

The days before the concert were fraught with dramas great and small, from running out of ink to almost over lapping an event at the church. But we got there! Thanks to all the performers, Christina for playing, the people who delivered leaflets, mum and Jenny for printing programs and leaflets, and everyone else who helped!

Next? . . . . . . . the bike ride! Aaaaaaa!

Fundraising Fundraising, Fundraising!

2011-05-04T02:06:00.000-07:00

Just a quick update!

· I have received a cheque for £100 which is fantastic!

· Plans for the concert on 21^st May continue, I now have 3 confirmed acts: Rosemary, Kirsten, and the Peregrine Recorder Orchestra. So things are looking up there!

· I have been asked to arrange another ‘awareness’ evening. So that will happen at the end of May or the end of June.

· There are around 14 of us doing a sponsored bike ride on 11^th June, 16 miles!!! (I am not the fittest person in the world, so this might well kill me! Or at least my legs will drop off! Lol) me and mum will be riding tandem.

So it’s a busy, busy time, but God is good, and things will work out for his purpose.

Romans 8:28 “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.”

so here I go again!

2011-04-25T16:02:00.000-07:00

Hello!!!

This is Philippa. I am 22 and have been totally blind since birth. I am a Christian, have been from a very young age! I have been to Guatemala twice before, in July 2009 and in July 2010. Last year my best friend Christina came with me, as you know from reading this Blog.

Well, it’s just me this year, well, a team from Through The Roof and me, but Christina can’t come :-( 

So we are off again on 21st July! I wanted to keep you up to date on my fundraising stories and of course up to date on what we plan to do on the trip, and what happened! (But obviously that one will have to wait till I come back!)

So far, I’ve been trying to organise another concert. Christina has offered to come back from Oxford (where she is at Uni) to play the piano for us! Which is fantastic and wonderful of her! Also Rosemary from the Amici singers (the choir I go to!) is singing, and hopefully a lot more (although as yet a lot of people are “maybe” or “probably” which is giving me nightmares!)

This year the individual fundraising target is £1000. Whatever we can raise above that will go into the team funds so that no-one his short of money and can’t go! So far I have £100 which is fantastic! However, I feel like God has given me a different challenge this year, as one of my biggest church sponsors is not in a position to help me this time.  I am also now working for Through the Roof in the part-time role as their Disabled Youth Ambassador. My job is to promote the charities work and encourage people to get involved, as well as giving my own experience of disability and testimony as a Christian. So I now need to keep my Guatemala fundraising separate from my work fundraising for TTR itself! Confusing?tell me about it!!  So now I NEED! To get the concert underway, and all before I go to Budapest for the European disability conference from 9th to 13th May. The concert is on 21st May, so things are pretty tight!

However, moaning aside (honest!) I have booked to go and speak at Yelling church on Sunday 5th June. This is a good start! So is the £100 I have so far! God is good, and there is no situation too hard for him!

“I am the LORD, the God of all the peoples of the world. Is anything too hard for me?” Jeremiah 32:27 (NLT)

I intend to keep you up dated, so do keep checking! And If you want to read my blog for Through The Roof, then its

www.promotingdisability.blogspot.com

My just giving page for Guatemala this year is

www.justgiving.com/philippa-woodcraft2011

Bye for now!!

Guatemala Trip!!! Been, Done, and come back!

2010-09-07T05:37:00.000-07:00

We arrived in Guatemala City on the 29th July after what felt like endless traveling. We could hardly believe it was still the same day, but of course, with the time difference, it was!

We were glad when we reached Antigua and our hotel!

The first day (30th) was spent unwinding from the long journey. We had an opportunity to visit the market, and do some shopping. In a team of 5 girls this was undoubtedly a good opportunity!

In the afternoon we paid a short visit to the disabled hospital, Hermano Pedro. This is the "best" facility that the Guatemalan’s have. people say if their children are born with any disability, "never mind, send them to Hermano Pedro." we didn't have time to do much more than look on that day, but we returned later on in the trip.

The following day (31st) July, we were taken to meet Thelma, who has a ministry for adults with learning disabilities. A local pastor called Meffy was teaching 5 of these men to run and compete in a race with everyone else. We had a wonderful time sitting with the parents of these men and getting to know Thelma, Meffy and his family.

The Sunday morning 1st august saw us sitting in Thelma's church for half of the service, until we had been introduced. Thelma was keen for us to be there because she would like to organize a workshop for her church in the future. Then we took a quick exit and scooted off to Meffy's church where we did a workshop on how to include people with disabilities in their church and community.

We started by introducing the team members. Hannah is a youth worker in her church which has a lot to do with people with disabilities, and is also a sports coach. Marie and her Daughter Lindsey are Occupational Therapists. Christina and Philippa have been best friends since Christina was Born 18 years ago. She will be going to Oxford Brookes University this year to study music. Philippa is 21 years old and have been blind since birth. Christina gave the greatest example of how inclusion can just become a way of life, because she has naturally always included Philippa in everything. Philippa gave her testimony and experience of growing up as a blind Christian in a sighted world. We also did some parachute activities with the group, including showing how a bible story could be taught using it.

The people at Meffy's church said they enjoyed the workshop very much and that it gave them useful and practical ideas to use when we left.

For the next 3 days, 2nd 3rd and 4th august, we were at New Life School, half way up a volcano in a little village called Santa Maria de Jesus. This was a school Marie and Philippa had visited on the trip last year. There are 80 students there, all with learning or physical disabilities of varying degrees. It is run by Judy and Amy. They demonstrate God's love in an amazing way, not only running the school, but doing great work in the community as well.

We were able to spend time with the teachers, Marie Hannah and Lindsey giving them practical tips about how to help some of the students who had more unusual behavioral problems to cope with. We also spent time with some of the children. Last year the parents of a blind girl with Cerebral Palsy had come to our workshop for the parents at New Life. After meeting them last year Philippa was delighted to find that the young girl Yamalin, had started in the kindergarten class. It was a joy to spend time with her and get to know her.

During our time there, a mother with a baby who had hydrocephalus came to the school. She bought the baby to Amy and Judy because she was very ill. The shunt, which had been put in soon after her birth, had not worked. This meant that her head was 56cm round, but her face and body were tiny even though she was 6 months old. It was the mother's first child, and her husband had abandoned her when the child was born. The baby was suffering now and was too weak to move much. Mum asked us to pray that the Lord would take her home so that she wouldn't suffer anymore. It was one of the hardest and happiest moments in our lives. It was so sad, and yet a privilege to be there and a joy to know that the God, who had bought this mother to that decision, had given us all a certain hope of life after death. The words of the hymn Blessed Assurance were so appropriate for that occasion that we stood by the door and sang them, before leaving to give mum and baby some time alone. None of us expected the child would survive the night, but the last we heard before we left Guatemala was that she was improving slightly.

Judy took us to 2 schools while we were with her. One was a Christian school. They started off with the wrong attitude, saying that their building didn't allow them to accept disabled students since it was inaccessible. However after we explained and demonstrated that it wasn't necessarily the building that was the main stumbling block, but peoples attitudes, and showed them that change is not always needed, sometimes adaptation is enough, we saw a definite change of heart. At the end of our session, the head master sat down and gave them a long talk about changing their attitude in that school. He said that in future they would accept disabled students.

The next school was a bit more challenging. Since Through the Roof is a Christian charity, we give the biblical basis of disability everywhere we go. Teamed up with parachute bible stories, action songs, and Philippa's testimony, it is a very Christian based program. However, at this school, we were asked not to talk about religion any more after giving the biblical basis. A bit of a hard task since Philippa still had to give her testimony. Philippa said, "I can't even give my experience of being a blind person without mentioning God. He is my life, and therefore I can't separate him from It." so after a prayer with the team, she stood up and said that, and said that she made no apologies for mentioning God.

The next day we were with Steve from Love the Child in San Lukas. He took us back to Hermano Pedro, this time to spend some time with the young adult men. We did parachute activities with them, and just spent time with them. Steve asked Philippa to sing to them, and after a few seconds wondering what she could sing off by heart, she sang Seek Ye First The Kingdom of God. This proved to have been God's choice, since hallelujah is the same in English and in Spanish, and the boys were able to join in.

In the afternoon we enjoyed visiting the children at the orphanage. Some children, who had been there last year, were still there. Including Hannah, a 13 year old girl with Brittle bone syndrome, who is very small, but talks fluently in English and Spanish. It was very special to see her again, and to spend time with the children. The baby who Philippa held last year called Diego had been reunited with his family, after a year of being seperated from them by an illegal adoption, which was wonderful to learn.

Friday 6th august was our most hectic day. We were taken to America Latina School for training teachers, and did 3 2-hour workshops with 30 students at a time. This was exhausting, but rewarding as we could see some of the students really taking on board what we were saying.

Our last 2 days in Guatemala were spent with Steve. This time we went to 2 churches on the Saturday, one in a squatter’s village, which was in a garage. It is always amazing to see how in the most unexpected places God will bring together his people to worship him and help each other. The second church was more traditional. We had a group of about 18 young people, and again they said that they found our ideas useful.

Sunday was spent at the church with the deaf ministry, which we went to last year. It was nice to see a couple who Marie and Philippa remembered from last time and learn how they were getting on. There were a lot of people at the workshop, and we received good feedback. We were able to stay for the service too. In the evening we were taken on a spontaneous visit to an English speaking church. We were all ready to sit back and listen to the service and relax, when Philippa was asked to give her testimony and both she and Christina were asked to sing. We sang the lord's my shepherd. Nothing could have been better to end our trip on than the lovely service we enjoyed there.

It is such a wonderful and humbling privilege to do God's work, and we hope to revisit Guatemala in the future to see his ongoing works with the amazing people in that country.

£££

2010-07-14T07:14:00.000-07:00

My mum had a most lovely phone call from Dunton Lower School the other day.
They wanted to donate some money which is so lovely! Especially from a wonderful little village school. Apparently the children couldn't stop talking about it! :)
Also, on Monday this week, I attended the fiddle fiesta which is a string orchestra held once a year to support all string players in the county from years 3-11. It was lovely to be there and to help out! The reason I write this is because I had lots of young children from Gamlingay and Dunton schools coming to say hello and taking honest interest in how we were getting on. They really enjoyed hearing from us - such encouraging news.
I'm currently writing thank you letters to all the wonderful people who have given so much in time, effort, money and prayers to support us.

Christina x

Rightio ...2 weeks to go!

2010-07-13T16:52:00.000-07:00

Rightio...2 weeks to go. Wow. Where did all the time go!
I can't believe in just over 2 weeks we will be on a plane to the other side of the world with people who've only met as a group once!

It's been such a fantastic experience so far and we're not even there yet! I've been continuously receiving cheques in the post- even from people I've never heard of!
My youngest sister asked to do a 'guess how many sweets in the jar' stall at school through which she managed to raise just under £20! That's brilliant!
I cannot express in enough words how grateful we are to everyone who has supported us in prayer! (as well as financially!)
My mum and my grandma have been absolute diamonds! So have Philippa's parents! They've worked along side us and as often as they can they have pushed for opportunities for us to be able to speak at different places.
We certainly couldn't have done it without them.
And another big thank you to everyone who has donated..! It's been an absolute delight to know all the support that we have!

It's getting late! So I will be off for now.
goodnight!

Christina x

Kempston, Dunton, and Gamlingay

2010-07-11T10:09:00.000-07:00

Ok, so last Sunday morning I went to Grace Comunity Church, Kempston, to talk about our trip to Guatemala. Christina had skived off for a weekend with young life, so I had to do it all on my own :-(
...but I can't grumble because she let me go to Thorpe Park on the Friday when I should have been helping her run a cake stall! so . . . where was I? yeah, Kempston.

Well they gave me the children's talk slot, and all the kids came to sit at the front while I was interviewed about our trip. then I sang. they kindly gave us £100 towards our costs, which we are grateful for. I also received a donation of £30 from my sister in law Tash's parents which will be a big help.

On Tuesday morning we both went to Dunton school to take their assembly, after spending the whole day before ordering resources and planning for Dunton and Gamlingay. The children were seemingly enthralled and listened very carefully, and also asked some great questions. We then had a look round at the school, which both Christina and I went to when we were little. They have kindly offered to donate some money.

Gamlingay Baptist was on Thursday evening. we put together a powerpoint for this one, as we had an hour. we were a bit nervous about filling the time, but we did it! We had a wonderful time with the members there, and gratefully collected £75 from the evening. iItwas such a blessing to be with them and we both enjoyed it.

We have nearly done ordering resources, I have sort of started packing or rather gathering together things i'll take in a pile so I know where it all is!

Next event is the Rotary club on 27th July. so till then . . . :-)

random update

2010-06-24T17:43:00.000-07:00

right! here's what's happened since the concert:
We have gratefully recieved a cheque from New Milton Church for £374.
we have also been sent a donation from someone we don't know, that was sent care of TTR's offices, for £100.
we have been to Gamlingay Village Colege assembly and talked to the children, Christina's sister Kirsten is going to do guess how many sweets in the jar to raise money.

we have been asked to speak at the Biggleswade Rotary club, Gamlingay baptist, and Grace Community church Kempston, so that's all to come. but guess what . . . . we've done it!!! we've raised it all! what we have now is extra, for resources, helping other team members, or just for TTR. thanks to everyone who gave! everyone who helped! and to God! will do a proper post to thank people before we go.

We had our team day on Sunday, we have planned the trip as far as possible, so now me and Chrissy are ordering resources like parachutes, balls, bells, castanets, shakers, fire blankets (multi senssory for the babies-the love them coz they are shiney! and make noise!) etc etc etc. we are loving it!

until next time . . . :-)

Concert

2010-06-11T02:47:00.001-07:00

Okayyy. So we had already got quite a bit of money from our previous fundraising quests. But this was the big one! We decided to do an evening concert in our village at the parish church. It took a little more organising than we had first anticipated but all went well...in the end.
We first thought that we'd do leaflets/flyers and posters which many people took and a few even gave them away to friends etc. Then we decided that we'd see if we could get something in our local newspaper. They did a brilliant article and they have been brilliant all the way through our fundraising and preparations
Philippa and I are both members of a local choir, the amicis and Douglas Coombes is our musical director (and a fantastic one at that!)We told him about out concert quite a while before and before we knew it, we had people calling and emailing asking if we would like them to perform for us. We ended up with a lot of acts and sadly (yet gladly at the same time) had to turn some away - that just gives some idea as to how much response we had, which really was amazing as we had been quite anxious about how we'd fill a concert!
So then leading up to the concert we had tickets to print, programs to write, rehearsals to organise! Aaah!
I designed the tickets and printed them out a week or so before the concert - and it wasn't long before we had phone calls asking to reserve tickets etc. :)

the 4th June...the anxiety reaaaally kicks in!
I spent the day at philippa's designing programs and making sure we had everything we needed. Frustration was evident due to the rudeness of disobedient printers and human errors! But eventually, we had the programs printed, folded and we were ready to go....!?

The 5th June. Ahh. This was the really scary but where we had to make sure we were calm enough to organise everything!
philippa came to my house in the morning and we practises her solos and panicked about my lack of ability to play Just You Wait from my fair lady - but we overcame that with the wonderful creation that is technology (well...sometimes wonderful anyway) and then we practised our duet - for the first time! And it went suprisingly well!
Not having much time to cook lunch, my mummy put a pizza in the oven which we devoured quickly; possibly through nerves more than anything else!
Then it was my turn to be a pain with the beautiful typical teenage girl question 'what shall I wear?' this was possibly Philippas idea of a nightmare, as we both stood in my bedroom with my every other word being 'but' or anything that simply made me more and more indecisive anyway...eventually I had sorted myself out!
We took all of our things to the church ready to start our rehearsing - which would have been fantastic...if I could unlock the church door. Oh dear. :) fortunately one of the church wardens came to out rescue as she watched me looking rather ridiculous trying to open the door!
And once all that was out of the way, we came into the church to find everything set up wondefully for us! So we began rehearsing! Which was brilliant! Douglas was there which helped greatly to add the finishing sparkle to the wonderfully polished performances we enjoyed in the evening.
Pam Rhodes was out compere, she was marvelous! Inbetween the lovely performances, Pam interviewed me and Philippa as well as doing brilliant introductions for each act, each interspersed with funny anecdotes which helped make the evening bright and cheerful.

Everyone involved was completely amazing, we couldn't have done any of it with out them and they really made the evening so special.
As well as a most enjoyable evening, we raised just over £700 meaning we have raised all if the money required for us to go to Guatemala, any money that we might recieve now will be put towards resources for the trip and also be given straight to the charity!

What next.....? Hmmm....

New Milton Church

2010-06-02T06:08:00.000-07:00

This post is in the wrong order-sorry!

on Sunday, Christina's parents took us down to my brother Simeon's church in New Milton, Hampshire. we were invited to speak about our trip, and to sing for them. we spoke for perhaps 10 mins, detailing the things that had happened last year, introducing christina, going through the biblical basis for disability, then we sang "Faithful One". it was a lovely day, the church was very welcoming and inthusiastic! not yet sure how much we have raised, but they will certainly be praying for us!

the next post really will, probably, be about the concert!

opening eyes to blindness

2010-06-02T05:57:00.000-07:00

well, yesterday was our Blind Awareness day. people came to put on blind folds and try out various activities such as making a drink, spreading butter on bread, food tasting, object identifying, and even tandem riding. (obviously the person wearing the blind fold didn't go on the front! don't be silly! :-) lol)
People were also allowed to try walking with my white cane, and were given the opertunity to learn how to do sighted guide (lead a blind person) properly. I had various bits of my equipment on show such as my talking scales and colour detector to demonstrate how i manage from day to day.

the day was designed to be fun, yet informative, and I think it was both. we had about 21 people, plus all who were helping tried the activities too! all the feed back was good, we have review forms which we will read soon and post some comments here if possible.

we also had hand outs about things to remember when you are meeting a blind person, information on the trip and refreshments, plus things for sale such as cards and pads. we set up a guatemala exhibition with items bought home from last years trip and information on the charity, the mission trip, and the country.

many thanks to all those who helped, and all those who came. hope you all enjoyed it as much as we did. we raised £80.15 from this event! :-) we have also been sent several cheques for £100 £50 and £20. we have sold approx 10 tickets to the concert that we know of.

next up . . . the concert!! keep reading!

Guatemala evening-last night!

2010-05-20T17:21:00.000-07:00

Last night was our Guatemala evening at Potton chapel. Tim the development manager from Through The Roof came to lead it. Tim was on the team last year.

We had an exhibition out for people to look at, all stuff from last year in Guatemala. then we had a quiz. on the table were nibbles, crisps and dips, and also tortillas and a traditional dish from Guatemala, Black Beans! (i know the spanish name for it but I cannot spell it!) the winning quiz team were awared a tin of black bean for a prize!! they weren't too sure about that one!

Tim interviewed me and Christina, me about last year, and Christina about why she wants to go this yyear. then we went through some slides of our time in Guatemala last year, Tim explained to everyone as we went through. then we looked at the Bible passages we use over there to demonstrate that God loves disabled people as much as everyone else, and he has not made a mistake or sent the disability as a punishment. and we ended with deaf worship in spanish, we did the sign language nd sung "how great is our God" in spanish.

the evening was wonderful, God was truly there with us. everyone who came seemed to enjoy it, and we hope it has given them more of an idea what we are doing. we were given pads to sell, donated by Christina's grandma, and cards to sell, donated by my cousin in law's parents.

we raised £58.50 last night! thanks go out to Tim for leading, Stan for giving up his wednesday night to us, and all our parents and friends and families for helping! and Chrissy for playing for me while I sang.

Next is blind awareness day! keep up! :-)

Up Till Now ...

2010-05-16T12:56:00.000-07:00

So far, we have had 2 stories in the Biggleswade Chronicle, one about the trip and the concert on 5th June, and one about awareness day on 1st June. we have had a lot of encouraging responses to these stories and some donations. we have even had people come forward to perform in the concert! I (Philippa) was interviewed on Premier radio about the trip. Today we went to my brother Ben's church at Yelling and told them a bit about what we are going to do there. they were very kind to us, promised to pray for us and the collection they took for us came to £120! it was a very warm and friendly atmosphere. now we just hope and plan for our next events, and first up is the Guatemala evening at Potton Baptist chapel on Wednesday night! until our next post . . . . :-)

Rightttt...here we go...

2010-05-16T08:09:00.000-07:00

What?....so we are going to Guatemala.... scary stuff. :)
When?...29th July to 12 August
Why?....to promote the lives of disabled people and show them the love of God
How?....By giving practical ideas for people to help include disabled people in everyday life and give them biblical based instruction that God is not rejecting/punishing the disabled.

Guatemala... is one of Latin Americas poorest countries. It's predominantly Roman Catholic.

According to the world health organisation just 2% of the disabled in Guatemala will receive an education. Through the Roof is a charity that have set up a program to try and change this. (www.throughtheroof.org)
We are hoping to go with them this year! Philippa is going for the second time and I (Christina) am going for the first!

Obviously we have to raise money for this trip and between us we need to raise £2100!
So far we have raised around £700 ...we have several things lined up that we hope will raise money!
(a concert, disability awareness day and a Guatemala evening)

Prayers would be very much appreciated and we'll keep you posted!!

:)