We'll be moving around alot once I'm in Guatemala, so I'm not sure if there is an adress you can send it to. I'll ask. Thanks alot, Jeremy
Got the shipment form Jan today! Woooo!! Well over 100 NEW footbags and a pair of shred shorts. I'm sure that the Guatemalan kids will enjoy every bit of your donation. Thank you so much, Jan.
And another shipment on its way from Chicago. This is going to be great. I'm rediculously excited.
Bulk Donation of Footbags SUCCESFULLY DELIVERED
Sorry it took so long to tell everyone about this. I was waiting for pics and then I kept putting it off and such... alas.
Huge thanks to Jan Zimmerman! I recieved about 150 footbags from him in time to bring them with me the central america and I was able to destribute them throughout a couple rural communities in Guatemala. Here is my story:
I should clear this up at the start. It frustrated me more than anything else about the trip. After all the meetings, get togethers, fundraisers, and phone calls with the management of the trip, nobody told me that the week I had chosen to spend in Guatemala happened to be the week that they all brought their KIDS! So, I found out a couple days into the trip that I was there was the week the most designated for touristy, sight-seeing, holiday type fun. ...jesus christ. I whent there to work... retarded. Screw you guys... anyway
Got up early -- flew -- bla bla bla -- arrive in Antigua (about 3 hour drive through REDICULOUS mountains from Guatemala City) meet everyone -- hang out -- sleep. The next day, we drive out to climb a volcano. There is a community that lives at the base of the volcano and they live off the tourist industry. We climbed the volcano
Here's me with my buddy Travis. The volcano is behind us.
And we stood this close to flowing lava:
When we came down from the volcano, we hung out with the community a bit and I did some juggling (with rocks) and played a bit of hack for the kids. (Didn't happen to have my big bag of footbags with me at the time... much to my own regret)
Next day we toured a dump (literaly) and it was sad and crazy and we visited some schools. There weren't really any opportunities to destribute footbags at the schools, so although I learned that I should be sadder about what goes on in the world, the day was not all too useful.
Next day I destributed more than half of the footbags I had brought. It was in the poorest village I saw on the trip (and in my life). There was hoever a family (of EVIL-SOULLESS-BASTARD-HEARTLESS-MATERIALISTS) that owned a mansion (by American standards) right in the heart of this village. We brought all the kids from the village to come swimming (for the first time in their lives -- no joke) in the 3 full sized pools that these "people" owned. The kids were in shock with all the stuff that had been happening (a full meal, swimming, meeting white people, etc) but they responded pretty well to footbag anyway. It was my only full-out short-shorts shred-shoes demo that I wound up doing, and they all took a couple bags home for themselves, their family and their neighbors who couldn't make it out to the event. Here's a pic
The kid in the light blue shorts (who's watching me) from the first pic was really into it. He got one of the 32s I had brought of my own to give away, and the Vasek sick3 flipbook that I had won at Wackahackee. The shoes I brought did fit, but I hope he's shredding right now.
After that, there was alot of touristee stuff before we got back to our purpose.
...but it was still fun. Travis and I found a bar with hookas!
It was just tobacco (with slices of fresh melon in it!!), so that's legit to put on the forum, right? Super fun night. Wicked bar
Following that weekend, we whent out to a little village called El Rozario. Here's a pic of some residents that wound up with footbags.
(This pic is obviously taken BEFORE they got their footbags)
I did some more juggling and some more hack for the kids in El Rozario and a bunch of the kids in the crowd wound up with footbags. I can't find any pics of it, but they liked it. Actually, they liked it best when I dropped it. They always laughed really hard when it I dropped... funny kids. Everyone was so friken happy! It was crazy.
That actually brings me to the biggest most imortant thing I learned during the trip. The kids here who grow up muddy, penniless, faced with deseases, hunger, and "a lack of an education" seemed happier than the kids I get in the summer camps that I work at in Canada. They laughed more, they were polite (although they didn't speak english) and they all seemed to get along alot better than the north american kids I get exposed to. Truly a surprising phenomenon.
Anyway, sorry I don't have any more pics that really pertain the the footbagging and such that whent down in Guatemala; and surprised that I can't find any of the kids playing with the footbags I gave them! (I specifically asked a bunch of people to take pictures of that very thing...) but there are over 150 MORE footbags in the hands of Guatemalan children, and lets all hope they skool their basics and learn everything on both sides.
Thanks for all the support, modified. I hope everyone gets a chance to do something similar... It was a great experience.
Huge thanks to Jan Zimmerman! I recieved about 150 footbags from him in time to bring them with me the central america and I was able to destribute them throughout a couple rural communities in Guatemala. Here is my story:
I should clear this up at the start. It frustrated me more than anything else about the trip. After all the meetings, get togethers, fundraisers, and phone calls with the management of the trip, nobody told me that the week I had chosen to spend in Guatemala happened to be the week that they all brought their KIDS! So, I found out a couple days into the trip that I was there was the week the most designated for touristy, sight-seeing, holiday type fun. ...jesus christ. I whent there to work... retarded. Screw you guys... anyway
Got up early -- flew -- bla bla bla -- arrive in Antigua (about 3 hour drive through REDICULOUS mountains from Guatemala City) meet everyone -- hang out -- sleep. The next day, we drive out to climb a volcano. There is a community that lives at the base of the volcano and they live off the tourist industry. We climbed the volcano
Here's me with my buddy Travis. The volcano is behind us.
And we stood this close to flowing lava:
When we came down from the volcano, we hung out with the community a bit and I did some juggling (with rocks) and played a bit of hack for the kids. (Didn't happen to have my big bag of footbags with me at the time... much to my own regret)
Next day we toured a dump (literaly) and it was sad and crazy and we visited some schools. There weren't really any opportunities to destribute footbags at the schools, so although I learned that I should be sadder about what goes on in the world, the day was not all too useful.
Next day I destributed more than half of the footbags I had brought. It was in the poorest village I saw on the trip (and in my life). There was hoever a family (of EVIL-SOULLESS-BASTARD-HEARTLESS-MATERIALISTS) that owned a mansion (by American standards) right in the heart of this village. We brought all the kids from the village to come swimming (for the first time in their lives -- no joke) in the 3 full sized pools that these "people" owned. The kids were in shock with all the stuff that had been happening (a full meal, swimming, meeting white people, etc) but they responded pretty well to footbag anyway. It was my only full-out short-shorts shred-shoes demo that I wound up doing, and they all took a couple bags home for themselves, their family and their neighbors who couldn't make it out to the event. Here's a pic
The kid in the light blue shorts (who's watching me) from the first pic was really into it. He got one of the 32s I had brought of my own to give away, and the Vasek sick3 flipbook that I had won at Wackahackee. The shoes I brought did fit, but I hope he's shredding right now.
After that, there was alot of touristee stuff before we got back to our purpose.
...but it was still fun. Travis and I found a bar with hookas!It was just tobacco (with slices of fresh melon in it!!), so that's legit to put on the forum, right? Super fun night. Wicked bar
Following that weekend, we whent out to a little village called El Rozario. Here's a pic of some residents that wound up with footbags.
(This pic is obviously taken BEFORE they got their footbags)
I did some more juggling and some more hack for the kids in El Rozario and a bunch of the kids in the crowd wound up with footbags. I can't find any pics of it, but they liked it. Actually, they liked it best when I dropped it. They always laughed really hard when it I dropped... funny kids. Everyone was so friken happy! It was crazy.
That actually brings me to the biggest most imortant thing I learned during the trip. The kids here who grow up muddy, penniless, faced with deseases, hunger, and "a lack of an education" seemed happier than the kids I get in the summer camps that I work at in Canada. They laughed more, they were polite (although they didn't speak english) and they all seemed to get along alot better than the north american kids I get exposed to. Truly a surprising phenomenon.
Anyway, sorry I don't have any more pics that really pertain the the footbagging and such that whent down in Guatemala; and surprised that I can't find any of the kids playing with the footbags I gave them! (I specifically asked a bunch of people to take pictures of that very thing...) but there are over 150 MORE footbags in the hands of Guatemalan children, and lets all hope they skool their basics and learn everything on both sides.
Thanks for all the support, modified. I hope everyone gets a chance to do something similar... It was a great experience.
Ben Roscoe
Very cool pics. I'm glad you really enjoyed the trip.
The importance of your trip is not a sad truth, to be honest. Nor is it troubling. This is how the world works. You can say that in westernized socities, people become more individualistic and goal-driven than being supportive and part of the collective. But you'll learn more of that lesson as you immerse yourself more on population dynamics and transnational economics.
I didn't mean to be a jerk on what I said above, but I hope you get the idea on what I meant.
The importance of your trip is not a sad truth, to be honest. Nor is it troubling. This is how the world works. You can say that in westernized socities, people become more individualistic and goal-driven than being supportive and part of the collective. But you'll learn more of that lesson as you immerse yourself more on population dynamics and transnational economics.
I didn't mean to be a jerk on what I said above, but I hope you get the idea on what I meant.
Waylon Lew - maker of Wasabi bags
NYFA represent.
"Footbag can be pretty frustrating when it's supposed to be fun. I was partly driven by this forum - practice, practice, practice... As that is true, I think someone can be too focused on progressing and training that they miss the fun aspect of it." - Bander87
NYFA represent.
"Footbag can be pretty frustrating when it's supposed to be fun. I was partly driven by this forum - practice, practice, practice... As that is true, I think someone can be too focused on progressing and training that they miss the fun aspect of it." - Bander87
KILLER pics, buddy!!! what a great trip. way to be a footbag ambassador, and all-around good deed doer. nice hookah pics! don't get too into those things, you'll be hankerin for a cig before you know it (for real)!
props, pal. we missed you at grass. hope to see you soon.
props, pal. we missed you at grass. hope to see you soon.
BRICK!
rfa::never give up::
nyfa
rfa::never give up::
nyfa
Awesome ben! Believe it or not, I have a philosophy class on human nature and one of the topics discussed was happiness. In a poll conducted, it was found that the average amish person was much happier than a person who was exposed to luxuries (when asked on a scale of 1-10) even though the amish kids often answered 8 because they were taught not to brag and would have answered 10 otherwise. It truly goes to show you that it's not what you have but how you perceive it and I think it is phenomenal what you have done for all these kids in a third world country. My hat is off to you good sir.
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