Atlanta Day 5 and 6

Day 5

We started our day at LSG helping them deliver bags of rice to about 10 refugee families. We visited with Augustine, a recent refugee that has been here for about 3 months. He was from Congo. After we finished delivering rice we just relaxed a little since it was cooler and was raining. We went to Inspire at 4pm. The students had the choice to play basketball or participate in art, which was origami. I personally choose origami which was really fun. During the exploration lesson, we discussed what is and isn't okay to say to a person experiencing homelessness. Megan, Cecilia and Chris led the lesson in which this was discussed, and also encouraged the students to come up with good ways to help people experiencing homelessness. We had the students put together little care packages that included some simple toiletries. It was a busy last day with the students, overall the week with them was great and I'm sure that we will miss them all very much.

Day 6

A big Thanks to KIND bars for their donation to our group. These bars were #kindaawesome and you should definitely #givekindatry 

Today, our last full day in Atlanta was our free day. We said our goodbyes to everyone at LSG and Inspire yesterday. We started our day going to the Atlanta Zoo which was awesome! We saw all kinds of cool animals including baby panda bears, they are so cute! After we all finished walking around the zoo we met up with Dan, Annie's good friend that works at Spelman College. Dan arranged a tour of the campus for us as well as provided us with an awesome lunch in the cafeteria. Once the tour was over we met back up with Dan and Annie and Annie showed us the houses that she has here in Georgia. We decide to head back to Rehoboth where we are staying and relax before our early flight home. We are still debating on whether to stay up the whole night or try and get some sleep before we need to leave to the airport. It was definitely a great week in Atlanta Georgia; filled with service and fun and for sure a trip of a lifetime. 

-Sami

Atlanta 2017 Day 4

Today we had an unexpected morning, as we thought we were going to be directly working with clients. Instead God had a different plan for us. There were six clients that were expected to show up at the downtown office of LSG, but none showed. We were originally going to help them in setting up their voicemail and teaching them basic job entry skills, through resume building, one-on-one conversations and actives that would help them advance in their English language learning. Due to no-shows, we ended up filing paperwork, documents, etc. This was frustrating in the beginning when we were assigned these tasks for a couple different reasons, one feeling these documents were too important to be put in our hands, and two because we had expected to meet and interact with these individuals. It’s hard when things don’t go as planned, but that’s why it’s so important to be flexible and go into service projects with an open-mind. Many of us felt as though we were doing the staff’s work, although taking a step backing and realizing what we were doing, really did make a huge difference in our work and to LSG. This allowed to think through things and remember what we were doing and why we were doing it. It brought some new and unexpected perspectives to our volunteer projects, and I think that’s what the intentions were. Just because we didn’t work directly with the clients, we did served them through putting their files away, filling out paper work and organizing in order for them to get the proper services they need and are in search for. We were able to see behind the senses and get a feel for what the staff at Lutheran Services of Georgia, does, which I believe was fulfilling. Service is service, regardless of how one is completing projects and I definitely think we needed to experience that, in a new light.
 Our next activity we did in the afternoon was visit the Martin Luther King Jr. national memorial center. We were able to tour the original Baptist church his grandpa built, and where he was baptized in and preached in. We also saw his grave site, along with his wife’s and look through the many different walk-throughs in the museum. This was a self-guided tour, which was beneficial because we were able to go at our own pace and really take in the movement and the life he and others lived. This was overwhelming and impactful because of how much intake we were able to visualize and read about, in regards to the struggles against fighting segregation and oppression, seeking to obtain equal justice. His center captured the incredible movement through social change. It helped by taking a step back, and just taking it all in slowly, embracing his philosophy. -Cecilia

 Today we went to INSPIRE the after school program again, I got to spend time with Ayub during the designated homework time. He is quite and smart. He was trying to make me do his homework, by cracking jokes at me and pretending as if he doesn't know how. I pushed him to do his homework, he completed a writing assignment for teacher appreciation week. Reading his letter to his teacher was heartfelt because his teacher is inspiring him to get good grades so he can go to college. Then we had 20 minutes left to finish his next assignment for social studies, he was getting off track a few times but I continued to keep him focused. When it was crunched time Ayub pulled through and finished both assignments. Ayub is very smart and friendly, today was all in all a great time. -Julia

Atlanta 2017 Day 3

Today was the day that we finally got to experience the Atlanta sun that we have been prepped for.  Because of this, we took advantage of our free time to ride up to and hike down of Stone Mountain (picture from the top is below).  We spent the morning visiting with refugee families from, Somalia, Congo, and Syria. It was eye opening and humbling experience to hear the stories of these families, some of which were our age.  At INSPIRE this afternoon we were able to teach a class, and share with students lessons on homelessness.  It was great to see the students engage in activities that we had prepared.  After dinner, our brave leader Alyssa and newly graduated Pauline, saved us all from the the residential cockroaches that have invaded our room. If you don't hear from us in the next 24 hours call for help!

-Megan and Pauline

Atlanta 2017 Day 2

Still smiles after our first day of working with students at Inspire. Participated in different activities and enjoyed sharing stories. A full day of orientations and learning about the Refugee crisis and resettlement in the world. So pleased that we can do our part to make a difference. Loving the weather. We have sun!! Enjoying our Southern experience. Had dinner at Mary Mac's

Tomorrow we look forward to visiting with refugee families and working with refugee students in the afternoon.

The ABLE Atlanta Team. 

Atlanta 2017

Hello family and friends! We have made it to Atlanta after a long day of travel. Stay tuned for more exciting news as we have our orientation and begin working with the Inspire after school program tomorrow. Thank you all for your prayers and support as we share this service experience together! -Alyssa