Today was our tour of welfare square. We were picked up at 7:45 a.m. and began with tours of the dairy, cannery, and DI. I was very impressed with the system the church uses, seeing the behind the scenes work was very humbling. One of the most impacting moments was when they showed us where the ATMIT is made. This is the nutritional supplement that is sent over to places such as Kenya to save children from starving. It's an amazing formula that starving bodies can actually keep down and the nutrients slowly nurse the body to proper health. I don't know how may of you have seen the picture of the 20 lb. 8 year old girl in Kenya and then the same girl 6 months later after eating ATMIT, I had before, but I heard part of the story I had never heard before. First, here is the picture: 
Now, apparently it only takes 10 lbs of ATMIT to feed a child for 6 months and it is produced at 50 cents a pound. For only $5 this little girl was fed for 6 months and developed muscles, grew hair on her head, and received light in her eyes. For only $5 she was saved from certain death. After hearing this, I felt a lot better about my meager fast offerings that have been given in the past. Who knew $5 could go so far.
I was very touched by stories such as these and by the time we got to the humanitarian center and watched a short 15 minute video on the humanitarian program of the church, I was crying within 2 minutes. I'm not usually a very emotional person, but this was such a humbling experience. To be reminded of how much the rest of the world needs our help. It's sad that we get caught up in work and school and buying the latest electronic toys and complaining about gas prices that we forget how very rich we are compared to the majority of the rest of the world. It makes me so sad to think of all those people who don't have access to clean water, warm blankets, immunizations, medical care, and a free public education. I really want to get involved in humanitarian organizations when I graduate from BYU and work to reduce poverty. It would be such a rewarding profession and I really want to utilize the skills that I have learned to help bless the lives of others. This opportunity to go to Ecuador and teach career workshops to help people learn how to find and keep better employment makes me so happy. We are teaching them necessary skills that they can use and teach others.
Well anyway, after our tours and a sampling of the dairy's chocolate milk and cheese, along with bakery bread and canned jam, we went on our way to our little graduation ceremony and luncheon. This was held in the conference center media room. So you open the blinds and there's the huge seating area. It was a pretty neat atmosphere and we couldn't help but feel a tiny bit important. So we received our little certificates saying we are now certified instructors of the employment workshops and then we ate a delicious catered lunch where I at the best fruit salad I've ever eaten in my life.
The other night, Becky and I were joking around in our hotel room about applying the concepts we are teaching to dating. We then went a little overboard and came up with an entire mock interview. We made the mistake of giving a little sample of it the other day during training and they insisted we perform in front of everyone at graduation. So, slightly impromptu we finalized ideas and sat down and went through an interview in front of everyone. Unfortunately, I haven't quite developed the talent of keeping a straight face so a few times I found it hard to speak while refraining from laughing. But we had fun with it. So, here's a video of my interview, which we acted out in front of about 20 people including all of our trainers from the church office building, current interns, and past interns.
After graduation we had Mimi take us by Wal-Mart for last minute purchases. First we were impressed by the fact that it had a parking garage. Then we found out it was 2 stories. Then we found out it had an escalator and then not only an escalator for people but an escalator for carts! A few in our group were surprised that we had never seen a Wal-Mart like this, but I've seen a lot of Wal-Marts in my day and none were anything like this one. :)
After Wal-Mart I'm not sure where the rest of my day went. I talked on the phone quite a bit with friends and family, went to dinner, packed a bit, tried to get things to work on my computer, and watched a lot of the weather channel, pretty convinced that we would end up stranded in the Dallas airport because of Hurricane Ike. I knew I had to wake up at around 2 in the morning but I found it hard to be tired as the night went on. I became anxious and excited and adrenaline kicked in from an exhausting week. I finished packing and got to sleep at around midnight.
I was very touched by stories such as these and by the time we got to the humanitarian center and watched a short 15 minute video on the humanitarian program of the church, I was crying within 2 minutes. I'm not usually a very emotional person, but this was such a humbling experience. To be reminded of how much the rest of the world needs our help. It's sad that we get caught up in work and school and buying the latest electronic toys and complaining about gas prices that we forget how very rich we are compared to the majority of the rest of the world. It makes me so sad to think of all those people who don't have access to clean water, warm blankets, immunizations, medical care, and a free public education. I really want to get involved in humanitarian organizations when I graduate from BYU and work to reduce poverty. It would be such a rewarding profession and I really want to utilize the skills that I have learned to help bless the lives of others. This opportunity to go to Ecuador and teach career workshops to help people learn how to find and keep better employment makes me so happy. We are teaching them necessary skills that they can use and teach others.
Well anyway, after our tours and a sampling of the dairy's chocolate milk and cheese, along with bakery bread and canned jam, we went on our way to our little graduation ceremony and luncheon. This was held in the conference center media room. So you open the blinds and there's the huge seating area. It was a pretty neat atmosphere and we couldn't help but feel a tiny bit important. So we received our little certificates saying we are now certified instructors of the employment workshops and then we ate a delicious catered lunch where I at the best fruit salad I've ever eaten in my life.
The other night, Becky and I were joking around in our hotel room about applying the concepts we are teaching to dating. We then went a little overboard and came up with an entire mock interview. We made the mistake of giving a little sample of it the other day during training and they insisted we perform in front of everyone at graduation. So, slightly impromptu we finalized ideas and sat down and went through an interview in front of everyone. Unfortunately, I haven't quite developed the talent of keeping a straight face so a few times I found it hard to speak while refraining from laughing. But we had fun with it. So, here's a video of my interview, which we acted out in front of about 20 people including all of our trainers from the church office building, current interns, and past interns.
After graduation we had Mimi take us by Wal-Mart for last minute purchases. First we were impressed by the fact that it had a parking garage. Then we found out it was 2 stories. Then we found out it had an escalator and then not only an escalator for people but an escalator for carts! A few in our group were surprised that we had never seen a Wal-Mart like this, but I've seen a lot of Wal-Marts in my day and none were anything like this one. :)
After Wal-Mart I'm not sure where the rest of my day went. I talked on the phone quite a bit with friends and family, went to dinner, packed a bit, tried to get things to work on my computer, and watched a lot of the weather channel, pretty convinced that we would end up stranded in the Dallas airport because of Hurricane Ike. I knew I had to wake up at around 2 in the morning but I found it hard to be tired as the night went on. I became anxious and excited and adrenaline kicked in from an exhausting week. I finished packing and got to sleep at around midnight.
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