When Doubting Would Be Easier: "Hope is Our Four Letter Word" ~OneRepublic

Ok, now I'm catching up!

Last time, we talked about how the summer went for the kids and the interns, but I didn't really update you on my summer, so I thought I'd detour a bit from Pomona Hope for a section, and talk about my mission trip to Kenya.

Kenya
This trip to Kenya was especially different for me, since I wasn't one of the youngest ones there this time! I actually went as a guardian of two of the girls from my church and spent most of the trip being called "Liz-mom" by the high schoolers and young adults from my church who came with us. Even if they were there with their actual moms.

Me and my trip kids

The trip was very special to me because I got to see the girls grow and how they changed, and I got to reconnect with a couple girls who were not there the last two times I went. We're facebook friends now. ;-)

Overall, the entire trip was a success, and everything that was planned was completed (and more!) despite their best efforts otherwise. The teachers got trained, the school kids were kept busy with P.E. games, art, and science lessons (by our group of missionaries), music lessons happened for the girls from the orphanage, and 2 American-quality playscapes were built for the kids! (One for the school and one for the orphanage!)

I helped with the Science Lessons for the students at the school and with the crafts and activities for the girls after school was over while we were there. Most of the science lessons consisted of making ice cream.

And when we got here, I realized I lost my glasses. :-(

And if you want to know what this next picture is all about, just ask!

Beginning of the School Year
Now that we're all caught up on Kenya, I should talk about the beginning of the school year. The Pomona School District started in the middle of August this year, so we started registering kids at the same time. The first day of registration was C-R-A-Z-Y! What happens when kids are registered is that parents are taken into one room and given the full rundown of what the program is like, what is expected of them and their kids, etc. During that time, the kids are tested with tests that are put out by organizations that provide standardized tests for schools as well, to give us a baseline for where the student is starting and measuring their improvement. It also helps us so that we can see in which areas the students struggle.

As I was saying, the first day was ridiculous. I had one adult volunteer come to help, and nearly all the students (30 or so) came in that day. This is in stark contrast to the next day when I had several adults available, and maybe 10 kids. It just all worked out that way. So, a note for future reference: Future Liz, please remember that everyone comes to the testing on the first day!

It got pretty crazy because any kids K-1st grade need to be tested one-on-one, and 2nd graders need someone available to help them out with the reading portions. We ended up admitting 20 K-3rd graders and several more registered and are on the waiting list.

Even with all that, the first kids to start (the next week) were the Junior High and High School students. We wanted to give them a place to use the computer and get help with their homework if needed.

Jeff and I tried something new this year, when it was just the 6-12th graders, We had a movie day. The first Wednesday they returned to us, we started the day with them working on their homework (instead of their traditional snack time), and then, with enough time for the movie to finish, we all watched "The Sandlot", ate popcorn, and had sodas together. We figured it would be a good "welcome back" experience, as well as a good way to get around low volunteers, the fact that it was too hot to be in the third floor computer lab, and that many of the regular workshops were not ready to start yet, since they wouldn't be until other groups came.

ALS Ice Bucket Video
So, this happened...

I think you can imagine all the four-letter words I was trying not to say.

Plus, this mean kid keeps stealing my phone and taking selfies!

Bullying
Like everywhere else in the world (I learned this in Kenya this summer), bullying is sometimes a problem, even for our kids.

We've had some issues with kids picking on other kids, but we've also made it very clear that that behavior is unacceptable. The ones who got in trouble for it have come back with better attitudes, and everything seems to be water under the bridge. I just hope that things continue to improve.

Hugs All Around
There's always a lot of love to go around here as well, but there were a couple of notable hugs that just really touched me when I saw them.

One of our great volunteers this year is a retiree who joined us during the summer program because his son was volunteering with us over the summer as well. His son went back to work for the school year, but this volunteer continued to come help us out. He specifically wanted to work with the youngest group of kids, but they weren't scheduled to start until 6 weeks after everyone else did. He still joined us 3 out of 4 days a week, so I placed him with the high school students, since they are also the ones to work with the youngest group of kids. I figured it would be a good time for them to bond and be able to work everything out. My heart pretty much melted when I watched one of our high school girls run up to him at the end of one day to give him a hug goodbye.

Another cute story is from a student who's group was not supposed to start yet, but I knew she needed (desperately) whatever extra help we could give her. One dedicated volunteer comes in to help this student every week (throughout all last year as well, and I think the year before!), so when this volunteer was ready to start, I called this student in to get help. Now, this student has struggled with memory issues the entire time we've known her. Even as her academics slowly improved, she still wouldn't remember the names of the volunteers who worked with her very consistently every week over the course of years. But one of the days she came in just to work with this volunteer, I got to watch as, at the end of the day when they were packing up, she looked up at the volunteer and said, "Thank you, Genie!" and gave her a big hug. I just teared up right now thinking about it.

Meeting with a Teacher
Does anyone else get nervous about teacher's meetings? I was a good kid in school, so the thought of having to go into a special meeting with a teacher would have terrified me (as in, "what did I do wrong?!", not that teachers are scary). We have one student, in particular, who is a very special case, and since last year, I've made it a policy to always meet with her teacher and try to work with him or her to help this student out and make it a team effort. It was actually the idea of a volunteer who was working with her last year.

Always Looking...
For new volunteers! It's weird, they all keep moving or getting jobs or going to school or something. Know anyone to whom this video would appeal? Please share it with them!

Fundraiser at The Brick!

They called us! Which I think is super cool!

The Brick Market and Deli is a new restaurant in Pomona which is actually owned by a family who helped raise me from K-5th grade (prime Pomona Hope years!). I've been going to it since it opened and the food is delicious! I got pretty much every week.

But they called us as part of their efforts to get the word out about themselves. They called a lot of nonprofits in Pomona, which I think is a pretty cool way to go about it. They're really community minded. And did I mention the food is delicious?

The flyer is below. Please go and support Pomona Hope! 20% (TWENTY PERCENT!!!) of your purchase will go straight to us. That's a really high number for one of these things!