Vancouver Urban Plunge

The Vancouver urban plunge was considered the highlight of the first semester for most of us. It was incredibly impacting in so many different ways.

Day 1
today we got placed into groups, and went out to explore the streets of vancouver with nothing but bag lunches. We saw a man and woman on the side of the street, just standing there. They looked hungry, so we offered them a bag lunch. We made small talk for a couple minutes, they thanked us for the lunches, and they said goodbye. Some people really enjoyed company, and some didnt as much, so we respected what they wanted, and left. We walked down main and hastings then, which if any of you have been there, its unexplainable. you really need to see that street before you can really know what it was like. there are so many homeless people living there, selling drugs, or stolen products. As we were walking down hastings, an old man stopped us, and talked to us for quite a while. he talked about the addictions on the street, and told us never to get addicted to drugs, because we can see how that turns out. He told us part of his life story, how he had been addicted to alcohol, but never drugs. He had a house to stay in, and just came to visit his friends from the street everyday. I thought it was really cool and impacting that someone would do that.

One of our instructions for the day was to sit on a street corner, and observe people who walk by. I took my own corner of a street, and Ryan and Erin (my small group for the day) sat across the street from me, and we just sat, and observed. Almost everyone who walked past me avoided eye contact. they didnt even look at me, and if they did, they looked awkwardly away, or if i smiled at them, they hardly ever smiled back. it just made me think about the people who actually sit on the street and beg everyday, and the attention that they get. They don't get shown any respect because of the position they are in. There was one couple who walked past me who gave me a look that showed that they cared, and i honestly thought they would stop and talk to me for a while. They didn't, they kept on walking without a word, and i was pretty disappointed. I think i was getting angry at these people, because they didn't care, they didn't say a word, or even smile at me. But this couple, they looked like they cared. I saw them walk past the other way, and then they came up to me, with a bag of Tim Horton's cookies and offered me one. just as simple as that, i felt better. I never knew what such a small gift could do. it felt so good to be seen, and acknowledged.

What i learned today was that people living on the streets are people too. i had compassion for them because I was in their shoes for the day. I felt what life was like to live like that. It's horrible, and something as small as a Tim Horton's cookie can cheer them up.

Day 2
Today we went to Union Gospel Mission, a soup kitchen around Vancouver somewhere. For lunch, I sat with a man named Roger. He told me a lot about his life, and how he used to be an alcoholic, and he lost everything. He lost his wife, and his job, and i think that's what it took for him to realize that he needed to stop drinking. He ended up on the street, but after working at getting better, he now has a place to stay, with a bed and TV. He's also hoping that he can get a car soon to transport himself to work. It was amazing to hear a story that didn't end with the person on the street because of an addiction that they can't conquer. I really respected Roger for what he did, and how he turned his life around. He's happy now, and I could tell.

Day 3 "Impact Vancouver Day"

Today we were put in groups of 4, and werent given any instructions, excepft for Impact the city of Vancouver in any way you can. My group (Rachel, Kevin and Caleb) decided that we wanted to help the people of Vancouver to see people in need, and give them encouragement, and help them. We went to a dollar store and bought about 40 pairs of gloves, and paper and markers. We set up a table on a busy street in the "richer" part of Vancouver. We made signs that said "Send a message of hope", and of course wrote "free" all over them, so that people wouldn't think we're scamming them, or asking for money. Our idea was that people would write a message that they wanted to give to someone in need, and put the note in a pair of mittens, and hand them out to someone on the street. We gave some people the option of writing a note, and leaving it with us so we could return it later, and ended up with 26 notes in the end. The rest of the people took a pair a mittens with them, and we ended up with 7 mittens left, from the 40 we bought. It was awesome to see how people reacted to what we were doing. They were so pumped, and very excited to give someone something special. There was one girl who came who used to live on the streets, and now sees life so differently, and beautifully. She wrote on her note how she used to be there, and just encouraged the person who got the note to get off the street, because life is beautiful if you see it in the right light. It was definitely an amazing day all together, I left feeling so encouraged that 4 of us could start the day out with $20 bucks each, and possibly change some peoples lives.