Where does the time go? We started recycling used soaps, shampoos, conditioners & body gels in August 2010. At that time, we had 6 women volunteering their hours to do so. Very quickly we were able to start paying them for 4 hours a week. It's been an interesting and exciting journey.
For some, it was their very first 'real job', and for others, they were excited to be earning a paycheque again. Here we are in February 2011 now and we have added another 4 women to our workforce. Our day begins with a Circle in which we all touch base and catch up on the week's events. We leave our baggage (all our cares and worries) at the door. In fact, one of the women wants to make a mail box for the front door, in which everyone could leave their woes for God to take care of. We pray for those hands that are preparing the soaps that day, and for the bodies who will be receiving them and for lives to be saved because of them. It's interesting, because there has been the occasional day where our circle time has been overlooked, and on those days, things don't seem to run as smoothly!
One of our new team members is taking care of her granddaughter, because her granddaughter's mother is working the streets and in the midst of her addiction. We're hoping to take this girl's mother on a Journey to Linwood House someday, to commence the process toward recovery. We have various volunteers come and work with us on any given day, and we LOVE those days. The Clean Team really enjoys meeting new people, sharing stories and teaching others how to do their jobs. It makes the day go by quicker and it's much more fun! We need the volunteers to help us boost production as we now have 75 hotels on board providing soaps. On one of the days, we had 6 students from Capilano University come and help us, they then did a report at school and apparently received an "A" for their project!
A day to remember was when Brian, the Executive Director of our partner Mission Possible, brought in a poster of the children from an orphanage in Swaziland who received our very first shipment of recycled soap. We have that picture on our wall, and our woman would love to adopt each one of them! Our clean team are learning new skills to get along with each other, to work as a team. They also have brilliant ideas on how to streamline and increase production. It is wonderful to hear them dream and scheme and plan.
What an opportunity, what a pleasure, what joy to get up on a Monday morning, for ALL OF US, and know we are going to make a difference in this world.
~ Sue-Ann MacCara
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