Olympic Challenges at Real Life!

Again, such a great week we had at Real Life!

On Monday, we put everyone to the test in our Real Life Olympics! There were a variety of challenges in which each "country" participated in. Each group had to come up with what "country" they wanted to be and color their own flag. Different teams included Thailand, Brazil, Ethiopia, Nepal, and more! After this, we began the challenges!

Different challenges include silly things like a pie eating contest, jello-spit contest, flying turtle contest, limbo, jump rope, tug-of-war, and more!

Wa Wa getting her face painted by Julia :)

Hser Ner Paw jump roping!

Do you know these Young Humanitarians?!

The application deadline for the 2012 Young Humanitarian Award has passed! All of the applications are off to the application judges and we are awaiting the names of the top 10 who will continue on to the interview round of the selection process.   

We have 68 amazing applicants this year from 36 different high schools and colleges throughout Utah.  One of these students is going to receive a $5,000 college scholarship and 3 others will receive a $1,000 college scholarship.  Do you know anyone on the list?! 

Here's what our teams are hoping to accomplish this summer!

Our teams are busy getting ready for their trips, coming up in June and July!  Not only are our teams engaged in their local service, they are busy fundraising for their project funds, and planning out their trips.  Here's a summary of what each team is working on:

The Friends & Family Team is similarly fired up to serve Peak Sneng in June, where they’ll be making improvements to the school, installing water filtration systems, and working with the recipients of 2011’s animal exchange program.

Expert Cartoonists at Real Life in Salt Lake City!

What a great week! We celebrated St. Patrick's Day on Monday, with a sweet scavenger hunt put together by Ali and Carolyn! Thank you guys!

On Wednesday, we had another 4H class where we learned how to build healthy relationships!

Finally... On Friday, the Visual Art Institute came and taught us how to draw cartoons! It was awesome to see how good some of us are at drawing.

 Sweet drawings BoBo!

Flashlight Easter Egg Hunt -- March 30th!

The Guatemala Team is super excited to announce our 

FLASHLIGHT EASTER EGG HUNT!  

Bring your family & friends, and support our team raise money for our projects to support Ak'tenamit-- an organization working with over 40 surrounding indigenous communities on Rio Dulce. Click here for more information on our projects.  E-mail Miriam for more details. 

Fishy Farms at Real Life!

What an awesome week we had at Real Life! We started it off amazingly- with a service project for the Peru micro-enterprise committee!

We spent Monday making fabric fish for the Peru team to sell. Each fish is going to be sold for 10 dollars for a fundraiser. All of the money used from selling the fish will go to loans for villagers in Peru to start their own fish farms!

Minnesota, Utah, Thailand... Connecting the dots

Getting to know our fellow team mates is one of the many joys of being part of our respective teams! The interactions that build us as a team before we go on our trips are a crucial part of our bonding and success. On a related, but also a completely random note...

Minnesota is known for a few things:

1. Where the saying "holy cow" originated!

2. Contains Mall of America (consisting of 9.5 million square feet!)

3. Minnesota has 90,000 miles of shoreline (more than California,

Florida, and Hawaii combined)

4. Rochester is home to the world famous Mayo Clinic.

I pose the question...

What does Minnesota have to contribute to our Thailand team?

ANSWER: Only two of the greatest team members anyone could ask for! We are fortunate to have two Minnesotans on our team, but considering the distance between the Beehive State and the North Star State there isn't much opportunity to get to know these fabulous ladies!

Getting to know Michelle:

Michelle is a senior at Mayo Senior High in Rochester. She will be attending the University of Wisconsin-Madison (GO BADGERS!) in the fall.

To quote Michelle... "I loveeeee love love drawing and painting." She is working on a work-in-progress mural that she is painting in her bedroom of random things that she feels like painting.

Like most of us she loves hanging out with friends and listening to music. She fills her "free time" with cross country, running her yearbook staff as editor in chief, and of course...volunteering!

For her service Michelle volunteers at charter house in the supportive care and assisted living. She takes her dog there for pet therapy, gives hand massages, and reads to the residents.

Michelle said, "This service trip is going to be a life changing adventure and I'm so excited to have an international experience where I can help others at the same time. I am Minnesota nice, and I am really excited to meet all you Utah dwellers!"

Getting to know Lexi:

Lexi is also a senior at Mayo Senior High, and her and Michelle are the bestest of friends! She is "beyond excited" to attend the University of Denver (Colorado is beautiful!) in the fall.

She fills the little free time she has with skiing and playing volleyball! She is involved with volunteering at charter house with Michelle and doing those same things.

One of Lexi's major passions is Teen Council (Now pay attention because this is an off the wall, legit experience). Lexi is professionally trained to be part of Teen Council to teach at Middle schools and High schools across Minnesota. They teach students about Body Image, Values, Healthy Decision making, Anti-Bullying, Contraceptives, STI's, etc.

Lexi said, "...we heard about this opportunity and we seized it! Even though we are a bit more isolated from the Utah group, we're still planning to have a ton of fun with you guys when we meet!"

We too, here in Utah, are excited to meet you girls and share this wonderful experience with you guys!

Come to our Service Fiesta: Youthlinc's Annual Benefits May 5th & April 21st

Spring is a magical time for Youthlinc! Our students are becoming engaged in their local service and confident in their ability to make a difference. Our teams are busy preparing for their international trips, and finding creative ways to raise project funds for the communities they'll meet in just a few short months.  The excitement is palpable.

We invite you to join in the excitement by attending our Service Fiesta Annual Benefit & Auction on Cinco de Mayo, Saturday May 5th at 6:30pm at the Utah Natural History Museum.  Come dressed in your Latin attire and help us celebrate, honor and support our youth as they become lifelong humanitarians.

For those living in the Wasatch Back, plan on a vibrant evening of live music and entertainment at the Kimball Arts Center, Saturday, April 21st at 5:00pm.

Because of our generous sponsors, all money raised at these benefits goes toward Youthlinc programs.

This event wouldn't be possible without our fantastic Annual Benefit Committee, our Emcees, Britnie Powell and David Wintzer, and our Heber Valley, Park City, and Park City Sunrise Rotary Clubs!  

Click here to e-mail your RSVP for either event before April 30th.  

Cambodia Team

Real Lifers know there's no "I" in "Team!"

 Thank you to everyone who planned AMAZING lessons at Real Life this past week!

Monday's soccer tournament was a blast. We have so many talented soccer players! It was good to be able to get outside and play some sports. Thanks Kristen!

Wednesday we made a sweet video for a competition in Salt Lake County. The video was meant to motivate kids to read more in the summer. Real Lifers were taking responsibility in motivating their peers! Great job guys!

On Friday, Gui and Alex planned an awesome team challenge day! Everyone participated in a few team challenges. There were three teams, "iCandy," "Superstars," and "Winners." Ironically (or maybe not-so-much) the "Winners" won team challenge day!

For the first challenge, each team had to construct some sort of device to transport four ping-pong balls from the "Mission Control" to the "Moon," without leaving Mission Control! It was a real challenge and every team member had to put their minds together and be creative. Everyone played a part in constructing the devices. Team "iCandy" and "Winners" got all four ping pong balls on the "moon!"

For the second team challenge, each team had to construct a tower made out of gum drops, marshmallows, and raw spaghetti! Again, every team member was putting their heads together to organize the tallest and most creative castle! No one was left out in this activity, everyone had a role to play! We had some pretty interesting results...

Spaghetti people! And a spaghetti horse..

Radio tower?

Abstract construction.. 

Very concentrated!

We had so many cool designs! 

For the last team challenge, each team had to work together to clean up their area the quickest! It was pretty funny to see everyone scrambling back and forth to garbage with their hands full of candy and spaghetti!

P.S. Congratulations to Muang for being the teen of the week! We really appreciate your commitment to Real Life and making sure to come every day!

Cambodia Committees are Working Hard

Here are some wonderful updates on what the different committees are doing in preparation for Cambodia.

After much thought and some hard decisions, the Education committee of Cambodia has decided to do some fundraising through a read-a-thon at various elementary schools in Salt Lake City. My team and myself and very excited to branch out into different schools ranging from elementary schools to high schools and reach out to teachers that would be willing to help us. Our goal is to find a teacher that will help us introduce the Youthlinc Cambodia trip and what we are going to be doing for the children in Cambodia. We then are going to have a class participate in a read-a-thon. Another one of our goals is to have each student raise money, even if it is just a penny! We love that this fundraising idea integrates service learning by having the students help us raise money while they are reading. Teachers can take this lesson steps further by integrating math (adding up all the money and even graphing results. I love that we are reaching out to schools in our city to help. It will be exciting and very different to see schools in Cambodia.


The Micro-enterprise committee is staying busy. They are starting an Animals For Easter fundraiser which allows people to buy chickens, pigs, or cows in someone's name as a gift for Easter, and that animal will be donated to families in Peak Sneng. They are also working on preparing to do oral histories with past and future loan recipients. They are also preparing to teach micro-finance lessons to a group of women interested in starting small businesses in the village.

The Cultural committee are currently organizing opening and closing ceremonies with singing and dancing. They are also preparing prompts for cultural exchanges at the jr/sr high school.

The Medical committee are going to be working on a mosquito net project in which they will start helping families get proper mosquito nets in their homes to protect from insect-borne illness. They are collecting supplies for hygiene kits, and preparing lessons to teach at the schools about staying healthy. They are also planning a special seminar for women and girls to specifically discuss feminine health issues.

The Construction committee are currently doing a fundraiser to raise money to build water filters for families. Here is a link to the organization we are partnering with for that: www.waterforcambodia.org.
They are also going to preparing for repairing the school's desks, doors, and windows; painting the school, and building composting and garbage pits at the school to help keep it litter-free.

TEAM GUATEMALA UPDATE!!

Team Guatemala is enthusiastically moving forward. Our fundraising efforts are off to a great start. Listed below are some highlights:

Michelle Moynihan and her mother Maria were able to collect over 90 hygiene kits and collected over $500.00 that will be used to purchase water filters. Other local donors have contributed an additional $600.00 to the water filter project.

Our education team has collected supplies for over 300 education kits. These kits will be provided to students at Ak’Tenamit which serves indigenous Guatemalans.

Columbia Elementary School, in Kaysville, is hosting a “Penny Wars” next week. They want to supply reading books and furnishings to the library that is being completed at Ak’Tenamit.

Kaysville Junior High School, under the direction of Kristy Hanni, will also host a “Penny Wars.” Money raised from this effort will help purchase additional water filters and other medical supplies.

Team Guatemala, under the direction of Greg Miller and Sandy Vasseleou, will assist Teams Thailand and Cambodia in a Derby Bout Fundraiser that will be held on April 28^th. Watch for upcoming details.

Guatemala’s vocational team is hosting a Flashlight Easter Egg Hunt. This hunt will be held at Barnes Park in Kaysville on March 30^th at 8:00 p.m. Thanks mentors: Steve Hanni, Mark Erickson and Miriam Kramer.

Our team is also rocking on their service hours. We have highlighted a few of our students and the service they are rendering.

Alec Burbidge teaches disabled children how to ride horses. This teaches the children therapeutic techniques that help them learn to speak, talk, and show emotion. He says that it has been an amazing experience and it has blessed his life in many ways.

Jessica Beauchamp is volunteering at Copper Ridge Dental as an assistant. She states, “It has been a great learning experience, it has taught me many things and it will also help me with my future career. I have been able to help educate clients and spend time with them and staff to learn how a dental office operates. I have really enjoyed working here and hope to continue learning things everyday.”

Jadyn Carlsen volunteers at Big Brothers and Big Sisters. “After going to recess with my little sister, Sonya, we come in and do homework. If she doesn't have any homework or we get finished early, we get to play games. Sometimes we don't play with any of the and simply play some games alone. My little sister, Sonya, has a best friend that also has a big. Most of our time is spent with this other group. She is so energetic and happy that I can't help but be excited to go and see her every week.”

Brooke Burningham and Ashley Hanni are tutoring students from North Davis Preparatory Academy. These students have learning/medical conditions that require extra help. On a weekly basis they tutor these students. One time Brooke and Ashley helped a student complete her Science Fair Project. The student wanted to determine which milk absorbed into Oreo cookies the fastest. They determined that whole milk does absorb more quickly into the cookie than the other milks.

Off the charts creativity at Real Life this week!

Our creativity was boosting last week at Real Life! We started off the week with a real fun lesson by Kate and Megan. They taught us all how to make cool shirts using contact paper, tape, and spray paint! This activity was a hit and everyone really enjoyed themselves.

Get those creative juices flowing! ;)

Very concentrated...

He's working hard!

On Wednesday, we had an egg drop/trust game day! Members broke off into groups and had to be really creative in designing an apparatus to shield their egg from a fall. Everyone had to challenge themselves and put trust in their peers. It was a really productive day!

Finally.. Friday we all went SWIMMING! Everyone knows that field trips are always the best! It was a blast to use the awesome facilities of Holladay Lions and show off our swimming skills!

Puttin' the fun back in FUNdraiser -- 30 great ways to raise cash!

“Do It Yourself” FUNdraisers

1. Yard Flocking!  

Purchase 10 pink plastic flamingos (lawn decorations). Pick 10 yards in your community to be the lucky recipients. Attach cards to the flamingoes' necks with a phone number along with all the pertinent information regarding your group.  State that for a $10 donation, the flamingos will be removed but for $15 they will be moved to the lawn of their choice. Make sure you also place a sign that has a contact name and phone number among the flamingos for those who drive by and would like to have the flamingos placed in a friends yard. (Also give the option to simply pick up the flamingo gratis, since some people have no sense of fun.)  It takes some organization, but is lots of fun. An additional fundraising idea is to sell "Pink Flamingo Insurance" for $10 to protect yourself from the invasion of these pink pests.

2.  Spirit Chain Fundraising

This is a great fundraiser for high school students, but could be used with other groups. Have a competition within the different classes in the school (senior, junior, sophomore, freshmen) to see who has the most school spirit. Each class has two colors that their paper chain consists of. Sell each strip of paper for 25 or 50 cents. Keep the chains hidden and then at an assembly have class representatives bring out the huge paper chains that have accumulated over time. Whichever class’ chain is the longest receives bragging rights for the rest of the school year. This is a great activity to do right before homecoming or other school functions when school spirit is high. The only thing you have to pay for is the paper and staples/glue/tape.

3.  Arrest A Fan
A high school group sold tickets all week at school before the homecoming football game and during the game for $5.00. The tickets were papers they printed out with the students name that was purchasing and the students name that the purchaser wished to have arrested. During the game they would have a volunteer