Here Say is a project in community storytelling. We travel to a new place each week and ask people to share true stories about things we all experience: love, family, learning and more. To see where we've been, check out our interactive map. And to hear your favorite stories from last season, you can find our free podcast on itunes.
Nathan Roberts is the chef for Centro Latino’s cafeteria. He told us he traveled to Alabama this summer to work on a roofing project - yes, roofing, in Alabama, in the summer - and had great time thanks in part to forging a strong connection with the homeowner.
"It was hot, super hot down there, but it was pretty fun.The lady’s house that we worked on, her name was Ms. Hudson. She’s 93 years old. The reason why we were working on her house is because she couldn’t afford to get her roof redone. We were working on her house specifically because she did a lot of like community work when she was younger in her community, so we decided to give it back. It was through a thing called Raise the Roof, down in Mobile, Alabama, and they invited our church to come down there. So we drove all the way down there. That was a 12 hour drive down there. Mobile Alabama is at the bottom of Alabama. While we were down there we gained like a great connection with Ms. Hudson, which is the owner of the house. She was pretty cool...I was her favorite."
Santiago is nine years old and part of Centro Latino’s Active and Fresh summer program. He recently confronted his fears at an amusement park.
"There was this roller coaster with water. And I went on it that. Cause they told me don’t be scared. And I went on it and it was so fun cause you went up and then you went down and then you turned around and then you went up and then you went *shhhh* and then you went down and you splashed! It was awesome!"
Erica Lee has happy memories of summer fun and games with friends in the very small town where she grew up.
"Usually my day would start, I would wake up and do my chores. Once my mom would say, “You free to go,” I was out until the street lights came on. Playing. Riding bikes, you know, just like a little gang of kids. Just up and down the street, just playing and running around and being very active. This is my favorite game. It was called Red Rover. There was a line of kids facing each other and then you'd call somebody over and they’d try to run and break the line that you had. And that was fun, it was so fun!"
Victoria Buescher says a recent trip to Nicaragua pushed her outside the world she knows, and encouraged her interest in being a doctor and medical mission trips.
"The trip I took to Nicaragua last summer, because it was unlike anything I’ve ever done before. It was really out of my comfort zone. But because of that, it like really helped me grow a lot and it taught me a lot. But it was also a lot of fun, just to see how there’s like a whole other world out there, so different from what it is here. And to be able to help people."
Christopher Rodriguez coordinates Centro Latino’s program for kids like Santiago, who we heard from a few minutes ago. Christopher spends a lot of time thinking about how to make healthy living fun for kids. He also just graduated from college, and is finding new ways enjoy life.
"It’s a different type of fun. It’s more of appreciating, just having little social gatherings now where my friends come over. It's all financial right now. Because it's always expensive to go out with your friends, and go drinking. So I have just learned to appreciate how to just be at home with a couple friends, just hang out, and watch a movie, things like that. Things that I wouldn’t do before because I thought they were boring."
