The 5th night is over.

So last night was our last night, and it was fairly warm. When we woke up it was pretty chilling. We had 4 celebrity sleep overs last night, Roxanne, Sienna, Lori from Star Phoenix, and James Pepler, president of the USSU. It was a good night, James stopped by and sang to us again, it was beautiful. My brother also dropped by with my cousin and some friends, they hassled me for a while before going to sleep.

I wrote my last exam for the week this morning, and I’m really excited this week is over. I’m looking forward to my own bed! Yes! Well I want to just say thank you thank you thank you to EVERYONE who has donated money, clothing, and food for the particiants. To all the people who brought us hot chocolate to drink when we were cold. Shout out to Bob Deutscher and his friend Carter for bringing us cheeseburgers last night.

One thing I hope happens from all of this is that people continue to think of homelessness, and to continue to give. Next time you see someone who is in need, lend them a helping hand.  You never know how far your simple, kind gestures can go.

So, here are my last riddles:

1) I’m as light as a feather, but even the strongest man can’t hold me for much longer than a minute. What am I?

2) At the beginning of every end, and the end of time and space. To the beginning of eternity, and the end of every place.

I hope to see everyone come out to our wrap-up beer night at the Double Deuce, it starts at 7pm and it’s $10, all the money will go to EGADZ. Well folks, this is my last blog.

Over and out,

Reem Matlak

P.S. I’m going to miss spending all day and night with my fellow participants. Good job Shannon, Marc, Carlene, and Marc, we’ve gone far beyond our goal!

Night 4 has come and gone.

Last night was COLD. The coldest we’ve had by far. The wind was harsh and the ground was hard. CBC radio called in the morning and I chatted with them for a bit, and 650 NEWS called Carlene. Niran Harrison (a professor) stayed with us last night, a huge thank you to him for raising over $700 for our campaign. We enjoyed sharing our jokes with him. Carlene tried to tell some jokes, but they weren’t too funny, sorry Carlene haha.

I’m so tired, and I’ve had a big head ache all day. I have another exam tomorrow (oh so excited), and again I don’t think I will do very well which sucks. All I keep thinking about is how hard it is for homeless people to get out of their rut. I remember from my Law 30 class (Mr. Soldo was the greatest teacher ever!) and we talked about this mediocrity theory where people say “Oh go get a job you bum” but then no one wants to hire a bum, so really it’s just a vicious cycle. How are they supposed to help themselves if no one gives them a chance?

And ofcourse, here are my riddles!

1) You use a knife to cut my head and then you weep when I am dead. What am I?

2) I am a part of the bird, but not in the sky, I swim in the ocean and yet remain dry. What am I?

3) I am mother and father, but not birth or nurse. I’m rarely still but I never wander. What am I?

Tonight is the last night, and I’m looking forward to my own bed. Thanks to everyone whos donated so far and has given their time for this worthy cause. Big thanks to Cassandra Phillips who brough us chinese food for supper last night and for the Aboriginal Business Students’ Society for their donations and the bannock and soup, it was delicious. Stay tuned for my last blog tomorrow!

Over and out,

Reem

3rd Night Down! So close to being over.

Well last night was different, we switched spots so that we could be sheltered from the rain. We also had 4 new people sharing in our experience. Our celebrity sleepovers were Scott Walsworth, Keith Kuspira, T-Bone and his friend Heidi. James stopped by again to sing us a beautiful lullaby, keep em coming James!

So today I wrote my Managerial Accounting midterm, that didn’t go so well. After last nights sleep on the hard concrete, I woke up grumpy and out of it. That midterm had the best of me.

A big big thank you to everyone who has supported us this week, it is very appreciated. It makes everything a lot easier when you know that people actually care about you.  Tyler visited me today, and I was happy!

Shannon mentioned in her blog some very important things. To all those people who may have criticized us: we do realize that what we are doing is not exactly 100% homeless, and that we aren’t even close to experiencing homelessness. But you have to realize that what we’re trying to do is raise awareness of homelessness in Saskatoon, and to raise monetary, food, and clothing donations for EGADZ. And if we can do that, then we have reached our goal. Please don’t devalue what we are doing, because we are putting a lot of our effort and energy into this. So quit hating all you haters!

Now for all those anticipating the riddles:

1) Give me food and I will live, but give me water and I will die. What am I?

2) What runs but never walks, has a mouth but never talks, has a head but never speaks, and has a bed but never sleeps?

3) The man who built it doesn’t want it, the man who bought it doesn’t need it, and the man who needs it doesn’t know it. What is it?

Keep your spirits high homeless participants and organizing committees,  only two more sleeps!

Over and Out,

Reem the Riddler

Well I was officially homeless for a night.Boy was it tougher than I thought. *Note to anyone out there going homeless for the cause… bring a toque, and a sleeping bag, and THICK socks, and warm shoes. All of which I forgot. Made for a lot less sleep than I had hoped, but I survived. I needed to walk every couple hours cause sleeping on concrete can wreak havoc on your hips and back, but a brief walk was all I needed to get comfy again. Thanks to the 5 Days crew for bringing out some cardboard to soften up the cement a little.What a great bunch of people I met out there! It’s amazing how much the little things mean when you have nothing to do all night. Riddles, games, stories, some guy came and sang us a lullaby (amazing voice!). Even a few friends (Raj, John & Liana) came by to visit and donate some money and bring food (the whole group split the Big Mac Raj brought). John and Liana brought us some tea to put us to sleep. Thank you thank you.So was it tough? Yes! Did friends and fellowship make it easier? MUCH. Would I do it again? Yes. Kind of opens your eyes to someone else’s world…. and the more everyone understands each other, the more we can fix the things that are broken in our community.Kudos to you hardcores that are doing it for 5 nights straight. If any massage therapists are out there, stop by one morning and help these people work out their kinks. And to those who can’t experience it first hand, please support 5 Days For The Homeless. It’s a cause that deserves our attention, our support and our heart.T-BoneProducer of the Joe Blow Radio Show on C95.

Night 2 has come and gone. It was a colder night, and I didn’t get so much sleep. Marc D’Eon kept coughing, I wanted to slap him. I don’t think any of us got some good sleep. Marc Lepage entertained us last night with some good, but a little bit inappropriate, jokes. Devon’s friend, James, sang us a beautiful bedtime song. It was amazing! And ofcourse, I had some riddles. Here they are for all you riddlers:

1. What is so fragile, that when you say its name, it breaks?

2. What do you eat that you throw away the outside, cook the inside, and then eat the newly cooked outside, and throw away the inside?

3. What goes up and down the stairs, but doesn’t move?

I have a midterm tomorrow, and that really sucks. Studying has been difficult, I keep trying to find other things to do, and that is not so good. My daddy came to visit me, and that was really nice. Also, Marquis Hall offered us free lunch, that was sweeeet.

Tonight it’s supposed to rain! Nooooo! We’re relocating to a place that has more shelter, so hopefully that works out for us. But that’s all I have for you now. Thanks to everyone for all the amazing support!

Over and out,

Reem

One night down.

 Shockingly enough, I was fairly warm! With the sleeping bags from Deloitte and Canadian Tire we kept pretty warm. I was actually really excited because I never had sleepovers when I was younger, so I considered this my first “Sleep over” party. I was the entertainer of the night, here are some of my riddles:

1.  What has keys, but no lock; space, but no room; and you can enter but you can’t go in.

2. What dries as it gets wet.

If you know the answers leave a comment with your answer!

I woke up a few times because the ground was really uncomfortable, but it was still okay. I’m pumped that things have started, and we’ve already reached 24% of our  goal! We’re getting closer!

 That’s all for me now, I have to go do my homework (which I have LOTS of)

Over and Out,

Reem Matlak

P.S. Thank you SO much to Downtown Dental for the toothbrush/paste, floss, and mouthwash!!!!

Well, first night has come and gone and I actually got a surprising amount of sleep. I was pretty toasty, my feet got cold when I (of course!) managed to lose my socks in the middle of the night.

Yesterday was very busy getting set up, having a few interviews, and eating our last meals. When we all went to sleep, Reem entertained us with her riddles and Marc L entertained us with his sleeping bag antics. Sometime in the night during my half sleep, I realized that I was scared about rats for some reason. I have never even seen a rat, but was quite convinced there could be some lurking around our site. Then I calmed myself by realizing that people living on the streets deal with rats, mice, bugs, and all kinds of things. I can handle this, I think. This morning we were treated to some warm beverages and a lot of interested people, so that is great. The bracelets are getting a lot of attention.

I would like to thank some of our awesome new sponsors: Canadian Tire for the sleeping bags, Wal-mart for the water, Downtown Dental for the dental hygene items(so awesome!!) and Sobey’s for the gift cards.

Back to class,

Shannon

Well today is the day and I think I’m more nervous than excited. Last night when I was going to bed I thought, wow this is the last time I am going to be sleeping in a bed until Friday. That makes me even more nervous.

 But you know what calms my nerves? I keep thinking “Don’t worry Reem, in 5 days you will be back in your bed, chin up” The sad part is, I always think of the homeless, and how they can’t count down the days until they are no longer homeless.

Last week 3 of us were on CBC radio, and it was really exciting to see things actually rolling; people are becoming aware of what we are doing. Today we have an interview with Global and CTV, and I’m really excited for those. Hopefully by mid-week people will stop asking us WHAT we’re doing outside, and HOW we’re doing, and how we’re holding up.

Good luck to all the students involved in 5 days,

 Reem Matlak

Edwards School of Business