So we're just finishing up our second week with Habitat for Humanity Bay-Waveland and I am really loving being here and the work we're doing. The beach makes for some really beautiful sunsets and blue-sky days and the weather has been in the low 70's pretty much consistently. This little town is incredibly welcoming and warm and I love just walking around and being a part of it.
Habitat requires what they call sweat-equity hours (they have to work a certain number of hours on Habitat worksites before they can move into their house) from their homeowners so they're often working right alongside us. It's really rewarding to see the joy and gratitude on their faces and knowing that they've probably waited so long to have their own home like this and that it's so meaningful to them that Habitat makes it so affordable. The homeowner whose house we worked on yesterday (and last Friday), Julie, has had treats for the volunteers every day this week and cried out of gratitude yesterday during her house dedication and blessing. I feel so honored to be able to share in such an important and life-changing experience in these people's lives.
Tropical Storm Ida came though on Monday but it wasn't all that exciting. We had to have all of our stuff packed up on Sunday night just in case the storm would be bad enough that we would have to evacuate, but it was just rain and and a lot of wind, so we got to stay put. I hope you all weren't too worried about me down here on the coast. All is certainly well.
I'm headed to a fish fry this afternoon that benefits the Habitat affiliate I'm working with and then tomorrow my team's hanging out at the affiliate's model green home for the Hancock County Parade of Homes. Habitat entered the house in a green building competition and it's a really beautiful, really energy-efficient house. Again, it was so cool to be a part of getting this house ready. You can check out a promotional video about it at:
http://www.habitatbaywaveland.org/Green_GreenBlueHouse.html
I'll try and put up some pictures soon, too!
I'll be home in two weeks for Thanksgiving, so if you'll be in the Philadelphia area, let me know! Until then, let me know what's going on in your lives! I miss you!
Friday, November 13, 2009
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Bay St. Louis, A Place Apart
Wow. Welcome back to the blogging world, Nora. Yes, I’ve been pretty absent for about a month, but only because I’ve been so busy.
We finished up our time with Pat Harrison by working on a couple of haunted forests that served as fundraisers for the local volunteer fire departments. It was really fun to have as much creative input as we did and be able to do some construction as well as trail work and painting. All in all, we worked at 5 of the 11 Pat Harrison Water Parks and completed a lot of work. We were really lucky to have Stewart as our sponsor and will miss him and all the PHWD staff very much.
On our way back to Vicksburg on the 23rd, we stopped at the Piney Woods School just south of Jackson. My team and the other NCCC team that had been in Hattiesburg, River 7, worked at Piney Woods for the day as part of Make a Difference Day, one of the National Days of Service that the whole corps participates in. Piney Woods is one of four historically black boarding schools in the country and was founded in 1909. They are now also the first and only high school in the country with an AmeriCorps program. They work on a 4 & 1 system where they attend normal classes Monday to Thursday and on Friday have work-study jobs or other tasks to complete around campus. The seniors are actually AmeriCorps members and so do community service on their Fridays. At the end of their senior year, they will have earned enough hours to qualify for an education award that is basically a college scholarship for them. It was a really cool place and it was great to get work with the students there.
All the teams were back on campus for transition last weekend and this Monday throughWednesday. It was really great to be back in my own room up on the TL floor and surrounded by Team Green Love (from all the team leaders). Transition was really busy and stressful though—meeting after meeting to debrief and close out Round 1 and brief and get ready for Round 2. Lots of paperwork and lots of scheduling, but I somehow made it through alive. I was incredibly exhausted by the end of it (physically and emotionally) but I was still really excited to get going to my next project.
So now I write you from lovely Bay St. Louis on the Gulf Coast of Mississippi. We arrived here on Thursday afternoon and settled into a lovely little house about 3 blocks from the beach and about a mile from the downtown district. The house belongs to a family that evacuated for Katrina and never came back, so we’re finding lots of little treasures here and there. Habitat is renting the house from them and we feel so lucky to be here instead of in a trailer at a volunteer camp.
The town is incredibly friendly and welcoming. We spent Saturday walking around and enjoying the daytime, family-oriented Halloween events the town put on for the residents. This community is still very small after Katrina, but it’s easy to tell how close-knit and caring it is.
It’s crazy to see how many empty lots there still are post-Katrina, though, too. You’ll be walking down the street and all of a sudden see a foundation slab and a driveway with no house. Or a staircase leading up to where a porch must have been but is no longer.
The other sight that I’ve been so excited to be noticing around town, though, is the many Habitat houses. I can already spot them based on their colors, designs, and matching backyard sheds. There are over 100 that have been built here since Katrina, and I’m so excited to keep adding to that number. On Monday we’ll start at a site that’s currently just a raised foundation and hopefully have walls and trusses up by the end of the day!
We get some spotty internet service in our house now, so I’m hoping to be able to keep in touch a little better this round. Please keep leaving comments and writing me notes! It makes me so happy to hear from all of you. Love love love.
We finished up our time with Pat Harrison by working on a couple of haunted forests that served as fundraisers for the local volunteer fire departments. It was really fun to have as much creative input as we did and be able to do some construction as well as trail work and painting. All in all, we worked at 5 of the 11 Pat Harrison Water Parks and completed a lot of work. We were really lucky to have Stewart as our sponsor and will miss him and all the PHWD staff very much.
On our way back to Vicksburg on the 23rd, we stopped at the Piney Woods School just south of Jackson. My team and the other NCCC team that had been in Hattiesburg, River 7, worked at Piney Woods for the day as part of Make a Difference Day, one of the National Days of Service that the whole corps participates in. Piney Woods is one of four historically black boarding schools in the country and was founded in 1909. They are now also the first and only high school in the country with an AmeriCorps program. They work on a 4 & 1 system where they attend normal classes Monday to Thursday and on Friday have work-study jobs or other tasks to complete around campus. The seniors are actually AmeriCorps members and so do community service on their Fridays. At the end of their senior year, they will have earned enough hours to qualify for an education award that is basically a college scholarship for them. It was a really cool place and it was great to get work with the students there.
All the teams were back on campus for transition last weekend and this Monday throughWednesday. It was really great to be back in my own room up on the TL floor and surrounded by Team Green Love (from all the team leaders). Transition was really busy and stressful though—meeting after meeting to debrief and close out Round 1 and brief and get ready for Round 2. Lots of paperwork and lots of scheduling, but I somehow made it through alive. I was incredibly exhausted by the end of it (physically and emotionally) but I was still really excited to get going to my next project.
So now I write you from lovely Bay St. Louis on the Gulf Coast of Mississippi. We arrived here on Thursday afternoon and settled into a lovely little house about 3 blocks from the beach and about a mile from the downtown district. The house belongs to a family that evacuated for Katrina and never came back, so we’re finding lots of little treasures here and there. Habitat is renting the house from them and we feel so lucky to be here instead of in a trailer at a volunteer camp.
The town is incredibly friendly and welcoming. We spent Saturday walking around and enjoying the daytime, family-oriented Halloween events the town put on for the residents. This community is still very small after Katrina, but it’s easy to tell how close-knit and caring it is.
It’s crazy to see how many empty lots there still are post-Katrina, though, too. You’ll be walking down the street and all of a sudden see a foundation slab and a driveway with no house. Or a staircase leading up to where a porch must have been but is no longer.
The other sight that I’ve been so excited to be noticing around town, though, is the many Habitat houses. I can already spot them based on their colors, designs, and matching backyard sheds. There are over 100 that have been built here since Katrina, and I’m so excited to keep adding to that number. On Monday we’ll start at a site that’s currently just a raised foundation and hopefully have walls and trusses up by the end of the day!
We get some spotty internet service in our house now, so I’m hoping to be able to keep in touch a little better this round. Please keep leaving comments and writing me notes! It makes me so happy to hear from all of you. Love love love.
Friday, October 2, 2009
Already October
I cannot believe today is already October 2. It's been 3 months since I left home and started this adventure and I'm already more than halfway through my first round project.
ready to grub some roots on the horse trail with Brian, Kat and RiaWe (almost completely) finished up work at Little Black Creek this week which meant finishing grubbing out roots on a three-mile long brand new horse trail (soon to be christened the Rio Dos Horse Trail in our honor), building and installing 4 picnic tables and 6 hitching posts along the trail, designing, cutting, and painting signs and markers to place along the trail, finishing painting the outdoor picnic pavillions, staining a cabin and doing various other small tasks around the park. Since our supervisor was intent on the trail being our legacy in the park and having us take ownership of it, we got to decide what sort of markers we wanted to put along it. We decided to install signs that indicate the mileage to each of our hometowns along the trail and name the rest areas after some of our favorite animals (Bear Pause, Foxes' Den, and Hawks' Hideaway). It was really fun to figure out how far away from home we all are (thanks for the help on Google Maps, Momma and Tillie!) and we're all really excited have the signs finally installed.
sanding my 1151 miles to Ardmore, PA sign before painting it
On a sad note, one of my corps members left the Corps this week. His dad, who had been in poor health, had a stroke on Sunday night and lost the use of his right arm and right leg. Will decided to go home to be with his family and help support his mother during this tough time. If everything goes okay and his dad is able to recover quickly, Will may come back to us, but for now my team's down to 11 from 12. We miss you, Will!
The team will be going to a maize maze with our sponsor and his family tomorrow evening in Poplarville, MS. There's 2 miles of trails and it's in the shape of the Mississippi River between Mississippi and Louisiana. You have to visit certain spots in a certain order to get your card stamped to successfully complete the maze and we are very excited for the challenge! If nothing else, we have been extremely spoiled by our supervisor Stewart and the staff at Little Black. They are constantly bringing us treats and making us feel like family. We can only hope to have sponsors like them throughout the rest of our year!
Jimmy Stewart Smith, Jr., our amazing site supervisor
I miss you all so much! Keep keeping in touch!
Saturday, September 12, 2009
Little Black and Dunn's Falls
We just finished up our second week of our first round spike, so I wanted to give you all an update as to how everything’s going.
Like I said last time, we’re working with the Pat Harrison Waterway District, a state agency that oversees several parks throughout southeastern Mississippi in dealing with water management, flood control, and recreational activities. Our service will be at 3 different parks in the system, so we’ll be moving around a bit more than other teams. Our primary supervisor, Stewart, works with the central office and not any one park in particular, but he seems to have strong connections at all of them. Stewart’s incredibly hands-on and also really concerned with the quality of our experience while working with the PHWD as well as the quality of our work. He’s a great resource of knowledge and a great example of a can-do attitude for the whole team. And his positive attitude puts all of us at ease.
We started our spike at Little Black Creek Water Park which is in between Purvis and Lumberton, just south of Hattiesburg. We’re staying in the lodge hall, which is just one big room, where we’ve set up cots and folding tables and chairs, with a kitchen and a bathroom attached to it. There’s no shower in our building, so we have to go use one of the bathhouses available in the RV site part of the campground. The park is beautiful—the lake is right outside our front door, and all the trees and animals make for really great surroundings for our work and for our PT. Our first bit of work here has been painting the exterior of the lodge where we’re staying. It’s been nice not to have a commute to work! We had to scrape and paint with a cream color all of the upper trim around the eaves of the building and then go back and paint the walls a color we’ve named “Pat Harrison green” because it’s the color on all their buildings and signposts. The green takes about three coats to go on and not look streaky and weird, so it’s taken us some time to get the job done. We’ll probably finish that up tomorrow and then hopefully start on our main task here: helping to create a three-mile long horse trail.
River 2 in front of our 95' privacy fence
I’m having a great time with my team—getting to know them all a little better individually and as a group, learning everyone’s strengths and weaknesses, and laughing a lot. My two PT coordinators are running some pretty hard PT sessions and I can feel myself getting stronger. I’m working on some pretty sweet biceps, too :).
I’ve encountered some tough situations as team leader, but I’m working through them bit by bit. My team has a lot of strong personalities, so balancing them and helping everyone try and find their space in the group. I’ve got a lot of support built into the program and some of my corps members have also reached out to help me out when it seems like I need it. I really appreciate all of them.
I miss you all a lot and think about you often. I’ll try to find some time to make some phone calls this week and do some catching up. In the meantime, comments and e-mails are always appreciated. I’ve got limited internet access (about once a week or so), but I’ll get them eventually.
Love love love.
Like I said last time, we’re working with the Pat Harrison Waterway District, a state agency that oversees several parks throughout southeastern Mississippi in dealing with water management, flood control, and recreational activities. Our service will be at 3 different parks in the system, so we’ll be moving around a bit more than other teams. Our primary supervisor, Stewart, works with the central office and not any one park in particular, but he seems to have strong connections at all of them. Stewart’s incredibly hands-on and also really concerned with the quality of our experience while working with the PHWD as well as the quality of our work. He’s a great resource of knowledge and a great example of a can-do attitude for the whole team. And his positive attitude puts all of us at ease.
We started our spike at Little Black Creek Water Park which is in between Purvis and Lumberton, just south of Hattiesburg. We’re staying in the lodge hall, which is just one big room, where we’ve set up cots and folding tables and chairs, with a kitchen and a bathroom attached to it. There’s no shower in our building, so we have to go use one of the bathhouses available in the RV site part of the campground. The park is beautiful—the lake is right outside our front door, and all the trees and animals make for really great surroundings for our work and for our PT. Our first bit of work here has been painting the exterior of the lodge where we’re staying. It’s been nice not to have a commute to work! We had to scrape and paint with a cream color all of the upper trim around the eaves of the building and then go back and paint the walls a color we’ve named “Pat Harrison green” because it’s the color on all their buildings and signposts. The green takes about three coats to go on and not look streaky and weird, so it’s taken us some time to get the job done. We’ll probably finish that up tomorrow and then hopefully start on our main task here: helping to create a three-mile long horse trail.
Our lodge hall before the paint
Our lodge hall after the front was painted!
This past week we were staying up near Meridian, MS in Archusa Water Park and working in Dunn’s Falls Water Park, about 40 minutes away. We were helping them to get ready for a DAR dedication ceremony they had on Friday, honoring the founder of the Falls, John Cooper Dunn, a descendant of a Revolutionary War soldier, who started a grist mill and created a waterfall to power it. We built a 95 foot long privacy fence, tore up and replaced shingles which were on the wooden steps down to the falls to provide slip control, did some painting, and re-stained a cabin and the park office. We had a lot of fun and got a lot of work done! The caretakers of the park had a big lunch for us on Thursday—ribs, burgers, potato salad, baked beans, salad, and lemon icebox pie. Yum. A news crew from Meridian came out on Wednesday morning to do a little segment on our work and the ceremony. You can check it out at http://www.wtok.com/home/headlines/58188632.html
River 2 in front of our 95' privacy fence
I’m having a great time with my team—getting to know them all a little better individually and as a group, learning everyone’s strengths and weaknesses, and laughing a lot. My two PT coordinators are running some pretty hard PT sessions and I can feel myself getting stronger. I’m working on some pretty sweet biceps, too :).
I’ve encountered some tough situations as team leader, but I’m working through them bit by bit. My team has a lot of strong personalities, so balancing them and helping everyone try and find their space in the group. I’ve got a lot of support built into the program and some of my corps members have also reached out to help me out when it seems like I need it. I really appreciate all of them.
I miss you all a lot and think about you often. I’ll try to find some time to make some phone calls this week and do some catching up. In the meantime, comments and e-mails are always appreciated. I’ve got limited internet access (about once a week or so), but I’ll get them eventually.
Love love love.
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
We're officially members!
Induction was today! It went very nicely and we had some nice speeches from some great VIPs from the Corporation for National and Community Service (the government agency we fall under) and NCCC headquarters in Washington DC. I was very moved and motivated to go start working, so I thought I'd just pop on and write out our pledge for you.
I will get things done for America - to make our people safer, smarter, and healthier.
I will bring Americans together to strengthen our communities.
Faced with apathy, I will take action.
Faced with conflict, I will seek common ground.
Faced with adversity, I will persevere.
I will carry this commitment with me this year and beyond.
I am an AmeriCorps member and I will GET THINGS DONE!
Talk to you all in a bit after settling in with our first project!
Love love love!
I will get things done for America - to make our people safer, smarter, and healthier.
I will bring Americans together to strengthen our communities.
Faced with apathy, I will take action.
Faced with conflict, I will seek common ground.
Faced with adversity, I will persevere.
I will carry this commitment with me this year and beyond.
I am an AmeriCorps member and I will GET THINGS DONE!
Talk to you all in a bit after settling in with our first project!
Love love love!
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Long, long days
Since I last posted, I have been very busy and have worked some extremely long hours. I’m finally getting a taste of what exactly I have gotten myself into. The life of a Team Leader is definitely a tough one, but I know I can handle it.
We finished up a week with our temp teams (mine was absolutely great and I loved them-save a couple of "hidden treasures" which is what we've taken to calling our problem children). We were all pretty sad to lose our temp teams, and I think generally they were sad to have to switch team leaders, as well. We switched based on number of drivers, age, gender, and geographic diversity.
My new, now permanent, team is incredible. I have 11 CMs, 5 girls and 6 boys. The youngest is 19 and the oldest is 24, with everyone pretty evenly scattered in between. In a very strange coincidence, I have a guy from Havertown and a girl from Abington! I'm having a great time getting to know everyone and learning everybody's stories. They are a really great bunch and I'm really excited to get out and start working with them.
The amazing River 2!!!
Throughout CTI (the Corps Training Institute.. the trainings the CMs have been going through the last month), there have been some really long days and lots of frustrating moments of government bureaucracy and lack of communication. Listening to the Corps Members talk about why they’re here and why they chose to serve and to serve specifically with NCCC makes it all worth it, though. They know themselves and they are here and ready to make a difference.
Speaking of that difference, are you ready to hear about our first round project?! Yes?! Well, here it is!
From September 2 until October 23, my team will be working in 3 separate parks that are managed by the Pat Harrison Waterway District (phwd.net). We'll be at Little Black Creek, Dunn's Falls, and Flint Creek. We'll be working on a 3 mile horse trail (adding water stations, hitching posts, picnic tables, and generally beautifying it), helping with erosion control by installing bulkheads, constructing a sun deck at one of the water slide complexes, doing some painting, and renovating some of the RV and campsites that are still damaged from Hurricane Katrina. I've talked to our sponsor and he's really excited about us having a great experience as well as getting the work done. My team and I are ready to go!
Tuesday is induction and I'll be singing the national anthem with another one of the TLs and a corps member, Peter. It's a really nice 3 part a cappella arrangement that we sort of figured out on our own. I'm hoping to get a video of it so I can share it with all of you!
The amazing River 2!!!Throughout CTI (the Corps Training Institute.. the trainings the CMs have been going through the last month), there have been some really long days and lots of frustrating moments of government bureaucracy and lack of communication. Listening to the Corps Members talk about why they’re here and why they chose to serve and to serve specifically with NCCC makes it all worth it, though. They know themselves and they are here and ready to make a difference.
Speaking of that difference, are you ready to hear about our first round project?! Yes?! Well, here it is!
From September 2 until October 23, my team will be working in 3 separate parks that are managed by the Pat Harrison Waterway District (phwd.net). We'll be at Little Black Creek, Dunn's Falls, and Flint Creek. We'll be working on a 3 mile horse trail (adding water stations, hitching posts, picnic tables, and generally beautifying it), helping with erosion control by installing bulkheads, constructing a sun deck at one of the water slide complexes, doing some painting, and renovating some of the RV and campsites that are still damaged from Hurricane Katrina. I've talked to our sponsor and he's really excited about us having a great experience as well as getting the work done. My team and I are ready to go!
Tuesday is induction and I'll be singing the national anthem with another one of the TLs and a corps member, Peter. It's a really nice 3 part a cappella arrangement that we sort of figured out on our own. I'm hoping to get a video of it so I can share it with all of you!
Monday, August 17, 2009
I'm Still Alive!
I haven't forgotten about you, blogworld. I know I owe you all a big post about my team, our first round project which will start September 2 and just how my life has been going in general over the last two weeks now that the Corps is here.
I've been insanely busy and have been using my free time to recharge and regroup and recenter myself. I've got a post in the works and I'll even include some pictures and some videos when it's ready!
Until then, just know I'm doing fine and I miss you all lots!
Love love love.
I've been insanely busy and have been using my free time to recharge and regroup and recenter myself. I've got a post in the works and I'll even include some pictures and some videos when it's ready!
Until then, just know I'm doing fine and I miss you all lots!
Love love love.
Sunday, August 2, 2009
Invasion of the Gray Shirts!!
Our corps members are here!!
We spent all last week doing final preparations (making door decorations, welcome signs, welcome packets, etc) and last minute trainings (like learning to drive 15 passenger vans and getting certified to drive government vehicles!!!) and Thursday was a really long day putting all the final touches (like beds and mattresses) in place so we'd be prepared on Friday when the CMs finally got here. Needless to say, it was a really long day.
On Friday I drove one of the shuttles to and from the airport and picked up two loads of passengers with my ATD (assistant to the driver) Dan BP. Our last shuttle got back around 7pm or so and we scrambled to get dinner before our first rousing all-corps meeting! We got our temporary teams (just for this first week) and were able to put some names with faces. TLs made rounds through the dorms to make sure everyone had everything they needed and so they knew we were around in case anything happened.
On Saturday we were in groups of two teams each--mine was River 2 (my team) + Patrick's Delta 2...together = R2D2. Yes. We had a long day of uniform issue, policies training, paperwork, and teambuilders. Saturday night Patrick and I did rounds again together and then I passed out while watching a couple episodes of Arrested Development with the other TLs. Just a taste of how exhausting these next 10 months will be.
Today (Sunday) was a free day, more or less, though the TLs had some scheduled optional activities for the corps members to partake in. I woke up and went for a run at 9:30 am and it was already super hot and humid. After a nice shower and some relaxation time, I helped lead a very well-attended karaoke session and then took a shuttle full of CMs to Walmart (ugh).
In the middle of writing this blog post at around 8:30 pm, I got a call from one of my CMs that a girl had collapsed on the soccer field while they were playing a big game of capture the flag. I and a few other team leaders went running down and called our unit leaders on the way, but by the time we got there, she was up and talking and okay. One of our TLs and one of the CMs are EMT trained and we think it was heat exhaustion/dehydration. We got her to drink some water and go inside and take a cool shower. Just as we were getting back up to our dorm, we got word that a CM had just been mugged while walking in a not-so-great area of Vicksburg. Everything was handled just fine and everyone's okay, but man, do we feel initiated as team leaders tonight. Lots to deal with all at once.
I will have some great pictures and stories for you in my next post, I'm sure, because we're planning a really awesome team leader presentation as a part of our first community meeting on Tuesday morning. Keep an eye out!
We spent all last week doing final preparations (making door decorations, welcome signs, welcome packets, etc) and last minute trainings (like learning to drive 15 passenger vans and getting certified to drive government vehicles!!!) and Thursday was a really long day putting all the final touches (like beds and mattresses) in place so we'd be prepared on Friday when the CMs finally got here. Needless to say, it was a really long day.
On Friday I drove one of the shuttles to and from the airport and picked up two loads of passengers with my ATD (assistant to the driver) Dan BP. Our last shuttle got back around 7pm or so and we scrambled to get dinner before our first rousing all-corps meeting! We got our temporary teams (just for this first week) and were able to put some names with faces. TLs made rounds through the dorms to make sure everyone had everything they needed and so they knew we were around in case anything happened.
On Saturday we were in groups of two teams each--mine was River 2 (my team) + Patrick's Delta 2...together = R2D2. Yes. We had a long day of uniform issue, policies training, paperwork, and teambuilders. Saturday night Patrick and I did rounds again together and then I passed out while watching a couple episodes of Arrested Development with the other TLs. Just a taste of how exhausting these next 10 months will be.
Today (Sunday) was a free day, more or less, though the TLs had some scheduled optional activities for the corps members to partake in. I woke up and went for a run at 9:30 am and it was already super hot and humid. After a nice shower and some relaxation time, I helped lead a very well-attended karaoke session and then took a shuttle full of CMs to Walmart (ugh).
In the middle of writing this blog post at around 8:30 pm, I got a call from one of my CMs that a girl had collapsed on the soccer field while they were playing a big game of capture the flag. I and a few other team leaders went running down and called our unit leaders on the way, but by the time we got there, she was up and talking and okay. One of our TLs and one of the CMs are EMT trained and we think it was heat exhaustion/dehydration. We got her to drink some water and go inside and take a cool shower. Just as we were getting back up to our dorm, we got word that a CM had just been mugged while walking in a not-so-great area of Vicksburg. Everything was handled just fine and everyone's okay, but man, do we feel initiated as team leaders tonight. Lots to deal with all at once.
I will have some great pictures and stories for you in my next post, I'm sure, because we're planning a really awesome team leader presentation as a part of our first community meeting on Tuesday morning. Keep an eye out!
Monday, July 20, 2009
Getting to know each other, and getting to know myself
Again, sorry about the lapse between posts. I feel like I've been so so busy, but I promise to try and find more time to do this more often. I know no one wants to read super long posts.
We had a great past week, which mostly entailed learning lots about ourselves and each other. We did get to finally get our hands dirty a little out at the Central Mississippi Boys and Girls Club camp in Hazlehurst, MS. We made it out to the camp on Monday evening in time to play some games with the kids before dinner (I taught everyone WAH! and we played some Big Booty, too--lots of fun). We had a bonfire at night and made some s'mores, to much laughter from our hosts, who couldn't imagine that we would make a fire when it was so damn hot out. We camped out (I learned how to put up a tent!) and went canoeing around the pond at sunrise. After breakfast, we engaged in some service and learning--cycling through stations around the camp and learning safety and skills while getting some work done.
Our tent city as seen from the pond
The rest of the week, we had supervisory skills training (conflict management, facilitation, etc) and then diversity training (which was really just learning that we all have differences, but it's our similarities that bind us--I know, cheesy but poignant). All in all, three really intense days which were focused on learning about ourselves and sharing those auto-observations with the group. A little hard, emotionally, but we were definitely all closer by the end of it.
Friday night we saw the 6th Harry Potter movie, which I thought was good, but not great. 15 of the team leaders (including me) went to New Orleans on Saturday for a fun weekend away from campus. We went to the Abita brewery for a free tour and tasting and then had some rockin' barbeque for lunch. The girls who worked there even gave us free ribs and a free boulin (jambalaya in a sausage casing = delicious) just because we were being so boisterous and friendly with them! We checked into our hotel in the French Quarter (15 of us in 2 rooms at AmeriCorps rates = $10 each!) and everyone got ready to go out. Unfortunately, I missed the frolicking on the town because I wasn't feeling well, but it seemed like everyone had a really great night. On Sunday, I got up early and explored a little and then we all went to one of the team leader's houses for some homemade jambalaya and a tour of where Katrina left 5 feet of water in their basement. It was great to be treated to some family time and some great cooking.
On Friday morning, we did our baseline test for PT (1 min of situps/crunches, 1 min of pushups, 1.5 mi run/walk). I feel like I did about how I thought I could, but I definitely have room for improvement throughout the year, which is the whole point of doing it.
Today starts our third week already of Team Leader Training, which is really hard for me to believe. I definitely am feeling comfortable here but I can't believe that the Corps Members will be here in 11 days already!! We got to finally tour Vicksburg a little bit today--we went and saw the twin bridges over the Mighty Mississippi and saw a cannon shot off in a reenactment at the National Military Park (wow, was that loud!).
Ole Man River
Keep your eyes out for new posts and write me comments/questions/hellos/love notes!
Missin' y'all from Mississippi!
Me at the Catfish Row art park
We had a great past week, which mostly entailed learning lots about ourselves and each other. We did get to finally get our hands dirty a little out at the Central Mississippi Boys and Girls Club camp in Hazlehurst, MS. We made it out to the camp on Monday evening in time to play some games with the kids before dinner (I taught everyone WAH! and we played some Big Booty, too--lots of fun). We had a bonfire at night and made some s'mores, to much laughter from our hosts, who couldn't imagine that we would make a fire when it was so damn hot out. We camped out (I learned how to put up a tent!) and went canoeing around the pond at sunrise. After breakfast, we engaged in some service and learning--cycling through stations around the camp and learning safety and skills while getting some work done.
Our tent city as seen from the pondThe rest of the week, we had supervisory skills training (conflict management, facilitation, etc) and then diversity training (which was really just learning that we all have differences, but it's our similarities that bind us--I know, cheesy but poignant). All in all, three really intense days which were focused on learning about ourselves and sharing those auto-observations with the group. A little hard, emotionally, but we were definitely all closer by the end of it.
Friday night we saw the 6th Harry Potter movie, which I thought was good, but not great. 15 of the team leaders (including me) went to New Orleans on Saturday for a fun weekend away from campus. We went to the Abita brewery for a free tour and tasting and then had some rockin' barbeque for lunch. The girls who worked there even gave us free ribs and a free boulin (jambalaya in a sausage casing = delicious) just because we were being so boisterous and friendly with them! We checked into our hotel in the French Quarter (15 of us in 2 rooms at AmeriCorps rates = $10 each!) and everyone got ready to go out. Unfortunately, I missed the frolicking on the town because I wasn't feeling well, but it seemed like everyone had a really great night. On Sunday, I got up early and explored a little and then we all went to one of the team leader's houses for some homemade jambalaya and a tour of where Katrina left 5 feet of water in their basement. It was great to be treated to some family time and some great cooking.
On Friday morning, we did our baseline test for PT (1 min of situps/crunches, 1 min of pushups, 1.5 mi run/walk). I feel like I did about how I thought I could, but I definitely have room for improvement throughout the year, which is the whole point of doing it.
Today starts our third week already of Team Leader Training, which is really hard for me to believe. I definitely am feeling comfortable here but I can't believe that the Corps Members will be here in 11 days already!! We got to finally tour Vicksburg a little bit today--we went and saw the twin bridges over the Mighty Mississippi and saw a cannon shot off in a reenactment at the National Military Park (wow, was that loud!).
Ole Man RiverKeep your eyes out for new posts and write me comments/questions/hellos/love notes!
Missin' y'all from Mississippi!
Me at the Catfish Row art parkSaturday, July 11, 2009
volunteer, y'all!
My roadtrip down went great—lots of great people and lots of fun. Thanks to all involved!
I arrived here in Vicksburg around 11am on the Monday the 6th. I turned in my final paperwork and got my uniform and then had several hours to kill before I had to be doing anything else, so I mainly sat around and explored with the other TLs as they arrived. The campus is really nice—many different buildings and lots of grounds. I can only imagine the fun we’ll have playing around in all this green space (although I know it would be a lot more if it weren’t so hot and muggy here!!). I haven’t seen much of the town yet, but I’m excited to explore the military park (the site of the Battle of Vicksburg—apparently it’s very impressive) and the waterfront. Each of the TLs has a single room all along the same hallway, so we’re enjoying trying to slowly but surely make the spaces our own. Being the first class here, and arriving while the renovations aren’t quite complete, it seems like we’ll have quite a bit of input in terms of deciding what furniture goes where, etc. Later in the week we got to "treasure hunt" through some of the old furniture from when our campus was a boarding school and pick out some pieces to add to our rooms. I found a great old desk and antique chair, a full-length mirror, and a nice rolling shelf unit to add a homey touch to my room. I also found an orchid plant on sale for $5 at the grocery store so my room is getting nicer and nicer by the day!
The dorm is not ideal, though, and still not quite up to where the staff expected it to be by the time we arrived. The building where we live was not originally used as housing, so construction had to be done to add walls to make the bedrooms and plumbing to make our kitchen/laundry room. There aren't enough bathrooms/showers for all of us, so we all sort of sneak around to grab our showers before anyone else. We've also had some issues with the hot water heater resetting itself, the pipes not being set up right to drain our kitchen sink, washing machines or dishwasher, and no real vent put in over the stove. We're all being as flexible as possible and the staff has been very apologetic for the delays. We also don't quite have a wireless internet network set up in the building for us yet, seemingly because of requirements of using the government network. One of the staff members brought in a wireless card and router for us to use, but it's got spotty service that doesn't work when more than 4 or 5 of us are on at the same time. Right now, our best bet is using the free wi-fi at this great little coffee shop downtown, so I'm sorry if it takes me a bit to get back to you.
Throughout the week, we had a bunch of trainings about the history of NCCC, different policies and rules, and of course, team building activities. Some were boring, some were more engaging, but all in all, they've allowed us a lot of feedback opportunities. The staff here is all incredibly open and accommodating and they seem to want help from us in terms of making everything the best it can be. Knowing me, I'm sure you can all imagine how much I speak up and let them know how I'm feeling about everything going on. I definitely feel like a have a voice here, I just hope I'm not getting on anyone's nerves too much!
We've all been pretty exhausted in the evenings, so after making dinner together in small groups, we tend to just sit around and chat or play a game or two. One evening this week, the staff drove us over to a local coffee shop/art gallery for a pizza party with a sort of Vicksburg welcoming committee. It was really nice for us to hear from people who have been working for a long time to get an NCCC campus in Mississippi and are so excited to have us here. We also got a visit from David Mallery, the executive director of the Mississippi Commission for Volunteer Service. He's another one that has worked hard to get us here. He and his press lady brought us those blue rubber cause bracelets that say "Volunteer, Y'all!" and we've been wearing them with pride. We were all felt so motivated and encouraged to hear from and meet these people, and I really look forward to talking with them more in the future. Mr. Mallery also mentioned several times about how nice it is to have a President and First Lady who have made national and community service such a high priority. He said he's been making some noise trying to get either Barack or Michelle down here to visit our new campus, since it's such a big deal now that NCCC has a base on the Gulf and we'll be even better prepared to respond to any new disasters and are even closer to keep rebuilding after Katrina and Rita. I'm keeping my fingers crossed, and you should, too!
Meanwhile, all the TLs are bonding and feeling out our new relationships with each other. Once the Corps Members get here, we're forbidden from "fraternizing" with them--we can be friendly, but it's discouraged to be friends with them. We can't drink with them, either. It seems like once we're out on projects away from campus and away from other TLs, it might be pretty lonely. As Team Leaders, we're expected to be the supervisors for our team and represent model behavior and protocol. If anything comes up with our Corps Members that requires disciplinary action, we're the first ones there that must respond and report up to our Unit Leaders and the rest of the staff. I can completely understand if our CMs don't always want to be our friends, unfortunately.
Because of all this, as TLs, we're trying to create a support system for each other. If our teams get sent to locations that aren't too far from each other, we can hang out, and if not, we'll have unlimited texting on our "govey" phones (our government-issued phones meant for business use) so that we can help each other and send love from wherever we are. Since we have another three weeks on campus before the Corps Members get here for their month of training, all the TLs are enjoying our time together to bond and go through our "honeymoon" period with each other. Last night was the first time we all went out together--to a riverboat casino for dinner, drinks and dancing. The food was pretty sub-par, but the drinks were cheap and there was a live blues band that played a lot of covers and fun music to dance to. We all had a blast taking over the dance floor and bonding with each other outside of the "classrooms." After being in our uniforms all week for trainings (green tshirts with the AmeriCorps NCCC "A" logo tucked in to khaki cargo shorts worn with a standard issue black belt and closed-toe shoes), we all sort of shocked each other wearing normal clothes and a little bit of makeup for a night out on the town.
This week coming up, we have one of our first service projects. We'll be going out to a Boys and Girls Club camp in rural Mississippi and working on fixing up some facilities while going through some hands-on safety and tools training. I'll be sure to post again next weekend, if not before, so keep a heads-up for news and maybe even some pictures!!!
I arrived here in Vicksburg around 11am on the Monday the 6th. I turned in my final paperwork and got my uniform and then had several hours to kill before I had to be doing anything else, so I mainly sat around and explored with the other TLs as they arrived. The campus is really nice—many different buildings and lots of grounds. I can only imagine the fun we’ll have playing around in all this green space (although I know it would be a lot more if it weren’t so hot and muggy here!!). I haven’t seen much of the town yet, but I’m excited to explore the military park (the site of the Battle of Vicksburg—apparently it’s very impressive) and the waterfront. Each of the TLs has a single room all along the same hallway, so we’re enjoying trying to slowly but surely make the spaces our own. Being the first class here, and arriving while the renovations aren’t quite complete, it seems like we’ll have quite a bit of input in terms of deciding what furniture goes where, etc. Later in the week we got to "treasure hunt" through some of the old furniture from when our campus was a boarding school and pick out some pieces to add to our rooms. I found a great old desk and antique chair, a full-length mirror, and a nice rolling shelf unit to add a homey touch to my room. I also found an orchid plant on sale for $5 at the grocery store so my room is getting nicer and nicer by the day!
The dorm is not ideal, though, and still not quite up to where the staff expected it to be by the time we arrived. The building where we live was not originally used as housing, so construction had to be done to add walls to make the bedrooms and plumbing to make our kitchen/laundry room. There aren't enough bathrooms/showers for all of us, so we all sort of sneak around to grab our showers before anyone else. We've also had some issues with the hot water heater resetting itself, the pipes not being set up right to drain our kitchen sink, washing machines or dishwasher, and no real vent put in over the stove. We're all being as flexible as possible and the staff has been very apologetic for the delays. We also don't quite have a wireless internet network set up in the building for us yet, seemingly because of requirements of using the government network. One of the staff members brought in a wireless card and router for us to use, but it's got spotty service that doesn't work when more than 4 or 5 of us are on at the same time. Right now, our best bet is using the free wi-fi at this great little coffee shop downtown, so I'm sorry if it takes me a bit to get back to you.
Throughout the week, we had a bunch of trainings about the history of NCCC, different policies and rules, and of course, team building activities. Some were boring, some were more engaging, but all in all, they've allowed us a lot of feedback opportunities. The staff here is all incredibly open and accommodating and they seem to want help from us in terms of making everything the best it can be. Knowing me, I'm sure you can all imagine how much I speak up and let them know how I'm feeling about everything going on. I definitely feel like a have a voice here, I just hope I'm not getting on anyone's nerves too much!
We've all been pretty exhausted in the evenings, so after making dinner together in small groups, we tend to just sit around and chat or play a game or two. One evening this week, the staff drove us over to a local coffee shop/art gallery for a pizza party with a sort of Vicksburg welcoming committee. It was really nice for us to hear from people who have been working for a long time to get an NCCC campus in Mississippi and are so excited to have us here. We also got a visit from David Mallery, the executive director of the Mississippi Commission for Volunteer Service. He's another one that has worked hard to get us here. He and his press lady brought us those blue rubber cause bracelets that say "Volunteer, Y'all!" and we've been wearing them with pride. We were all felt so motivated and encouraged to hear from and meet these people, and I really look forward to talking with them more in the future. Mr. Mallery also mentioned several times about how nice it is to have a President and First Lady who have made national and community service such a high priority. He said he's been making some noise trying to get either Barack or Michelle down here to visit our new campus, since it's such a big deal now that NCCC has a base on the Gulf and we'll be even better prepared to respond to any new disasters and are even closer to keep rebuilding after Katrina and Rita. I'm keeping my fingers crossed, and you should, too!
Meanwhile, all the TLs are bonding and feeling out our new relationships with each other. Once the Corps Members get here, we're forbidden from "fraternizing" with them--we can be friendly, but it's discouraged to be friends with them. We can't drink with them, either. It seems like once we're out on projects away from campus and away from other TLs, it might be pretty lonely. As Team Leaders, we're expected to be the supervisors for our team and represent model behavior and protocol. If anything comes up with our Corps Members that requires disciplinary action, we're the first ones there that must respond and report up to our Unit Leaders and the rest of the staff. I can completely understand if our CMs don't always want to be our friends, unfortunately.
Because of all this, as TLs, we're trying to create a support system for each other. If our teams get sent to locations that aren't too far from each other, we can hang out, and if not, we'll have unlimited texting on our "govey" phones (our government-issued phones meant for business use) so that we can help each other and send love from wherever we are. Since we have another three weeks on campus before the Corps Members get here for their month of training, all the TLs are enjoying our time together to bond and go through our "honeymoon" period with each other. Last night was the first time we all went out together--to a riverboat casino for dinner, drinks and dancing. The food was pretty sub-par, but the drinks were cheap and there was a live blues band that played a lot of covers and fun music to dance to. We all had a blast taking over the dance floor and bonding with each other outside of the "classrooms." After being in our uniforms all week for trainings (green tshirts with the AmeriCorps NCCC "A" logo tucked in to khaki cargo shorts worn with a standard issue black belt and closed-toe shoes), we all sort of shocked each other wearing normal clothes and a little bit of makeup for a night out on the town.
This week coming up, we have one of our first service projects. We'll be going out to a Boys and Girls Club camp in rural Mississippi and working on fixing up some facilities while going through some hands-on safety and tools training. I'll be sure to post again next weekend, if not before, so keep a heads-up for news and maybe even some pictures!!!
Sunday, June 28, 2009
What I've gotten myself into...
Hello all and welcome to my blog! I've set this up in an attempt to keep in touch with all of you while I'm away volunteering with AmeriCorps*NCCC. I'll use this first post to get you all acquainted with what that really means...
NCCC is a 10-month residential national service program for men and women between the ages of 18-24. I'll be part of Class XV based out of Vicksburg, MS serving the Southern Region (Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, Tennessee, Kentucky, Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina). That means I'll be taking part in various 6-8 week service projects throughout the region over the next year--working with many non-profits and/or government programs. The Southern Region is brand new this year (being a member of Class XV denotes that this is the fifteenth year AmeriCorps*NCCC has been operational) and I am honored to be a part of the inaugural class of Team Leaders--meaning I'll be leading a team of 8-12 Corps Members. While I'll be completing the same community service projects alongside my CMs, I'll also be in charge of mediation; setting the workpace; acting as liaison between my team, our project sponsor and NCCC administrative staff; and making sure everyone is pulling their own weight.
I'll spend July and August in Vicksburg (July is TL training and August is CM orientation and training) and from there I'll let you know where I'm headed as soon as I know! I expect these first couple of months to be intensive safety and first-aid training, bonding with my fellow volunteers and a healthy dose of physical training. I hope to take pictures throughout my year of service so you can all see how buff and tan I'm getting!
I've been looking forward to starting my year of service for a over a year now and I guess have sort of been building up to it for longer than that. The title of this blog, "Go Forth to Serve" is the second half of my high school's motto ("Enter to learn, go forth to serve"). I started to get involved with community service during high school, and continued at Davidson, where there is a big emphasis put on service. In this tumultuous economy and part of my life where I can afford to be sort of nomadic, I'm excited and ready to donate my time and energy to trying to improve this country even a little bit.
I'm leaving the Main Line tomorrow to head out on a week-long road trip south which includes stops in Washington, D.C., Carrboro, NC, Nashville, TN, and Jackson, MS. I'm very excited to get my adventures underway and will update when I get to Vicksburg!
NCCC is a 10-month residential national service program for men and women between the ages of 18-24. I'll be part of Class XV based out of Vicksburg, MS serving the Southern Region (Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, Tennessee, Kentucky, Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina). That means I'll be taking part in various 6-8 week service projects throughout the region over the next year--working with many non-profits and/or government programs. The Southern Region is brand new this year (being a member of Class XV denotes that this is the fifteenth year AmeriCorps*NCCC has been operational) and I am honored to be a part of the inaugural class of Team Leaders--meaning I'll be leading a team of 8-12 Corps Members. While I'll be completing the same community service projects alongside my CMs, I'll also be in charge of mediation; setting the workpace; acting as liaison between my team, our project sponsor and NCCC administrative staff; and making sure everyone is pulling their own weight.
I'll spend July and August in Vicksburg (July is TL training and August is CM orientation and training) and from there I'll let you know where I'm headed as soon as I know! I expect these first couple of months to be intensive safety and first-aid training, bonding with my fellow volunteers and a healthy dose of physical training. I hope to take pictures throughout my year of service so you can all see how buff and tan I'm getting!
I've been looking forward to starting my year of service for a over a year now and I guess have sort of been building up to it for longer than that. The title of this blog, "Go Forth to Serve" is the second half of my high school's motto ("Enter to learn, go forth to serve"). I started to get involved with community service during high school, and continued at Davidson, where there is a big emphasis put on service. In this tumultuous economy and part of my life where I can afford to be sort of nomadic, I'm excited and ready to donate my time and energy to trying to improve this country even a little bit.
I'm leaving the Main Line tomorrow to head out on a week-long road trip south which includes stops in Washington, D.C., Carrboro, NC, Nashville, TN, and Jackson, MS. I'm very excited to get my adventures underway and will update when I get to Vicksburg!
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