Final Thoughts on ASB

After spending six days in Pulaski, Virginia, it was finally time to return home. Having had such a memorable experience, our group was reluctant to leave the community where we learned about its people, history, and economic struggles.

The Waubonsee group woke up bright and early at 5:30 AM. There was no time left to shower, but everyone was given the opportunity to do so the day before. After putting away our sleeping mats and sleeping bags and most of the luggage near the side door to be taken into the two vans parked outside, breakfast was prepared in the kitchen, eaten, and composed of scrambled eggs, toasted bagels and biscuits, and cold cereal.

In addition, lunch was packed in paper bags, and included sandwiches and snacks. Everyone dressed up in the bathrooms provided at St. Edward’s Church as fast as he or she could.

Since each person was given a role or two for cleaning up the night before, some had to take down the cots and place them near the entrance door to be picked up by Eric and other members of Rice and Beans, Inc. later that day. I had to sweep the floor with a broom and dustpan, as well as make sure to check the men’s bathroom for cleanliness and anything left behind. Others set up the tables and chairs in the narthex area where the cots were placed before, as well as pack the bags and luggage into the two vans like a game of Tetris.

Within an hour and a half, the whole group was ready to say goodbye to the quaint town of Pulaski, Virginia. We departed shortly before 7:00 AM. I sat inside Nancy’s van with Natosha, Michael, Melanie, and Daniel. Everyone else sat in Pam’s van. Thanks to Natosha’s advice, I played my Disney playlist for the next 3 hours. Melanie, Natosha, and I sang the words to almost every song. 😉 I also played another playlist of pop and country music from my iPhone through an auxiliary cord I had brought for the rest of the drive. We played Exploding Kittens as well. I discovered that the other group in Pam’s van mostly slept. We had stopped at Chipotle before finally arriving at Waubonsee Community College at the Sugar Grove campus before the Dickson building.

When my sister picked me up to go back home, I retold her all of my wonderful memories I had experienced with my group in the small town of Pulaski, Virgina. I will never forget how nice each and everyone of you was to me and to each other. I know that you will make an even greater  difference in the future ahead. Thank you Pam, Nancy, Sabrina, Michael, Daniel, Carlos, Yosi, Joe, Natosha, Melanie, Hailey, Blanca, Miracle, and Meg for everything! This is not the end, but just the beggining of a long and successful life ahead in service and learning.

– Joey Z.

March 17, 2017.

Today our group was split in half again. Some stayed behind and helped put mulch down around the church we are staying at and then they went to the boy scout camp to help get rid of some invasive species. Those of us who did not get to visit Pulaski Grow earlier in the week had gotten a chance to go today. Meeting Lee, the woman who created it, was a great experience! She taught us about hydroponics, which is basically growing plants with water and not soil. We got to see all of her tilapia, catfish, and trout and their filtration system. The water goes to the greenhouse and is received by the plants. There was a leak in one of the pipes of her filtration system and she asked us to help her fix it. At first it seemed like a very difficult task to figure out, it felt somewhat like rocket science to me. Luckily, we had some very bright people in our group that were able to come up with a sufficient way to solve the problem. We drilled some holes in a bucket and got some hooks to hang it so it would fall under the pipe and we put cheesecloth in the bucket to filter out the fish poop (which I got to clean a lot of out of part of the filtration system). We also got to work in the greenhouse and assist Lee in planting some red cabbage in some of her grow towers. It was really cool and very inspirational to see everything she does on her own and how much she cares about her community and the children in it as well, by offering programs that prepare them to make resumes, cover letters, and have successful job opportunities. After we finished at Pulaski Grow, we got to drop off some animal beds we had made earlier in the week at the animal shelter. The animals were so cute it was sad to leave them behind but I’m glad we got to bring them a little bit of comfort with the beds we made. After this, we headed to one of the other churches and helped one of the other schools sort out food for a food drive. We then got together with the two other schools and reflected with each other about the week we all had. Once we said all of our goodbyes to the great people we met this week, we got to hit the town and go out to eat for dinner! We had a very productive today and are getting packed and ready to leave bright and early tomorrow morning! 

-Hailey 

Out with a bang!

Today half of our group cleaned the church bathrooms and picked up garabage on a trail, the other half of our group visited pulaski grow where we planted vegetables and helped the owner figure out a way to filtrate one of her fish tanks to keep her fish alive. The other half of the group also dropped off the handmade cat beds we made at pulaski middle school at the pulaski humane society, where we got to take a look around and see all of the animals in the shelter. Visiting pulaski grow was a great experience for us all because we learned how to solve problems and come up with a solution to fix her filtration problems with the few supplies that we had pulled together. We are all so grateful to have taken part in this opportunity to give back to pulaski county and we look forward to bringing back new ideas/ways we can contribute to others in our own homes and communities!

Thursday 3/16–Blanca

This experience so far will always be a memorable one for me. Maybe today even more than the other days. I got to go to the Pulaski Elementary School and be a teacher’s aide for a second grade class. I loved it. I have a lot of experience working with kids and it really helped today. For a community that has its struggles, I thought it was amazing how the elementary school looked very new and modern. Even the gym looked like a Middle School gym. I really enjoyed my time here because I got to see these kids, so young and innocent, being blessed by the resources the community gives them. The kids were so sweet and precious too that it melted my heart (in a good way).

Later, we visited the Pulaski Middle School for their after school program and the contrast was very surreal. The building looked like it came from the 80’s because it hasn’t had much upkeep. The elementary school had smart boards in every class and it didn’t look like that was the case for the middle school. The kids too looked like they needed new shoes or clothing. I was able to interact with a few of them and heard very sad things coming from these kids mouths. One girl had her father pass away recently and her best friends mom was diagnosed with cancer. Even though these kids were not given a new school, the district does give them unique opportunities to learn and grow. The after school program featured a micro society program where the kids have jobs and get fake money wages while learning to pay rent. Each group was a part of the society. Some sold school supplies as a warehouse, some sold food as a cafe, some sold jewelry that they made, some were patrol officers who gave out tickets if kids weren’t behaving and some were part of the government that made rules and repealed tickets. It was such a neat and creative program to see implemented in a Middle School because not many people experience learning how to budget and do real world tasks at a young age. It was hard to say goodbye since I was able to do so much in just 3 hours.

I got to see and experience a contrast in education here in Pulaski. However, I do see a continuing theme in the town: hope. The community is hopeful that It will get back on its feet and I can feel it. We ate dinner at the Lutheran church down the street from where we are staying and I heard the hope in the Priest’s voice that this town will turn around. The community keeps welcoming us with open arms. It’s just a great feeling to hear how grateful they are for the work we are doing here. It’s so sweet because you don’t see a loving community like this in Illinois. Everyday being here has made me thinking of moving out here one day. I have had that great of an experience and I am very grateful to make myself step out of my comfort zone and just emerge myself in this alternative spring break.

Fourth Day of Immersion (A.S.B. and Beans and Rice, Inc.) 03/16/17

My group set out for the Pulaski Elementary School at approximately 8:40 AM. We checked in at about 9:10 AM. Mrs. Hash and her first grade class is were I was sent to help as I followed a line of our ASB members being chosen in groups of one and two for classrooms from the front of the line. Pam, our chaperone, and I are sent into the classroom as children begin to finish creating leprechaun traps, which were being drawn and colored onto construction paper. There is a timer for directing a schedule of activities in the classroom, which rings out after a preset time is set. Mrs. Hash works to speak to children, individually. It seems to be children are practicing one-on-one conferences with her to review spelling words.

Ding, A second activity the children experience is a reading exercise when a girl, McKenna, and a boy, Xavier, request my assistance to read stories to them. McKenna wants to read a book about a boy, who searches for and tries to trap a leprechaun, and Xavier wants read a book about velociraptors and tyrannosaurus rex. Children seem to have various group activities at this time, too, since I noticed four of the students were logging into and operating a computer, by themselves!

Ding, After reading time there are leprechaun pictures to color. The timer rings frequently to direct a change of exercise. Children move on to another activity, which has groups sitting in circles on the floor with squares of paper at their center. Word parts like “sh” and “ch” are on a side with images, such as “shovel” and “chair”. One of the children seems to have lost his spelling words sheet, so he must write words in/on a notebook. I have him sit, near a word study group, since they have words available at the center and they are willing to let the boy look onward at the sprawl of words on the floor. Mentioning to him the words are similar to the words on the forgotten/lost work sheets the other children had brought to class, while the boy copied words, a girl from the group produced three sheets of spelling words on them, which the boy could use to copy words as the teacher had instructed.

Ding, rings the bell, and the children begin to color again, they match dinosaurs with names printed on cardboard paper. The children learn the common names of the beasts.

Ding, the bell rings, and children line up for lunch.

At lunch I sat with two members of the Alternative Spring Break group, Joey and Miracle on the edge of a stage in the lunch room, which faces toward the children’s lunch tables. It is difficult to eat when I know I can best experience the moment there listening to the murmurs of children as they socialize. Teachers eat at a separate table between all of the kid’s tables. When they had finished with lunch teachers have the kids pick up messes and return trays to a counter. Process for moving children, through the halls, seems to be to line up all of the children, by the stage where the volunteers and I had been sitting earlier, and to walk next to the child at the front of the line. Interestingly, from the time lunch had begun for these first grade students at 11:10 AM to 11:40 PM when lunch was over I was able to say “Good Morning” to them after they had finished eating!

Fortunately, the station visited after lunch is a restroom and a hand washing station located in the main hall. The procession of children is brought to a halt at this restroom area to wash up. Head counts are done regularly, especially when the children move, through the halls. When a count is complete the children move forward to the classrooms.

Following lunch is an exercise activity. Just Dance 3 is projected on a smart screen to motivate the children to move around. A Super Mario dance helps encourage dancing, among the children. Lacking some of the grace and authenticity the children had to dance to the videos, I restricted myself to a specific spot to the side, so I could best prevent an accident. It wouldn’t be good work as a volunteer if I’d be careless to knock a child over with my movements while dancing. Within minutes a majority of the children have ceased their participation with the music and dancing onscreen. Students line up to go to gym class next. A few of the students are unable to participate, since they wear shoes inappropriate for the gym floor. Children run, skip, and gallop when they aren’t walking the circuit of the track. Our group facilitator, Pam, suggests to me it’d be good to participate with the children, so I began to skip and gallop with the students. We make a few complete circuits of the gym track before the children are told to sit in the center of the gymnasium.

There are two first grade classes at the gym at this time. At the center of the gym floor where the children sit, the two classes are spoken to about the importance of collecting dimes in a water bottle. Collections are to be brought to the school. Here they will be distributed to an organization, which uses the money to help pay for some of the cost of cancer medication for people. One of the gym instructors mentions to the children, “a water bottle can fit almost $100.00,” and, “told you all last October about collecting donations, and we don’t have much time left to fill those bottles.” Soon after, the children are instructed to toss and throw soft, foam balls at a sliding, suspended, spherical object hanging between two stacks of mats. Each class stood behind a set of mats, which positioned the separate classes to face one another. Balls had to be thrown from behind the mats at the target to move the target, towards one side of the two stacks of mats. Surprisingly, the class of Mrs. Hash is able to secure a victory. A whistle is blown to conclude the gym session, and the classes line up and sit on the floor to wait for their next activity.

Next, the class is brought to the restroom and water fountain area for a quick break. Students go right to their main classroom when finished. Here activities involve mathematics (graphical charting with numbers) and science (learning of natural resources). The group of Waubonsee students and I at the Pulaski Elementary School run out of time to share with these students at 2:00 PM, so we sign out and leave.

From 3:45 PM to about 5:30 PM the entire group of Waubonsee students, faculty, and I were over at the Pulaski Middle School. The after school activity here is a micro-society, which is supported from grant money. There are many fewer students there than anticipated. However, the students were willing to have members of the Alternative Spring Break group interact with them. My conversations tended to be about music, videos, and videogames at first. The first group of students I spoke to was a young lady, who is involved with the government portion of the micro-society, and a young lady, who is a crafter for the creative arts society, and a young lad, who is a member of the restaurant society.

Moving to another table provided an opportunity to communicate with more of the children. A boy, who was sitting alone, had been drawing animations. He’d mentioned wanting to work for Walt Disney one day. Reluctant to tell me much about school studies and home work the young man seemed unwilling to actively communicate with the other students. I left his table to pursue conversation with another group, which had been chatting with Joey. It had been concerning to see the young boy drawing a human figure falling off of a cliff to it’s death at the previous table. Wondering how any of the other students thought, I looked, toward Joey, to figure out how the four children sitting, near him, were behaving. They noticed me walking over, and they told me to come over and sit down. Joey seemed to be experiencing a moment of anxiety, and he took his leave when I arrived. The girls were rebellious, and one of the three used the time available to write down onto a sheet of paper an experience when a vacation had been worst. The lone boy of the group of these four students wanted to ask me questions. I seemed to be his favorite inquiry is, “Why?” These children didn’t want to have to do a homework activity, especially shortly after dismissal from school.

Right before 5:00 PM an older gentleman rounded up any late essay entries, and students were allowed to join into their individual groups. This was the start of the fun for the students at Pulaski Middle, I thought. My most reasonable understanding is there were seven individual societies at the cafeteria. Here is how each of the groups was involved as the following: an activity for extracurricular play, a restaurant hosting drinks for sale, a table where crafts made at the microsociety were for sale, a group creating arts and crafts goods, a group with wares and goods available for purchase for use at the school in class and at home, another group working to make bracelets with rubber bands, a group of individuals policing the activities for peace to promote good behaviors and attitudes, and a small group hosting banking services.

 

Written by: Daniel Gehrke

ASB March 15, 2017

Due to the weather conditions, schools were closed today as well. Unlike in Illinois, this area closes schools very easily over weather, as there was 0 snow on the roads. As a result of the cancellation of school, instead of helping with after school programs we had to go to plan B.

Today we split into two groups again, one going to the YMCA to help clean up, and the other, my group, going to an aquaponic community garden called Pulaski Grow. Aquaponics is defined as “any system that combines conventional aquaculture (raising aquatic animals such as snails, fish, crayfish or prawns in tanks) with hydroponics (cultivating plants in water) in a symbiotic environment.” – https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aquaponics

 

While at Pulaski Grow, after meeting the woman that runs the place, Lee, we started with harvesting, cleaning, and sorting different vegetables and herbs such as lettuce, cabbage, and parsely. After that, we had a quick lunch and then got a tour of the fish tanks with a chance to feed the fish. Trout and tilapia were used to give the water the nutrients the plants need, while a single catfish was used to clean some of the other water. Lee then gave us a quick tour of the greenhouse before showing us how to take down the root towers, empty them, and put in fresh plants. We ended up planting a few different kinds of lettuce and some strawberries with this method. Lee also showed how she mixes the substance she places on the roots to hold them in the tower. She made it with the finers of cocunuts ground up, water, and a small amount of liquid fertilizer.

Originally working together on this job, we eventually split to have 2 continue working on that and the rest cultivating broccoli sprouts. Surprisingly, the sprouts were tasty and the bloomed flowers tasted extremely sweet. Originally, Lee wasn’t going to have us harvest any of the tiny cauliflower buds, as she thought it wasn’t any good, but after a quick taste, she has us harvest those as well. During all of this, one of the faculty members koinging us on the trip, Pam, used a bolt to hit the drip pipes leading to the towers in order to clear them of algae and other muck.

Although it was a great time and no one wanted to leave, we eventually had to. After the Grow, we went to the local middle school to finish “knitting” our cat beds, which we will be bringing to the humane society tomorrow. Immediately after finishing up with that, we headed back to the church to have dinner with some of the local community members and the other colleges. Dinner consisted of different pulled pork barbecues, different salads, mac and cheese, soup, and more. It was a delicious meal and the community members were extremely friendly and social. After some nice conversation, they all left, we cleaned up, and put our cots back out to get ready to sleep. We had a group reflection and all went to sleep.

In my opinon, today was definitely my favorite day. I felt good for what my group was doing and it felt like we made an impact. I’m looking forward to the rest of the week and what it may hold!

 

-Michael

Day 3 YMCA and School

Day 3 YMCA and School

Today, is the 15th of March of 2017. Beware the Ides of March everyone, and if you do not know what that means: I encourage you to look it up.

We rose from our beds at 8:15 A.M. to move our beds to make way for the dinner we will host at our place for our college/the other university students, eat breakfast, and make lunch. That meant we got another chance to sleep in. The first morning we woke up at 6:00 A.M. We showered at 9:45 to 10:15.

We split into two groups again, but this time we switched leaders and group members. My group stayed at the YMCA to do some work after we showered there while the other group left.

Since there were five of us plus Pam, Miracle and I went to spend some time with the kids first whilst Carlos, Yosi, and Joe went with Pam to clean the locker rooms.

Miracle and I spent two hours with kids ranging in age from 6 to 12 years old. The teacher explained to us that since school was closed for the day, due to the snowy and cold conditions and winding roads, the students’ parents sent them to the YMCA. When we first got there, the children were about to eat lunch. Any child who did not have a lunch that they brought from home was given a hot meal served family style. I started to ask the girls and boys different questions such as: what is your name, what is your brothers’ and sisters’ names, and what is your favorite movie? I tried to compliment them and be as positive and as enthusiastic I could be.

We then assisted when they split up into groups of two and went to several different stations. I spent most of my time in the reading station, when Miracle spent more time in the creative stations. We ended up swapping at one point to try different stations ourselves, so I went to Connect Four. I was a bit of a referee: there to make sure each one was getting a fair shake at starting the game. Then, the kids went to the table to sit by their swimsuits, and they waited for their names to be called so that they could have their turn to change in the bathroom. Miracle and I waited outside to make sure that they did not dilly-dally. The kids were called in to a line. We walked them down to the pool before being told that it was time for lunch.

We broke for lunch and pulled out our sack lunches. We conversed about our experiences. Soon it was time to change people and get back to work.

This time, Miracle and I joined Pam and Yosi to clean. Carlos and Joe went to hang out with the kids. We showed them where the kids were, i.e. where the pool was, so that they would know where to go.

We cleaned a locker room by wiping the lockers, mirrors, stalls, doors, sinks, toilets, and showers.

Then, the director of the YMCA gave us a tour of the history and changes of the place before we left. She grew up going to the Pulaski Y and then moved away for college. She still had family living here, and her parents are elderly, so she and her husband made the journey from Richmond, Virginia to Pulaski, Virginia often. Her mother called her to tell her about the head position opening up at the YMCA, and so they moved there in 2013.

We started with talking about the flooring of the hallway and the flooring of the locker rooms. Apparently, when she came back, the board wanted someone to take on the place, so they didn’t tell her about all of the problems, including the budget. She wasn’t quite sure if they were going to make budget that year, but they did.

Anyway, back to the locker rooms: the same pink and blue lockers were still there since she had been a child! So, that was another update.

Onto the gymnasium. She wondered how the kids could play basketball if the lights were so old and covered in dust and grime. So, that was one of the first changes that they made in the gym. Once that was completed, she could see why they haven’t done anything about it before. Sure, one of the problems was a lack of funds, but also it was the fact that it would highlight that the floor was in bad shape. The floor was cracked in some places and some pieces were coming up. Another issue was that the floor was just restained over and over again when the floor underneath was actually quite sound. Once a professional had looked at the problem, he was able to get most of the staining layers removed, and it didn’t cost that much to fix the floor.

One side of the gymnasium had a group of young kids playing basketball and the other side had an older group of kids playing. Basically, this time slot was in open time.

We then moved on to the next part of the YMCA that was attached to the basketball court. During the eighties ,  racquetball became very popular. So this next part was a new addition that they hoped would add business to their community center. Once the trend died down, they kept one racquetball room, made a second one into a free weights room, and a third room into another important space. When you go upstairs, that used to be the area where people would watch racquetball, so they had to repurpose the room. They have since repurposed it again into a room where they have spin class, yoga, and many other classes except for Zumba. Zumba is held in the gymnasium where they build a stage just for them.

Then we moved on to the pool where she explained everything they have done with it. Now I can’t remember everything, but she made it a point to tell us that she believes that every second grader should have free access to their program. She started this program where each year they added on an elementary school with their second grade class. By next year, they should have all five elementary schools involved. It makes sense that they want to teach kids at a young age how to swim because they have big lakes around here, and it would be good to give them a head start. Also, she mentioned that their swimming team at the high school is not very good, so they are planning to build up kids for the future, with a team at their age right now, so that they do have a good swim team, in highschool, at one point in the future.

Now I’m going to talk a little bit about the kids’ program. She had a bit of hard time selling the idea of making the YMCA the first place for a Head Start program in Pulaski County. They asked her why, and she said that there had been a few infant deaths, and also many of the parents could benefit from having their kids in this program that they would not have access to otherwise. We saw the nursery, where they had a set of male identical triplets, a set of twins, and two other babies. There were also two other classrooms besides the babies’ room and the room we had been in earlier.

She then brought us out to the lobby and told us about how she views this place as a community center and not a fitness center. Yes, we went into the room where we saw all of these machines to help people become fit, but it never bothers her when the new fitness place, that opened up 2 years ago, wins first place in an annual contest.

She then went on to talk about how they plan on raising $125,000 this year. At least, I believe that was the amount. She showed us a chart that they have on the wall, which tells people how far they have come along in fundraising. She told us the story of an Arizona man, who comes back to Pulaski to visit his parents. Now, she doesn’t know how they reached out to him, but he believes in the YMCA because it played such a big role in his life. He is planning on donating $25,000, and they would like to match it with their fundraisers coming up.

Now, it is time to talk about our next activity. Yesterday, we started to make these rugs for cats and small dogs. We were unable to finish them; however, we finished them today. Since the middle schoolers weren’t in school today, the teachers came in just for us, so that we could finish our project. I have never felt so satisfied to have made a craft because I know that this craft is not for me, but rather it is for someone else. This craft will improve the quality of life for animals, which I believe are just as important as people.

We ate dinner at our homebase of St. Edward’s Catholic Church. We got an opportunity to interact with the church members, essentially the members of the community, who are a generation or two older than us. We had a nice dialogue with them. The other two colleges were there.

Now, it is time to start talking about reflectioning. The question of the day was as follows: describe in 10 words or less what our day was like. We could use a full sentence or a bunch of adjectives or even both. This is mine: a light day since the weather changed our plans.

Nevertheles, I still feel as though this day had a huge impact. I learned so much about how long you have to be patient and have a vision for the future.  We don’t have quite the same connection to our YMCA back in Illinois. We have so many fitness centers, and we were getting away from the concept of being a part of a community. What I have noticed, a pattern you might say, is that the guides that we have had were people that came back to Pulaski, Virginia as older adults. For some reason, maybe it was family, people are drawn back here. That, ladies and gentleman, is a beautiful thing.

-Melanie Hughes-

 

 

ASB DAY 2 Natosha Ginter

This morning there was snow on the mountains in Pulaski. Although there was not a lot of snow, the local schools were delayed for 2 hours. Due to this delay and the continuation of snow, sadly the after school program we were going to participate in was canceled. But we were able to start an after school project that the students in the after school program will be working on later this week. This project involved hula hoops, strip of t shirts, and weaving. We used these materials and weaving make dog beds for a local animal shelter. This is a very creative way of making dog beds and I would have never thought to make dog beds in such a resourceful way. Earlier today, I stayed behind at the church we are staying at with a member of our group due to an illness. Our groups’ thoughts and prayers are with this student and I hope you keep this student in your thoughts and prayers as well for a speedy recovery. During our group’s reflection time today we shared our worst, best, and most challenging experiences so far. We had an amazing discussion and I can say that a consensus we all came to was that we are all very thankful for the meetings we had leading up to this trip. (Shout out to Meg!) And we are all thankful for the bonding and connections we have made with each other. I am so proud to be a part of this group and I cannot wait until tomorrow!

Touching History

Today we had a late start so we got to wake up at 8 instead of 6, so that was a huge help to my day. We had a great breakfast that consisted of eggs (that were great by the way), english muffins, cereal, and coffee which was a great way to start a day of work. Right after that we headed over to the town museum where we saw the biggest replica town in the US. Another thing that we saw was the first radio station which looked pretty cool. We also learned about how this town had such bad history with fires and how fires really changed the future for this town. Also, natural disasters have affected the town in ways that their whole houses have been destroyed completely. After the museum we went on a tour of the town so we could really see the after math of the disasters. We saw so many houses with their roofs, and even full houses demolished. We did get to see the whole town on top of a hill and look down at the people, but as a whole we didn’t get to see the raw uncut scenery we got to experience first hand. The title of this is called Touching History, because we literally got to experience history today while looking at the destruction that was put onto this town that was done pretty far in the past. We then went to the middle school where we made beds for animals. The next thing we did was go to the First Methodist Church to eat dinner which was made up of many different types of pasta, salads, and desert. We then went back to the church to get settled in. Some people left for the gym at the YMCA, but some stayed considering how tired they were. Finally we came back and had reflection where we got into conversations about how close we are getting, the best, worst, and the most challenging part of this trip. Today we had so much fun and we are all really are getting close together, and I can really see a difference in our relationship as a whole group.

– Joe Hendrickson

Day 2: A Drive Around Town

We started our day bright and early to get to the showers at around 6:20 am. The showers were pretty interesting to say the least but they did their job. After we came back to eat breakfast and prepare for our first day of service. Our group was divided into two so one could go on a economic tour around town and the other could go to a camp and help the boy scouts. I got to go on the economic tour around town, which also included a trip to the towns museum. At the museum we got to take a trip to the past and saw the rise of this town and how it earned its place on the map. Sadly we also saw the down fall of the towns economy because of new policies being passed that took away jobs, natural and man made disasters that caused a lot of damage leaving many homeless, and other bad conditions. After learning about the history we went on the tour around town and I was shocked at how bad its economy was affected. On the southern side of Pulaski you see a lot of vacant houses and buildings that seem to not have been touched in years. It was also shocking to hear some of this destruction that looked recent was actually caused by a tornado that hit this town about 10 years ago. On the other hand, northern Pulaski was in better shape and had pretty luxurious houses. After the tour we came back to get some rest and eat dinner. After dinner we went to celebrate two birthdays with fudge and ice cream.
-Carlos