Week Three! (AUGUST 17-23)

Monday started with lovely PT. Monday is always the hardest day for me to wake up at 5! Now that I’m into week three I’m definitely getting used to PT, but I don’t think I’ll ever get used to waking up at 5. After PT we had training for our specialty roles that we will have for the rest of the year. In a nutshell I will be finding future sponsors in the area for projects, putting together a volunteer day each round of projects, and finding possible projects for my team to use as their ISP hours. After lunch we had “Safe Spaces Training”. Safe Spaces is in direct correlation with Disaster Relief shelters. A non-profit called Save the Children creates areas within shelters that are for children and assist them with education, physical activity and overall activities that allow them to be a kid. I definitely think that I could work for an organization like Save the Children. The women that were running the session were so enthusiastic about their jobs and the program that it made me really want to consider their type of work as a profession. We’ll see what happens. I’m just so happy and surprised that I have already found interest in non-profit organizations and I’m still only going through the motions of training - just wait until I actually start the different round of projects :D

Tuesday was probably the longest day of training to date. My team and I had to sit through a full day of Red Cross Disaster Relief training. My goodness was it long! I do give credit to the facilitators because they did try and make most of the training an open discussion, but still a day of sitting in the cafeteria makes for one very long day! I also received my very first package in the mail today :D My parents sent me a few things that I had left at home as well as my birthday present. I’m trying really hard though to wait until my actual birthday to open them, so we’ll see what happens! Tried to teach a few of my friends how to play Wizard - I forgot how competitive that game is! My goodness!! On a sad note, a lot of people are starting to get sick. A few people that I hang out with on a regular basis went to the doctor and were told that they either had a sinus infection or some sort of pneumonia. Easily getting sick is definitely a negative side of living with 144 people in such a small place. Thankfully though I have not caught anything yet since I’ve been doing a really good job of constantly washing my hands and not touching my face.

Wednesday was a very physical day. After PT in the morning, my team and I spent the day working on mini projects around campus. For the first half of the day we helped clear overgrown foliage and trees from the trails behind our gymnasium. The goal was to create a trail around campus for PT activities. I spent the morning lopping trees with my lovely lopper. I’ve come to the conclusion that working outdoors on trail work is not my favorite service project. Granted it is easy to see the type of impact you have made when working on trail projects - instant gratification with each area of land cleared - but I‘d be much happier serving in other ways :D To make for a funny morning my boots, my lack of balance and my loppers assisted in the “ditch fall” that I so casually partook in while lopping a branch near the ditch. The fall was definitely a great depiction of the complete lack of balance that I have. After lunch my team and I moved inside and painted one of the classrooms that we as corps members use on a daily basis. It seems that painting is a common project for my team. Lucky me I volunteered to clean the brushes and rollers at the end of the day. A power hose and Alleigh don’t exactly mix. I felt like I was on the show “Dirty Jobs” by the end of it!

Thursday consisted of team time and unit time. During team time my team members and I worked on finishing our team brochure, organized and put together our poster board for induction, and prepared for the brief about our round 1 project. After lunch we spent time with our River unit as a whole. We played a game similar to “Walk the Line” where you move in and out of the circle depending on if you fit the statement announced. This time around the game was much more “light hearted”. We also had time to come up with seven different chants for our unit team to chant. Considering my team is quite indecisive we came up with four team chants instead of one. For dinner AmeriCorps NCCC put together another BBQ for us. This time we had representatives from headquarters and other campuses included in the BBQ. Everyone seemed to be very excited and enthusiastic about the new campus. It’s definitely a nice feeling being a part of the very first class of the Vicksburg campus.

Friday we were supposed to spend the day working outdoors at the Military National Park but due to weather conditions we spent the day on campus in more training sessions. The first part of the morning we had team time downtown at the library. Becca and I decided to grab a coffee at Highway 61 then we walked around downtown for a bit. While downtown a few of the locals gave us suggestions about local organizations that would need our assistance. While talking to the locals we found out that most of them act as a family - they all work together and help one another. It definitely warmed my heart to know that I was living in a community where a sense of family and familiarity is appreciated and welcomed. After lunch we had Hurricane Katrina Disaster training. The training helped open my eyes to the disaster that I had only heard about and experienced on TV. Watching the video of actual footage and photos, and hearing stories about what NCCC volunteers did during the disaster made me realize just how traumatic the event was and how important my role as a NCCC Corps member can and will be during a future disaster.

Saturday I partook in my second ISP. This time around I was just a corps member. It was nice not having to get everything organized and be in charge of the corps members during the project. Our project was at the local Humane Society. Oh goodness did I have fun!! Our main role was to play and socialize with the animals, wash dogs, clean out the cat cages, and paint the outside of their kennel. I fell in love with a cute beagle named Snoopy. He was dropped off at the kennel on Friday and we instantly became buds. The poor dog did not like playing with the other dogs but he enjoyed being petted by people and curling up in their laps. The kennel only took in dogs and cats but during natural disasters they take in other animals as well. According to the manager they take in around 2,000 animals a year and the main reason why many animals are dropped off is because people don’t have the money to properly raise their animals. Also, during the last natural disaster they took in about 50 animals. It broke my heart seeing so many adorable animals stuck in cages all day. Thankfully though they are at a safe place and will hopefully be adopted! The adoption fee is only $75 and that even covers their medical care. Considering my team will be in Vicksburg for the next two months, I have a good feeling that we may be traveling back to Humane Society soon!

Sunday was once again another day of relaxation. Considering the corps members still do not have great access to vans there isn’t much else to do but relax.