A Bittersweet Day

We began our bittersweet day with our last team meeting, assessing goals and making plans for the day’s assignments.  The Florida contingent, Bonnie and Sunny gave each family a shell, noting the lines represent all points from which we came, meeting in one place, Browning, and the hope that one day all people will meet. Billy read from Matthew 25:    

Then the King will say, “For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat. I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink. I was a stranger and you invited me in. I needed clothes and you clothed me. I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me…..

…I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.”

Reminded that our week was a reflection of the Creator, the group decided we will all pray for, or lift up the community when we awaken each Monday morning. Goodbyes were said to the Webster family. Nadine and Bonnie went to the Sr. Center and visited with elders. Sunny, Kelley, Ann Hackman and Molly went to the safe house for teary goodbyes with the children. In the afternoon, Nadine, Annalisa, and Bonnie went to the nursing home and played a very confusing game with some of the residents, who seemed to enjoy it. Rawah and her girls, Nadine and Leena, said goodbye to us and Joe drove them to Great Falls to catch an early flight home.

The surviving five, Ann Marett, Annalisa, Sunny, Kelley, and Bonnie drove the 12 miles to East Glacier for dinner at the Luna Diner, eating buffalo burgers and salmon sandwiches.  Sunny sampled the much touted huckleberry pie. On return to BCC campus, Annalisa’s mother and friend Andrew arrived and took her with them.

Our last night’s rest in Browning was punctuated, as usual, with fireworks from the community, a reminder of the approaching July 4^th national celebration, a sobering reminder that even though we are very different from our Blackfeet brothers and sisters, we have much in common. - Bonnie

Fun and Games on the Rez

Thursday, our warmest day yet, began with our routine team meeting and with Ann’s “hide and go seek” game to find a journal writer.  Several of the team fled the room or climbed under the table until Lily Webster (Billy) was forcibly pressed into service, her father knowing she would avoid putting pen to paper if possible.  Nadine offered inspiration from a Blackfeet Chief (If we don’t preserve our way of life, who will teach the children of our way?) and the group was off to their appointed  tasks.

Lily, Nadine and Bonnie went to the Eagle Shield Senior Center in the morning where they learned to make Indian fry bread.  They had learned to eat Indian fry bread the prior evening.  They served lunch to the seniors and socialized through lunch when they dispersed to other activities.

In the afternoon, Lilly, Bonnie, Nadine and Molly facilitated the last Girl Scout camp of the week, beginning with a fire drill and ending with the distribution of take-home jars with topics for family discussion

Lindsay spent the morning taking photographs of the residents at the Senior Center.  In the afternoon she hosted the first annual Camp Lindsay at the Boys and Girls Club.  Highlights were:  the Golf bag relay, the Cheeto shampoo and Bubble gum bingo.  Lindsay was assisted at camp by Liza, Vinnie and Will.

Sunny, now a permanent fixture at the children's safe house, was joined by Ann H, Molly and Kelley.  They were able to complete their nutritional menu revision which will be a great benefit to the community there.

Annalisa, Leena, Rawah, Vinnie, Will and Billy returned to the CDC to complete the playground restoration.  Annalisa was given the Indian name “She who paints a bunch” and Vinnie the name “Vinnie Paint on Clothes”.  The project was happily completed.  Darrell and Will completed fence installation.  As usual, Ann M was everywhere all the time.

We spent a memorable last evening at the Ranch owned and operated by Chuck and Carrie DeBoo, their son Chase (Indian name:  He who is 8 ½ but drives car) and their super cute puppy Chica.  Kelley, Ann, Lily, Vinnie, Liza, Molly and AnnaLisa rode horseback and earned their spurs for the week.  Dinner, campfire, evening sky and trampoline were most happy memories from a fabulous evening.  -Billy

More Cultural Experiences on the Blackfeet Reservation

Today Ann H, Molly, Kelley and Sunny continued to work with the children at the Nurturing Center.  They got a new little boy last night so now there are five girls and two boys all aged six and under.  Sunny spent time with Pat who does the cooking at the Safe House making possible menus and teaching about nutrition.  We all had a great session with the staff led by Ann H about their job stress, coping skills to use with the children and providing them with emotional support.  Tomorrow we will continue with the nutritional planning again.  Ann H also did a morning in-service on debriefing  at the Addictions program.

Molly, Lily, Nadine, and Bonnie as leader continued with the Girl Scout Camp.  Each girl got her own stuffed Zink the Spotted Zebra.  Today they wrote a story about their zebra.  The girls are learning strategies. 

Another group including Annalisa, Lily, Rawah, Nadine and Leena  among others did a lot of painting at the Museum of the Plains Indians. Manpower provided matched labor.

At the CDC a team headed by Billy with Will and Rawah worked with Darrell Wippert and built and painted a spectacular caterpillar which was made of old tires.  The team dug their holes without benefit of a back hoe.

At the Boys and Girls Club Lindsay headed a group including Vinnie, Liza and Will which ran a Carnival Day and invented other games and activities.

We had an "authentic" Indian dinner tonight of Indian tacos with fry bread and blueberry soup.  Our guest speaker was Sandra Watts who was raised in Oregon and graduated  from the University of Oregon Law School.  She had incredible stories to tell about the Freedom Riders in Mississippi during the early Civil Rights Movement.  She is now married to a Blackfeet Indian and is the tribe’s legal council. - Sunny

Beautiful People in Beautiful Country

We started the day with our team meeting (Message from the sweat via Billy: “No religion’s prayer is stronger than another”).  Molly, Lily, Nadine and Bonnie had a successful first day with the girl scouts.  Sunny, Ann H. and Kelley had a long but rewarding day at the safe house where the evidence of their days’ work could be seen on Kelley’s shirt long after they left.  Will and Billy spent the morning working with Darrell at the CDC playground.  I (Annalisa) worked with Leena, Liza and Vinnie on other work areas of the playground.  Vinnie also met the future member of their family group, Mrs. Cuddles.  Lily, Nadine and Rawah helped at Eagle Shield and Rawah also did a meal delivery (Rawah said this was a good experience but warns future volunteers to beware of dogs). 

Lindsay spent time at the Senior Center as well as at the Boys and Girls Club where she is very well-liked..  These are only a few of the day’s activities as it was a very hectic and productive day with Global Volunteers going to different projects at different times. 

Lindsay has outdone herself as free-time coordinator and we had an awesome night of activities.  At 4 PM we went to the Plains Indians Museum and listened to a brief history of the museum from Mr. David Dragonfly,  director of the  museum.  After the history lesson, we watched an informational video before we wandered through the various displays . Our next activity was going to the art gallery/heritage center where we browsed not only displays, but also the jewelry.  Many of us bought some beautifully handcrafted art and jewelry.  We were also extremely lucky to have the heritage center open after hours for our group (thanks to Lindsay who asked just for us!).   Next we headed to see Real People Herbals, owned by Pauline Matt.  Pauline told us how her business was started and the process she goes through when picking plants.  Everyone wanted to buy the Northwind chap stick (or maybe just me).  We all bought souvenirs for loved ones.  During our ride to Pauline’s we had seen a rodeo that a few of the younger volunteers decided to go back to watch.  As we were enjoying the events we saw our new friend Ryder!  After a long and exciting day I’m sure we will all sleep well! - Annalisa

An Eventful Day

First thing this morning, we heard from those in the community that want our help this week.  Ginny Weeks from the library told us about some of the culture here.  We also met Elva Dorsey from the CDC who does many things for Browning.  Primarily she deals with economic development, but she also helps the kids here to stay involved in positive and healthy activities.  Sean Potts was here from Manpower to let us know about when he could need our help this week.  Finally we heard from Dee Hoyt who is director of fitness and runs health and wellness here on the campus and also directs projects for social problems like meth addiction and other  “touchy” subjects, as she said.

After this everyone decided what their  projects were for the day and got started.  Bonnie, Nadine, Lily and I (Molly) went to the elementary school and trained to be girl scout counselors for most of the week.  We are excited to meet all of the girls tomorrow.

Leena, Annalisa, Rawah and Kelley spent their day at the senior center visiting the elders.  They entertained them with games and heard interesting stories.

Lindsay, Vinnie and Liza went to the Boys and Girls Club to see if help was needed and ended up playing with about 30 kids for the day.

Billy and Will went to the pool to help but there were already enough volunteers, so they picked up trash around BCC because that is what Smokey asked them to do.

Ann H. and Sunny spent the majority of their day at the Nurturing Center, where there are children everywhere from toddlers to 6-7 year olds.  The children were at risk and now they are in the safe house so they can be cared for as best they can.

Ann H. was also at the culturally-based addictions treatment program to see how she can be helpful in the days to come.

Ann M. and Joe kindly got everyone to and from where they needed to be today.

Once everyone was back from their jobs, many of us went to a traditional Blackfeet  sweat where we were immersed  in the culture, and experienced a spiritual tradition that we would probably not have ever known.  It was an amazing experience and we were welcomed with open arms.

The first day of the projecgram is over, but luckily there are many more to come! - Molly

Getting Settled on the Reservation

Today was our first full day in Montana.  We got a lot done and most of the planning out of the way.  We met for about six hours after breakfast and talked about who was in charge of certain jobs, the goals we want to achieve and the guidelines for our trip.  We named Kelley as kitchen coordinator, Sunny as our safety coordinator, Lindsay as activity planner and Ann Hackman to type the journal.  Our Goals were to “experience and learn about a different culture”, “to serve as a family” and , like Vinnie said, “to have fun.”

After packing lunch we hit the road.  We went for a tour of the reservation and stopped at a nice lodge to have lunch. There was an amazing view but unfortunately it was so cold we had to take it in from the inside.  After a nice lunch we went home right at the same time Bob Tailfeathers, the director of student activities here at the college, arrived.  We got a nice talk from him which was about the history of the school.  After his talk he showed us his art and lots of us bought some.  Overall it was a nice and easy first day and now we are all ready for tomorrow’s adventures.
-Will

Team 97 Begins Work on the Reservation

Asst. Team Leader Joe Jessepe describes landscape features.

Heading North from Great Falls Airport, we see the Rockies in the distance.  Looking forward to big things and we are seeing new things.  Miles of wheat and barley.  Expecting new friendships, new experiences.  Big sky overhead – open space.  Staying open minded to new ideas and different attitudes.

Met Assistant Team Leader “Professor” Joe Jeseppe – a wealth of knowledge about plate tectonics, farming practices, tribal attitudes and Global Volunteers history.  Leader Ann Marett, a whirlwind of competency – long-time volunteer around the world.

Beautiful, cheerful enthusiastic people join us at BCC.  Annalisa DeLaGarza, 3^rd year pharmacy student from W.VA.,  Kelley Sullivan RN runs respite center.  Rawah Hassan from Sudan via Canada and Dallas and daughters Nadine and Leena.  Beautiful family Billy and Lindsay Webster – great kids Will, Lily, Liza and Vinnie – all outgoing.  Molly Cantrell college student and Mom Ann Hackman, psychiatrist,  Sunny Conn, RN and Bonnie Ogle natural history teacher and children’s writer.  Also met Darrell Wippert  of the Blackfeet tribe, talented artist, very interesting.  Lots of new faces with interesting stories.  Looking forward to an interesting week.
From far and wide we will abide friends.  - Bonnie