Tuesday March 30, 2010

Another guest blogger...

Hi All!
     We had a wonderful day today!!  Though we started the day off with some clouds, they gave way to sunshine while we finished off the steps at our site.  We had were wonderful workers again today screwing in the boards on the steps.  We all worked hard to dig and dig and dig some more and yet the hole never seemed to get deeper nor did the risers seem to level!  With hard work, determination and some "girl power" we managed to get all but the railings completed.
     The people at our site were so nice and the homeowner's brother-in-law showered us with homemade gifts made of recycled materials.  The smile on the homeowner's face was worth all of the hard work!  Of course we played with the dogs and enjoyed watching the ducks swim by in the water as we were energized by the sunlight that shined today unlike yesterday.  I think we did a good job of mixing work and play!
     Having the young women here has been a wonderful experience.  Their energy and enthusiasm have been inspiring.  Seeing them surrounded by the WV mountains wheeling a pickax or operating a drill made me realize how important these trips really are.  I am so glad that we were still able to come even though there were so few of us this year.  I can't wait to see what next year will bring!!

Stay tuned for the posting of the pictures tomorrow due to technical difficulties today!

Pictures from Monday

Having fun on the van ride down

Modeling the rubber boot look

Hi ho, hi ho off to work we go...

...and hard work it was

Work begins on the steps...

...and the platform

Our friend Skipper kept us entertained

All smiles here!

Toward the end of the day, the steps and platform started taking shape

A quick shot before we left. At this point we were all a little cold, wet and muddy, but it was a great day!

A little Brooklyn comes to the Mountains...

From a special guest blogger....

Our PV communities continue to merge as yet another member of TGIA has ventured for the first time into the mountains.  It has been a great trip so far in spite of rain on the 11 hour ride down, and more rain at today's worksite.  We are continuing the work started by NIU students two weeks ago, by adding stairs to the front of the trailer.  The woman who will move in there stayed with us all day in the rain, telling stories and sharing her warm laughter (in spite of recent hardship and loss).  Our 6 woman crew was impressive, especially our teen girls who picked up carpentry skills with tremendous energy and ease!  And Skipper the puppy added affection and comic relief to the day.  

Back at homebase we left our muddy boots on the porch, and enjoyed some soup and grilled cheese sandwiches, followed by a reflection of the day and a somewhat mellow, though laughter filled version of the board game of 'Outburst'.

Our day ended with a Litany for Peace by Thich Nhat Hahn...
With humility, with awareness of the existence of life, and of the sufferings that are going on around us, let us pray for the establishment of peace in our hearts and on the earth.  Amen.           

Back in West Virginia

We are back in wild, wonderful West Virginia again.  The drive down was in the pouring rain, just as it was when we left the county two weeks ago.  Luckily, the rivers are much lower and there doesn't seem to be a threat of flooding in county.

This time we are in Wyoming County for a TGIA service trip. "Teen Girls in Action" is the young womens empowerment group from Bedford Stuyvesant, Brooklyn that we have been working with for the past 7 years.  This is the 4th service trip for the group.  We had some last minute cancellations, so the group is two young women and four slightly older women : ), who lead the group.  We will be in Wyoming County until Wednesday morning, and will be sure to post daily, our activities and a few pictures, so please check back!  We might also have a few guest bloggers to mix it up a bit...

Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers during the week.

Some Pictures from the Midwest Reunion

 

One of the benefits of living on a farm, you have have a tractor available to pull your car out of a snow drift!

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Hard at work setting up the welcome home dinner

  

The guest of honor, David, being presented with an American flag afghan, made by is aunt, to honor is 4+ years of service.  Thank you David!

   

There were lots of little ones at the dinner to entertain us

  

Showing off all the chicken bones from the fried chicken meal...yum yum

New "Live with Passion" Blog

We have created a new bog for the Live with Passion so you can follow along with the different activities taking place.  It is still in the process of being formatted and updated, but keep checking back.  You can easily get to the blog by clicking on the link on the right side of this blog.

Also, don't think we have forgotten about posting more pictures from the Midwest Reunion.  They are coming, we are just waiting on a few more to be emailed so we can post them all at once.

A Snowy Midwest Reunion

The Midwest Reunion in Atchison, KS is underway.  Even though spring officially starts tomorrow we are having a snowy, blustery, cold day.  Here are a couple of pictures...more to come.

Volunteers hard at work evaluating last summer's program and planning for the upcoming summer: