AWB Virginia Camp Baker

AWB Virginia traveled to Camp Baker in Chesterfield, VA over our winter break. Camp Baker works to provide a traditional camp experience for children and adults who have disabilities. I would say our expectations were exceeded the entire week.

Every morning we worked on painting the camper's retreat. The staff told us that if we hadn't painted they would have had to hire painters to come in. It made us feel great that we could spare the camp of this expense. After we had finished we would clean up and make lunch. Then we sat down with Dr. O'Brian who gave us a short lecture each day about a different disability. The lectures were very hands on so we truly began to understand what the children affected by these disabilities go through. During one lecture Dr. O'Brian had us stick peanut butter on the roofs of our mouths and speak so we could see what it was like to have an over-sized tongue like people affected by Down's Syndrome have. The lectures added a priceless aspect of education and understanding to our trip.

Every afternoon we worked with the camp's after school program. All of the kids were affected by different disabilities and functioned on different levels so it was difficult at first figuring out exactly how to interact with them, but by the end of the week everyone agreed we got the hang of it. In fact, one day we all played kickball with the camper's and it felt just like any other camp. Working with children who have disabilities can be very intense; I give the staff at Camp Baker all the credit in the world- they are awesome with all of the campers. The staff at Camp Baker made us feel welcome as well. One of the staff members- Jarek acted as our welcoming committee/mentor the whole week. 

One morning we took a break from painting and traveled into Richmond to tour the ARC. The ARC of Richmond is the organization that Camp Baker is based out of. The ARC works to provide occupational and speech therapy to children with developmental disabilities, it provides adult day programs and work placement for higher functioning adults. Then we met up with Jarek's friend Marley who took us on a tour of the Canal Walk and of Richmond. 

On our last night at Camp Baker we helped plan and put on a "Blast from the Past" dance for the adult respite weekend group. We had a great time dancing with the adults and we even taught them how to fist pump Jersey style! I learned so much on my AWB trip to Camp Baker, not only in the educational sense, but about myself as well. This is an experience I wouldn't trade for the world and I would recommend it to anyone. As we discussed on our trip; it feels as if Camp Baker has given us so much more than we could ever give Camp Baker.

Florida AWB: One of the Best Weeks of Our Lives!

Our trip in Orlando, Florida came to a close today, but what a week it was! We spent our mornings volunteering at the Orlando Day Nursery, each in different aged classrooms ranging from 1-5 year olds. We really emerged ourselves in our classrooms, playing with the kids, taking part in dance time, reading time, play ground time and even lunch time! We really formed a bond with the children at the day care, making it very, very difficult to leave them behind. These children showed us all that we really can handle children and how well we actually do, washing away our previous concerns and replacing them with amazing memories. I even got 3 crayon portraits to take back with me from some of the children in my class! At night we spent our time at Give Kids the World Village doing a variety of activities. We worked at the Gingerbread House helping serve meals, ran the carousel (and even test rode it), worked the pizza hut taking orders and delivering them on a golf cart (so cool!), pampered children at the la ti da spa, manned the pool, ran "Village Idol" (America Idol GKTW style), worked concession stands and even acted as security. We got to see many wish families and talking to them was a rewarding experience. During our free time, we got to go explore the Leu mansion gardens, play mini golf, walk Downtown Disney and even go to MAGIC KINGDOM!!! All these different activities combined with the amazing friendships that we've all made truly made for the trip of a lifetime! AWB 2011, you rocked my world!

In response to "different" names

During our trip in Mississippi, some of the children we had the privilege of meeting had extraordinary names. Some would consider their names "different" or "odd", but I see them as creative and bold gifts given to the children.

Here is a poem dedicated to the children of Mississippi (and all across the nation) with names not given the appreciation that they deserve.

To brown children with syllable-slicked names,
know you are silk language.
crystal fibre of woven consonants and vowels.

Tanjenekia
Southern baked name simmering in deep fried drawl.
Momma Mississippi scrapping up all she could,
pasting together a Brown Girl's identity.
Momma making certain pronouncing her name will be an adventure.
Ensuring Brown Girl masters the recipe of struggle,
before she realizes the true meaning of hungry and broke.
Before broke has multiple meanings, under a callous man's hands.

Brown child
Know you are privilege. All tongues weren't taught to twist taboo.
Foreigners who can't trespass will taunt you in envy
Judge you by name before they meet you
Strip planks of dignity with labels: Ghetto, illiterate.
Ignorant because they will never know the sweet flavor
of rolling plump sound between plain of tongue, blades of teeth.
How it feels audacious, exactly like your existence.
Squeezing life and light through dark, narrow channel
Attempting to birth possibilities out of nothing but air and muscle.

Take Your Pic

I just wanted to take a detour from lengthy blogs. Pictures speak a thousands words anyway, right? Here are just a few shots from Jonestown (with Ms.Mcgrew and The Community Center), Clarkedale (where we stayed) and Lambert (with Mr.Cormack and Quitman County Elementary School).

Our House. Habitat for Humanity.

Inside View

Community Center

Community Center Picture #2

Quitman County Inside View























Quitman County Motto






















EXTRA: BBQ in Memphis (MMmMmMmMm)

Giving + Having Faith = Simple Key to World Peace (So why don't more do it?)

Ms.McGrew (fourth person from right with blue sweats) is a lady of struggle and triumph all wrapped in one. My inspiration.

On our second day (and for the rest of our week) in the new state, a community organizer and proud grandmother of four shown bright through the darkness of poverty and stagnation that blanketed Mississippi. Her name was Ms.McGrew. A former executive director of a non-profit who taught herself to read, She started a community center as a means to create a resource for the youth of Jonestown – an area in Mississippi (like most areas of Mississippi) in need of that and many other resources.

She told us many stories about the oppression and the optimism in Jonestown, about the Casinos sucking up money, sucking in lives and how about many residents put a stop sign between themselves and caring. The first dynamic about her that struck me to the core was her sense of peace, calm and humbleness despite her stubborn ambition and perseverance. She attributed her “blessings” to faith in God. Me, being a person that is not deeply religious, I really admire her commitment to faith through the means of helping others.

They key of living is “giving,” she said. Without giving, compromise, cooperation and self-sacrifice there will be no future. No life. Residents of Mississippi have no learned to give, she said. Hence, the reason for some of the dilemmas there. But, that is just not the issue for Mississippi. That is an issue that our entire nation has not even BEGAN to conquer. After all, 14 individuals flew thousands of miles to a state as an “alternative” break, Meaning, taking the time to give back is not a typical thing for many. Just some food for thought.

Florida: And the trip begins!

We all arrived in Orlando, Florida yesterday and got to explore our surroundings, with a lake right in back of our hostel! Today we started our volunteering by going to the Orlando Day Nursery in the morning and all got to interact and play with different classrooms of toddlers. Wow those kids have lots of energy! After some break time, later in the day we went on a tour of Give Kids the World Village, which was so amazing. Tomorrow we'll go back to the nursery and actually get to start volunteering at GKTW!

Five. Four. Three. Two. One. Happy..

New Years. It is two hours and twenty minutes away. This Midnight, which is usually just a blanket separating moon and sun, represents a celebration of another year. A celebration of breath and movement. Here. Now.

I am not as excited as others about that Mr.New Years . That strike of clock when the hands of time embrace.

My heart thumps for another.

Her name is Mississippi.

She leaves her songs and stories in the chest of man, and if you listen carefully you can hear her feminine tremble in every Blues song. I have been studying her curves for months now.

And although I have been discovering more about her each day, She is still a complete stranger. I have been only hearing the “rumors” of her mystique in articles and statistics. Never have I witnessed her in person.

That will change on January 2nd.

Those articles say she got some problems. That she is poor and uneducated. But I see things on a different color spectrum. from what I have read she is a beautiful struggle; she is the manifestation of New Years. For her, every morning is a celebration of oxygen stretching over lungs and running through veins. She does not need a year to rejuvenate her ideals on how precious life is; 24 hours will do.

Here I am again! Detailing a beauty I don’t know. I won’t know until January 2nd. And I am scared, of course. This will not only be my first time flying, it will also be my first time outside the east coast.

During our first meeting for the trip, the first article we read about Mississippi said “The abandoned shells of buildings along the main drag here serve as a glum backdrop for the youngsters who sit in front of them for hours.. A liquor store and convenience store are he only places to shop. The little work available is a seasonal or at casinos 25 miles away.” To me this reads like fantasy, like poetry. This is the main reason why I decided to do participate in this trip. I want to and expect to go out the bounds of my comfort zone. Me and ten others are going to explore a fantasy is someone’s reality. In college, it is easy to live inside of a metaphoric bubble where your whole existence revolves are grades, concepts and theories. January 2nd will be my true “new” year. A year where I gain a fresh perspective.

AWB New Orleans, Louisiana

AWB Florida Pre-Trip

My fellow AWBers and I will be headed to Orlando, Florida to volunteer at Give Kids the World Village and a day care. Give Kids the World Village focuses on making children with life threatening illnesses dreams come true by providing them and their families with an opportunity to stay at the Village and have a fun, memorable time. Since this trip will potentially be emotionally tough, working with sick children, through our pre-trip meetings we prepared for this by having Rutgers grad student speak to us about grieving and dying, as well as other things. We got to know each other more and more each week with fun ice breakers and we learned our “true colors”! I’m a green! I hope to have a great trip, bonding with everyone and having a truly rewarding and moving volunteer experience. We leave for Orlando in a week and I am so excited to go!

Mississippi Here I Come!

SO Happy NEW 365 EVERYONE!!!!!

It is 12:12 am and I leave my grandma's house for the airport in about 5 1/2 hours.

I am unnecessarily excited for what this trip has in store my me and my wonderful Mississppi group!

I can't wait to reunite with everyone and hear how their holidays have been.

As a social work major I absolutely love serving others and working with children and from the "job" description I received from my site leaders 2 days ago that is EXACTLY what we will be doing in Clarksdale: working in some of the local schools and doing some work in the town. Unfortunately for shortage of time, I believe our group will have to split up during the day so we can tackle each task accordingly.

I also look forward to just being exposed to the town of Clarksdale, as well as the state of Mississippi. During out pre-trip meetings we discovered that Clarksdale is considered to be the Birthplace and World Capital of the Blues. I find that awesome, I know my grandfather loved Blues music so I hope we are exposed to it a little bit, never really gave Blues music a chance lol.

Also, I get to just view where my Godfather grew up. I recently learned his family still resides in Clarksdale so if anything happens.....JUST KIDDING nothing will.

Unfortunately, the Blues is not the only thing Mississippi is known for, it is also known as the worst poverty in the United States. I cant wait to start working with my group members and just opening our minds and hearts to the struggles of others. I know I am a caring person, but I also know I can be a selfish thinker as well, I hope to gain an even bigger appreciation for others, awareness of struggles known to little, and friendships with the wonderful people I will be working with for the next week.

I'll let you know how everything goes. Safe travels to All of the other AWB trips as well!!!!

Night! (well morning)

AWB Mississippi: Day before Take-off

I cannot believe that we're leaving for Mississippi tomorrow! I've been looking forward to helping out in both the school and community of Clarksdale since out first pre-trip meeting, but between finals and the holidays, I feel like time has flown by so quickly--this trip has snuck up on me. I've learned a lot about Clarksdale and the state of their school system since being chosen for this trip, but I still don't really know what to expect. I'm really excited (and a little nervous) about stepping into such a different culture and way of life. I can't wait for tomorrow--what a great way to start the new year!