First day of Service!

Our first day was exhausting! We woke up by 6:30 so that we could eat breakfast, pack our lunches, and get to our site on time. We are at the James Singleton Head Start center for the week. As we drove on our way to the site, we noticed more of the decrepit buildings all around us. It's hard to imagine how much damage was done, and how we would be underwater if we were driving on the roads back when the storm hit. Before we left for the site, I had to call to make sure that they knew we were coming. Apparently I talk too fast because the woman on the phone told me to sloooowww down!! I apologized and explained that I'm from NJ and we all talk fast haha. Once we reached the center, we were assigned rooms to stay in. Olivia and I took the "baby" room, and the rest of the group went to other classrooms with kids between the ages of 3 and 5.



Our group in front of the head start.

 At first, Olivia and I were wary of the situation, unsure of what to do, but soon we were learning the children's names and playing with them. The point of us being here this week is to help the teachers out, and make sure they have a smoothly running classroom. The whole point of the Head Start program in NOLA is to promote learning in young children before they enter the school systems. Amanda mentioned to us that the program speeds up learning in the classrooms, and children who do not participate in Head Start definitely slow the rest of the class down because they don't know their shapes, colors, or letters. This program is vital to the school systems in NOLA, and in their improvement.

The kids thankfully went down for a nap so we could eat lunch. The weather was beautiful (between thunder showers), so we sat outside after eating. After the kids woke up, Olivia and I went back into the classroom and continued to work with the children. The aides asked us if either of us could draw, and I let them know I could, unaware of what I was getting myself into! For the rest of the day, I was drawing Dr. Seuss characters from the book "Hop on Pop." The school is doing a "literacy alive" Read Across Amaerica activity at the end of the month, where they are focusing on "Hop on Pop" and "The Lorax." Since my teachers liked my drawings, of course they showed them to the other teachers, who subsequently asked me to draw pictures for them as well!! I drew for the rest of the afternoon until it was time to leave!

Hard at work drawing Hop on Pop!

We had cleaning duty when we got back to the fellowship, which just meant to clean the bathrooms and make sure everything was stocked for everyone. We had rice and beans for dinner , which were cooked by a local. It is a NOLA tradition to have rice with beans on Mondays. The tradition started because NOLA women used to do laundry on Mondays, so they would let the beans cook for hours while they did their laundry. To this day, many families still eat rice and beans on Monday nights for dinner.

Later, we had a nice conversation with Pastor Randy about his experiences with the hurricane. He is a fantastic humanitarian, and he is always full of energy! After our conversation, our group reflected about our experiences for the day. We were only planning a short recap, but we all wound up talking for an hour! This trip truly has had a profound effect on us all, and we are learning so much about our own character, as well as each other's!