Round Two wrapping up...

Hi!

We are wrapping up the project here in Greenwood, MS. After 7 weeks of surveying we are finally done. I think we did pretty well. Now we just have to hope that the data we collected will be of help when the board applies for their grant.

We are spending the last week doing a great deal of service learning. Today we spoke with Dr. Hudson, a longtime administrator at MVSU, who grew up in the Delta on a plantation and watched the area change over the years. He brought us to a place called Tallahatchie Flats where there are "authentic" shotgun plantation homes set up like they were in the 30s 40s and 50s. He talked about his experiences growing up and sharing a room with his five brothers. Then he brought us to the store where Emmit Till allegedly whistled at a white woman. He talked about his experiences the day after the story broke

I am hoping that by the time we leave here, my whole team has a better understanding of the way that slavery has left a lasting imprint on the Delta. I hope they all leave understanding the inequality that exists today and how it has been created and perpetuated throughout history. I think they will.

Tomorrow we will be finishing up Alex Haley's Roots and working on our presentations for campus. Tomorrow will be our last day at the Boys and Girls Club because we will be doing a service project outside the club at the nursing home with the kids on Wednesday. I taught the kids how to make God's Eyes on Friday and they LOVED it. It was really fun to do a craft with them and have something that they can take home and give to their mothers to put on the Christmas tree.

On Thursday we drive back to campus to start our transition. I just found out our next project today. More details about that later.

Miss you all! Can't wait to see you over break!!!

Love you,

Casey

Pictures

Working in our office

Scenery in Baptist Town

Spooney's BBQ in Baptist Town

home-stretch

Two-thirds of the way through our second SPIKE! I can't say it has been an easy one. I feel like I have spent the last month fighting for work, but not against anyone. It has been tough to work with a start-up. Our sponsors are very very nice and welcoming, but keeping 10 people busy for 40 hours a week was a bit of a stretch for this organization. We have finished surveying in the three target communities outlined for us in the beginning of the project. The week before Thanksgiving we went into our third area, GP, or "the hood" as everyone around here warned us. Things went really well in all the neighborhoods we surveyed. Hopefully the information we have obtained will help the board achieve their goal of starting a government subsidized HRSA health center in LeFlore County.

Although I greatly enjoy the community here, I am looking forward to finishing up surveying. It is definitely not something I hope to see in my future. Luckily, we have been met with mostly kind individuals. I am just running low on steam for trudging door to door in the cold and trying to get people to give us accurate information about their family's health status, health insurance and financial situation. I also am ready to change out of my green shirt and step away from being a team leader for a while. This project has tested me- trying to keep ten people busy at work all week doing a job no one really likes to do and without any outside supervision. The last few weeks I have been working with our sponsor, Unit Leader and projects department to find a second non-profit to pair with for the remainder of the project to beef up our hours. We have paired with the Boys and Girls Club in Greenwood. We will continue surveying everyday from 10am-3pm and then we will head over to the Boys and Girls Club to tutor and mentor the kids for a couple hours. We are down to our last couple weeks now.

I am looking forward to a nice long winter break at home! Thanksgiving was a bit of a teaser- I got to pretend for a couple days to be myself. I can't wait to relax in the living room by the fire for two weeks!

Miss and love you all!

Casey