Some Stuff for You to Know

Most who know me know that I love working with Habitat for Humanity, but I don’t know how many of you know why I love it. We finished up our three day mini project on Friday, and though we had some complications due to rain (we had to stop early Thursday, return to campus, and help assemble picnic tables instead) we really accomplished an incredible amount. Our team seemed to get along pretty well and for the most part, people seemed eager to work despite the less than pleasant working conditions. After each project, the team has to put together a portfolio explaining what we did, the organization we were working with, the benefits to ourselves and the communitity, and then a personal reflection from each of us. Since my reflection pretty well sums up how I feel about it, I figure I might as well share it with you guys. Here’s what I wrote:

"I do not know how to build an entire house. But if you tell me where you need a nail, I can hammer it in. If you tell me where you need the scaffold, I can move it. If you tell me that the seams need to be taped, I can tape them.
Whenever there is one person with a vision, one person with some know how, and a handful of people with a desire to help, it is amazing what can be accomplished. Some of us grew up playing with tools, some of us have never been on a construction site, yet each time I work with Habitat I am overwhelmed at what culminates from the meager skills and experiences that each individual brings. At the end of the day when I step back and see the progress we have made I no longer think about the aching muscles and the blisters suddenly don’t seem so bad. I simply look at the tangible result of our collective efforts and smile. I smile because I know that I have learned new skills and have grown as an individual. I smile because I know that together we have accomplished what none of us could on our own. I smile, because there in front of me is the real and lasting manifestation of what started out as a simple desire to help and I am reminded that as long as we are willing to give whatever we have to offer, we will make a positive difference in the world around us."

So there’s that. Monday we went as a team to debrief with the unit leader and program directors. It’s supposed to be kind of formal and we take turns presenting the general information about our project and give a report about our specific rep roles. Hmmm, not sure I’ve explained those yet. Everyone has additional responsibilities within the team. Some examples are service learning initiator, project outreach liaison, media liaison, peer helper, photographer, and a few others that slip my mind. On our team every member has a primary and a secondary role and there are two people for each of the primary roles. I got Vehicle, Safety, and Tools as my primary and Newsletter rep as my secondary. Pretty excited about that VST part. Me and the other VST are responsible for making sure the van stays in good condition, making sure all the safety standards are being met, and inventorying and inspecting any tools we are issued. So basically, I picked the only job that deals with objects instead of people. Wonder what says about me? Anyhoo, the debriefing went well and it was actually kind of nice to be forced to go over everything we did and really think about it.

Tuesday we drove to Iowa City to do a ropes course. It was just the low one, so we didn’t get to do any of the fun dangerous looking ones, but we had great time. I think we really did learn a lot about each other and how we think and communicate. We spent all day today in a “Hands of Peace” class. It was essentially about conflict resolution and how to effectively communicate. It was just our team and one other team and the facilitators did a wonderful job. After the last couple days I feel like I have a much better grasp on who our team is and I’m really hoping we can have a nice peaceful year.
Since I didn’t really have any exciting stories for you, I figure this is a good time to go ahead and give you a nice little fashion show of all the wonderfully flattering AmeriCorps garb we've been issued. They call them “non gender specific,” but I’m pretty sure that is code for “men’s.” The guys look pretty normal, maybe even borderline professional, but the girls just look frumpy and 15 pounds heavier. Oh well, they are reasonably comfortable and I don’t have to think about what to wear in the morning, so I guess I can’t really complain. Ok, here you go:

This is what I look like pretty much every day now.

I'm guessing this will be the combo of choice for most of our month in Alabama. Yay for sun!

We call this the "AmeriTux" and wear it for more formal events like debriefings and induction.

This is clearly meant for rain, but seeing as how it's the only issued item with any color, I wonder if I'm allowed to wear it just to break up the monotony? Gonna have to check on that one.

Though I currently just think of the parka as a large ugly coat that smells funny, I bet I'll have much more affectionate feelings towards it once winter sets in.

And probably my favorite- the coveralls. I've actually always sort of wanted some. They seem like terribly useful garments.

And there you have it. My six clothing options for the next 10 months. So now, if you are ever sitting around wondering what I am doing and have a general idea of what kind of weather I'm in, you shouldn't have much trouble figuring out what I'm wearing.