Wednesday was a repeat of Monday only at a different house
and the weather was much more beautiful. The decks that we built (this time we
made two) for a lucky house turned out very swell. Again, all of the volunteers
on site were very happy working together. Luckily, this time we had the opportunity
to meet a woman and her child who lived in the house we added on to. She was pleased
that we had given her things as simple as stairs from her front and back doors.
Also, we met children who were playing nearby in a yard
enjoying life although their clothes didn’t fit perfectly and one of them didn’t
even have shoes on. The two boys eventually came over and started to play with
the spare wood that we had accumulated from cutting some beams for the decks.
Our group shared lunch with a young neighbor girl around the age of five that
came by. She referred to herself as “Applepie” and kept “staring” at people as
she proclaimed with an extended index finger. The cutest little girl ever.
Thursday was a sad day. Some of our friends from D.C.
would be heading back home a day earlier than the rest of us. The only thing on
the schedule was to take a tour of Pine Ridge so we ended up saying goodbye to
them at the Lakota tribe museum. The rest of the day we visited other locations
such as the Oglala college and the Kili radio station. The radio station is
actually the main source of media within the reservation broadcasting the
voices of people encouraging the public to take part in community and school
events.
For lunch that day we ate at a “local” favorite diner which
was actually out in the country. After we ate, we enjoyed a nice hike along a
trail. Upon returning back to camp, a very active staff member of Re-member named
Jerry presented everyone in the program with certificates signed by the
president of the tribe. The president had been extremely impressed by our
week-long efforts on the Rez. Don’t worry about the D.C. kids though; they were
going to be sent their certificates in the mail.
Overall, it was a great experience at Pine Ridge. Many of
us didn’t want to leave the next day.
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