Once on the Reservation

After a 15 hour bus ride, I finally arrived in South Dakota after several months of planning this project. The reservation was in worse condition than I was expecting. Living conditions are almost exclusively run down trailer homes and the excessive rains that came down while I was there made things ten times worse than usual; leaky roofs, shoe-losing mud, and rampant bugs reminded me of how difficult the elements can be on people who don't have the stable shelter that most of us take for granted.

The kids at the summer camp our Barrington High School group ran were a joy to work with, and you could easily tell that they look forward to this time each year; it may be the only time each year that they get new toys and feel appreciated by those around them. Overall, the experience was eye opening, to say the least. I grew a lot spiritually from the native culture (it's not as out there as stereotypes make it seem) and exercised a lot of compassion trying to engage with the native kids and their parents.

One day there was a terrible thunderstorm and many of the kids came to camp in shorts and flip flops. We opened several boxes of the new jackets and shoes that I brought with and it was very gratifying to see them go to direct use when there was nothing else available for the kids. The rest of the donations were stored in a local church and will be distributed as needed throughout the year.

Overall, $4600 was collected in addition to the donations filling up my entire garage. I can't even put into words how glad I am that so many people took this cause to heart and donated so generously.

Thank you everyone who helped for your efforts; you have all made a difference!