Day 3 & 4- Work on the Res.

Early Monday morning our group headed out for a two hour drive to Pine Ridge Native American Reservation. This was the beginning of the real "work" on our trip and an opportunity for our students to really have their eyes opened to another culture and lifestyle much different than the life we see day to day in DuPage County. While on the "Res" we did a number of projects (we cleaned up, repaired, and painted two parks, mowed some overgrown lawns, unload toys, furniture, and clothes for a flea market, picked up numerous bags of garbage that was scattered everywhere, and served lunch at a soup kitchen) Each project presented it's own unique challenges, but gave plenty of opportunities for us as a group to interact with the Lakota people. I wanted to give a few of our students an opportunity over the next few days to share from their heart what they saw, felt, and experienced during their time in Pine Ridge.

"I thought that when I was on Pine Ridge, when I saw all the poverty and at some of the houses we were at, I realized how privileged my life was. All of the garbage that we were picking up and seeing the condition of the houses made me really think of my house and all the stuff that I have. I really don't need all of the stuff that I have. When I really thought about it, all the stuff that I have really could be better used for people that don't have anything at all."
-Kevin Esposito-

"Wow! That's all that I can say. It is hard to describe in words all of the poverty and sadness in Pine Ridge. Yesterday we spent 6 hours cleaning up tons and tons of trash in only two small places. The little kids have no adequate places to play because the parks are all run down. One of the locations we helped clean was a tiny shack with one bedroom and an outhouse. Over in one of the corners was a bush full of used and unused beer bottles and liquor containers. But this reservation is supposed to be a "dry" place. Later that day we took a ride through the worst parts of Pine Ridge. There were gang signs graffitied all over the homes and signs. In this part of town the trash is piled so high everywhere. Everywhere we looked we saw homeless people, dogs, and children sitting in the street. I am very glad that we had a chance to serve on the reservation. It opened my eyes to the kind of poverty and the family issues that exist. I never thought that there would be this kind of poverty this close to home!"
-Josh Granger-

"While we were at one of the parks we were working on, we met a boy named Keonraad (pronounced like Conrad). He was talking about how he would come to Pine Ridge Baptist Church on Sundays. I asked him if he would come with his family and he responded that he would ride his bike there every Sunday by himself. He also asked me if it was a good thing that he went to church. I replied "Yes". He would come to the church because they gave out free snow cones each week. I asked him if he actually believed in God or if he had gone just for the snow cones. He said that he did indeed believe in God. I think that this showed me that one little boy taking the action of going to church, he could potentially bring his entire family to Christ. Whether he went for the snow cones or to learn about God, at least he was hearing and learning the truth about Jesus."
-Elise Almer- pictured with Keonraad and Julia Dennis