Home Stretch

It is the end of day 4 and so much has happened since my last post. Beginning with yesterday morning....

We started the day off with a game that helped us to internaliza the We over Me (We/Me) spirit that is taught and instilled in us at Paul Quinn. We then took a quick trip across the street to Mt. Tabor Baptist Church to donate some turnips to the food pantry. While we were there a number of us were overcome with emotion due to the fact that many of the people there to receive assistance were elderly and disabled. This meant that they had spent most of their lives working and a number of them had bodies that were so broken down that working was no longer an option. So, where does that leave them? Answer- At the food pantry twice a week waiting in line to receive food because their food stamps just weren't enough. We then walked back and had lunch- A ham and cheese sandwich wiith some chips. After lunch I spent the rest of the afternoon laying mulch and recording the group for the short documentary we are going to create about our week. The rest of the night was spent getting to know more about the ACU students and past experience (most of which are similar to our own) and changing the rules of the game. We were now required to truly live off of the $4.32 individually and could no longer pool all of our money together only because that does not happen in most communities. (My only insight to this is that more people in the community should pull all of their money together. It allows for more buying power and more buying power equals more food. T.E.A.M.= Together.Everyone.Accomplishes.More and who doesn't love having enough or more than enough food?)

Moving right along this morning I walked with three other students to get some breakfast (a dozen doughnut holes and a glazed doughnut YUMMY) We then met up with the others to walk to landfill. The point of walking to the landfill was to give the Abilene students an idea of how close the landfill was to the College in comparison to how close the college is to the grocery store. Surprisingly (sarcasm) they realized quickly that it was quicker to walk to the landfill than it was to get to the grocery store to buy food. I'm quite sure if you've read any of the other blogs you've already been informed about the new peacocks on the farm (if not view Jess' blog entry its a pretty interesting story). After receiving our $4.32 the Cody, Jess, David (whom I have a bad habit of calling Kevin), Naya, and I took the bus and train to get our food for the next to days- hats off to the people who do that every day i have much respect for you- this took approximately 2.5 hours for us to get to Fiesta, buy groceries, and get back to Paul Quinn with one bag each. I could only imagine being a parent and having to carry groceries, kids, and take the amount of time to buy groceries for the day/weeek. while at the store I spent $6.60 on 5 oranges, 5 packs of Ramen Noodles, and a pack of white meat chicken nuggets (with rib meat included- whatever that means).

So far I have learned that $4.32 can actually buy you food. It defenitely isn't what you want to eat nor does it provide any nutritional value but it allows you to eat. This week has also strengthened my belief that a grocery store is necessary in this area. It doesn't matter who you are or how much income you are making PEOPLE MUST EAT TO LIVE! Lastly, I learned that education is key! We must begin to educate our society about healthier food choices and how to live well versus learning how to make a dollar stretch. Guess that is it for the night! Peace and Blessings................