This is officially Day 3. I arrived yesterday morning after leaving my house at 5:00AM. We were to begin at 8:30 on the farm. However, only five students were there. When the rest of the group was late we were sent to the President's office for a "meeting". My first experience on campus: disciplinary action. HA! That makes it sound much worse than it was. However, while I was not part of the guilty party, I still walked out of that meeting having been challenged. Excuses were being made as to why we couldn't be on time or withstand an eight hour farm shift. Excuses, excuses. Dr. Sorrell pointed out something that I really needed to be reminded of. He said that there are people all around us who work hours and hours with no breaks so they can feed their families and keep shelter over their heads. I am reminded of my mom, an amazingly hard worker who works from the wee hours of 4:30AM to after 6:00PM to keep her small business running. Why should we have any right to complain if we chose to stay up late the night before and from the beginning knew what we were committing to with this Alternative Spring Break. Our choices are reflective of our character. And the character that we put into practice today is forming the person we will be in the future.
“He who is faithful in a very little thing is faithful also in much; and he who is unrighteous in a very little thing is unrighteous also in much."
Luke 16:10
Dr. Sorrell challenged us to consider who we are and what kind of examples we are setting for this community but also for ourselves. We were sent back to the farm and put to work. We mulched over two "downs" of the football field (which took hours), seeded, watered and put down gravel in the greenhouse. Some worked with the chickens, others washed the turnips. It was a full day. The three of us ACU students (there are 14 of us total)...the white folks around here...have the sunburns to prove it. GO FARMER TANS! However, sunburns bring me to another point.
While we were working in a mulch pile and shoveling it into wheelbarrows, conversation naturally started. I have felt very welcomed and accepted by the Paul Quinn students and I'd like to think they enjoy us as well :) I don't feel awkward or out of place as a white girl. This experience has been a great one for learning about our differences but also realizing our similarities. Sometimes I feel like we make the chasms between our races and ethnicities greater than they really are. We are all human. I'm pretty naive having grown up in a predominantly Swiss-German area. So I flat out asked what I wanted to know, "do y'all sunburn too"? The responses that followed were quite hilarious as some claimed that they don't because they have so much extra melatonin being black and all. Others said that they do, and some claimed they peel. This is a great environment for conversation. Differences exist in our world- there will always be the financial disparities, differences in race, gender, ethnicity, disability and so forth. To remove those is to remove the diversity that God has put in our world. We shouldn't seek to isolate and elevate someone just because they are white or even because they are black. We are HUMAN and should simply seek to understand and serve one another.
Regarding food deserts there is plenty to say. This community in South Dallas is indeed without access to food other than convenience stores which have glass (bulletproof?) between the customers and the cashier. I don't think I've even seen a fast food place. The team that got groceries for the week on Monday had to take a bus and train- a 40 minute trip each way to get groceries. That was pretty surprising. There are churches that collect and distribute food to members of the community. I am growing to appreciate this more and more after our trip to Mt. Tabor Baptist Church this morning. The government should not be the primary source for meeting people's needs. Don't take my words as harsh. I am ALL for helping and serving others but that responsibility lies within us personally. It is wonderful to see Churches and individuals rise up to serve so many people. At this level, individuals can best serve one another because it becomes more personal. Government intervention can help some, but their efforts only attack the symptoms and fail to address the problem. Through individual efforts, the efforts of the local congregations and then the farm at Paul Quinn, REAL people are providing REAL solutions through education and love. This can only happen on this level. Part of the reason this farm was started was to provide fresh produce for the community. Everything is grown organically and by students, staff, and volunteers like us. During the harvest times it is collected and shared. After noticing how there literally is no where to purchase fresh produce in this area, this is a definite need. The Farm also seeks to educate those who eat their products of how it is grown, how to grow it themselves, and then they also get them physically involved in the growing process. It's pretty incredible.
If we could plant fields like this around the country and get neighborhoods working together, it would be neat to see the results.
Yes, my feet hurt. There are muscles in my back that are sore that I didn't know existed. However, to be able to go to bed last night knowing I worked for my $4.32 for the day felt pretty amazing. There is just something about earning your days work that is fulfilling. I would love to share that with more neighborhoods.
Our daily meals have been pretty fulfilling. I'm thankful to my parents who taught me how to stretch a dollar and the importance of that both in times of plenty and times of penny crunching. My mom took care to prepare actual meals for my family. Groceries were bought with a week or two of meal ideas in mind. That make the overall purchase much less expensive than eating out, or shopping with specific meals in mind. Reusing foods in different ways seems like it can get boring- but it just takes a little creativity. Our group chose on Monday to pool our money together and buy the groceries at once (except we need more bread now haha) so we in turn ended up with more food per person than if we had individually tried to buy groceries for ourselves with our weekly allotment that would be around $21. Last night we prepared beans and cheese to put on top of chips- AKA nachos. Any of the produce ready on the farm is "fair game" for our use and does not come out of our $4.32. With a little creativity a few of use chopped turnips, sliced up some garlic and onion, added salt, pepper, olive oil, and the juice from the can of beans. That was all poured onto a piece of tin foil and wrapped into a ball. It baked/cooked in the oven for almost three hours and from what I hear, may have been pretty tasty- a cross between potatoes and squash.
A little bit goes a long way.
Okay, I'm hungry and I am sure you don't want to read anymore by now. Have a great day!
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