Saturday, March 22

Today, we went to a local horse farm in South Carolina and this day was probably my favorite of the week. At the farm, we met up with some of the kids from the Children’s Shelter and the fun began! First, all of us were given a grand tour of the horse and became acquainted with owners, the horses and the history of the farm. Afterwards, we all split up into groups with the kids so some of us rode the horses, or assisted with the horse riding, or did some crafting. Since we had met some of the kids the day before when we made them dinner, there was already a bond between all of us. After hearing some of their stories, I realized that these individuals were some of the strongest I have ever met. However, they also were open and so full of life and joy that it truly gave me a new perspective on life. I was able to learn so much from them. I hope we were able to make an impact on their lives, but I know they made an impact on mine.

Next up on our agenda was taking a shower! After a morning spent at the farm, we all needed to feel fresh and clean. Especially considering we had our alumni dinner in the evening and should be presentable. So, it was just our luck that the showers at the South Carolina University were closed on Saturdays. This resulted in a frenzy to find a solution to our shower situation. The solution was to take three-minute showers at the campus ministry. We were on a mission! Now at least I know that it is possible to shampoo in that time. After getting back, quickly changing, we were off to our alumni dinner.  There, we had good food with good company and were able to reminisce about how College Park used to be with Kirk.

This AB trip was a wonderful trip and I’m so glad I was able to be a part of it. In addition to making new friends and memories, I was able to really gain a new perspective on healthcare and realize just how much of a difference some individuals who decide to do service over spring break can really make. #SCAB14 -Mehnaz

Today, on our last day in South Carolina, the sun shone down to give us the best weather all week for my personal favorite activity of the entire trip: horseback riding with the Palmetto House kids. We arrived early, giving us enough time to play with the three farm dogs and watch the rising sun glint off the shimmering coats of the stallions that stood in the open fields.
When the children arrived, I was reminded of the family bonds that we had been so surprised to see just the night before. It seemed so natural to them that they should all treat each other as brothers and sisters. The younger children flocked to the older ones, holding their hands or asking for piggy back rides. Even the two girls who had just arrived the night before seemed right at home. The children were taken with the horses, except for the youngest, who held her nose and said "stinky stinky" while we carried her around the farm. After we had introduced them to the horses, a few were brought to an enclosed ring for riding. Most of the children had never ridden before; there were many wide eyes as we offered up the first horse which quickly turned to smiling eyes as they experienced their first ride. I had the pleasure of guiding Baby, a 25-year-old horse just about to reitre and clearly looking forward to it. The dogs tongues and tails wagged happily as they ran laps around the steadily tromping horses. In what seemed like no time at all, the children had gone, leaving only a few drawings behind.
It was only then that we learned from the director of the house the real story behind each child. One had been in and out of homelessness with his family and finally decided to leave so that he might one day go to college. A brother and sister had been taken from their burning house when their drug addicted parents didn't realize they had left their children inside. And yet, such trying origins led them to the new and beautiful beginnings at Palmetto House. It was an experience I will truly never forget, and a wonderful note to end our trip on. -Emily

Friday, March 21

This morning was a scramble as some people hurried to find their business casual clothes, and others just struggled to get out of bed.  It was going to be an interesting day to say the least. 

We began with the Nutrition Symposium, which was extremely educational.  I didn’t expect the first talk to be as fascinating as it was.  The lecturer discussed how it is possible to use video games as a more motivating experience for children and help them learn more about nutrition, and eating healthy.  It was cool to see how something that people do just for fun could be used as an educational tool.  After that, the group split, as there was an option to stay in the obesity side versus going to the ecology lectures.  I personally stayed in the obesity lectures.  One of the most interesting things I learned from those lectures was that the way in which a story is told dramatically effects how much information one gets out of it. Soon, the  symposium was over, and we got to eat lunch!! The baked potatoes and salad made for a filling meal that everyone enjoyed. 

We headed back to the church to pick up our shower stuff, and headed to USC to steal all of their showers—which were amazing for a school gym, by the way!  We finished faster than expected, and headed to Starbucks for a quick stop just to pass some time before we needed to get to the Palmetto Shelter.

It was now time for the Palmetto Shelter, where we were going to cook dinner for all the kids.  When we first arrived, no one was really there, and also it seemed that no food was there either…and we were slightly worried.  Luckily, the lady checked the fridge and someone had gone to the grocery store to get what we needed.  Since it was pointless to have 13 people in the kitchen cooking food, half of us went out and played with the kids when they came home from school.  I actually had a hilarious experience.  We played cops and robbers, basketball and even just talked (I got laughed at a lot!) Two of the girls were definitely troublemakers and LITERALLY cackled at every single thing I did, whether it was funny or not.  I had no idea what was going on.  They even made me sing for them—but I refused to do it until they did it first.  I was so happy that we were going to go horseback riding with them as well because it was amazing to be with these kids and just spend time with kids who probably don’t get a chance to see too many people who care for them.

We picked up and left soon after though, which I was kind of sad to do cause I was having a great time.  Once we got home, we made some great beans and rice, and Cyrus and I tried to have a battle with the hot sauce labeled “Death,” that he bought.  Unfortunately (or fortunately), it wasn’t very death-like, so it was a pointless competition (which I won anyways, so it doesn’t matter J).  The rest of the night was nice as we started to wind down from such a busy day. It was one of the best days on the trip for sure! -Shruti

Today was our second to last day of service and I think we are all in denial about this week ending. Luckily, we filled our day with plenty of fun activities to keep our minds off of the inevitable end of our trip. The morning began with a drive to the Columbia Metropolitan Conference Center for the 4th Annual Nutrition Center Symposium sponsored by the University of South Carolina. The keynote address was given by Dr. Tom Baranowski, who researches how video games can be used to promote a healthy diet and physical activity in children. He showed us clips of the games and talked about the challenges and accomplishments associated with his work. This was followed by two breakout sessions, sustainability and framing the message on nutrition. We heard a lot of great talks and then were treated with a lunch that I will remember until the day I die. Between the potato bar, biscuits, and tasty soups, we left the conference full and ready for the next big adventure! After our midday showers and relaxation, we were ready to head our evening service activity. We drove to the Palmetto Shelter, which is a home for children who were removed from bad family situations. About 14 children ranging in age from 2 to 18 years old stay in the house under the supervision of a full time staff. We were invited to prepare dinner for the kids. The menu was spaghetti and meat sauce, garlic bread, and salad. While a subset of our team stayed behind in the kitchen to cook, most of us got to go outside and play with the kids in the backyard. We had a great time working with the kids and it really pumped us up to spend more time with them on Saturday. Today was great in that it allow us to learn more about the current research in the field of nutrition as well as spend time working one-on-one with local children. We grew academically and personally and look forward to continuing our with the Palmetto Shelter tomorrow! -Danielle

Thursday, March 20

It's Thursday, and we are sadly a little more than halfway done with the trip. So far all the services we have been able to participate in has really opened our eyes to what is really happening in the world when considering health care. However, today we focused more on children who were more than deprived of healthy food, but financial stability and the warmth and care they were not receiving at home from their parents. We first started off the day, with a nice hike at the Harbor View Forest, thankfully the weather was finally in our favor and made the hike quite relaxing and enjoyable. Then we headed over to the Newberry Child Development Center (NDC). NDC is basically an after school program for underprivileged children in the community. Surprisingly enough many of them were related. Anyways, when we arrived, we were assigned the kids we would play and interact with for the day, and were briefed on some of their physical and mental disabilities. We were also told how a lot of them may become very clingy because they do not get enough attention at home from their parents. With that in mind, we were determined to provide as much of our time and attention as we possibly could. As we played with them, helped them with homework and spoke to them about college and the future, we genuinely were so delighted to be there and see them have so much fun. Though some were a little difficult to handle, the few hours we were there were definitely the best part of the day. WE only wish we could have spent more time with them to make more of an impact in their lives. -Beverly

We started the day with a two hour hike in the Harbison State Forest.  We talked and took pictures and enjoyed the fresh air.  It was a beautiful and peaceful morning to be surrounded by nature!  After the hike, we ate lunch and showered at USC- there was actually hot water and water pressure!  In the late afternoon, we went to Newberry Child Development Center.  We were each paired with one or two buddies.  We helped our buddies with homework, ate a snack, made many arts and crafts, and played outside in the warm sun!  My buddies were 6 year olds Chyann and Kalvin.  They were really adorable, friendly, and welcoming.  We played house, hide-and-go-seek, and basketball, and not to forget the beautiful artwork we painted!  I learned that when they grow up, Chyann wants to be a teacher and Kalvin wants to be a police officer.  We had a lot of fun playing together and I think I’m the one who didn’t want to leave!  After we left, we got stopped in traffic on a closed highway for a few hours because someone was going to jump from an overpass; thankfully he didn’t and everyone was okay!  It was a crazy situation.  We ended up stopping at a nearby Ruby Tuesday for our celebratory dinner.  When we returned to the church, we had our reflection, which involved some deep thinking.  It was a long day, but working and playing with the children at NCDC was one of my favorite parts of the week! -Jess

Tuesday, March 18

Today, we woke up early around 7 a.m. We all packed into the van and went to the Food Bank of South Carolina called Low Country Food Bank. After talking with the incredibly passionate volunteer organizer, Autumn, we got to work on bagging their most recent shipment of oranges and sweet potatoes. Autumn was really excited about the oranges because they are not usually fortunate enough to receive fresh citrus fruit and she was so happy to be able to distribute that to the needy. This was my first time in a food bank, so it was really incredible that with 13 people we were able to pack hundreds of pounds of food in just 3 hours. It made me really want to seek out the local food bank around UMD and help out there. We also went to see the Heart-Health program at MUSC. This was a special program for overweight and obese children between the ages of 2 and 22. We had a presentation given by the dietician and founder of the program, Janet Carter. It was striking to see the statistics on the prevalence of obesity. One major thing that stuck out to me was when Janet showed pictures of children who were obese, in the 1% of highest BMI and they looked like average children that you would not know were even overweight if you saw them on the street. The program they ran was really incredible and I hope it is successful in order to get more funding and expand to other locations of need in the country. - Daniel

Monday, March 17

Today we visited Hursey Elementary School, where we got to teach 3^rdand 4^th graders about nutrition. At my station, we had the kids matchup names of foods with categories on the food pyramid. While I initially didn’t know what to expect from the kids, I later learned that they were the most well-mannered, intelligent group of kids I had met! In our station, most kids didn’t know where to match clams, but every kid knew where to put the cookies! One of the girls named Kimberly said that this was her favorite activity of the day, and gave each of us a big hug at the end. Because it was raining, we only got to look at the Garden Classroom situated outside the school. Although it was muddy and wet, the Garden Classroom was truly breathtaking. Clearly, this was a school that recognized childhood obesity as a national problem, and designed a healthy, fun way to teach kids that fruits and vegetables could be pretty sweet too.

Afterwards, we drove back to our place at the church, made smoked ham sandwiches/PBJs, and took a nap. After we woke up we watched a documentary called “Sick Around America” and learned about the numerous Americans who suffer from lack of health insurance. I was particularly struck by a story of a 21 year-old-college boy, who in his last semester of senior year, got unexpectedly sick and was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis. Because he didn’t have health insurance, he was forced to pay for his medical bills himself, which left him to abandon his dreams of becoming a chemical engineer and take up a fast food job instead. Another story that stood out to me was when a college girl was diagnosed with lupus. Because her family did not own health insurance either, she went untreated for her disease and died as a result. It made me frustrated to know that these were very real problems that ordinary people faced everyday. It frustrated me to see that people couldn’t get access to health care, simply because they didn’t qualify (for any pre-existing conditions), were unemployed, or were of a certain socioeconomic status. I also began to realize, that often times, we take our health for granted. As college students, we sift through 4 hours worth of sleep, put off the gym for another day, or opt to eat that greasy pizza instead of healthier options. The decisions we make in our daily lives are conscious, and yet overlooked. But in reality, health is all we have. And if we all can agree that health is of utmost importance in our lives, why shouldn’t health care be available to all people? That is, afterall, the framework in other thriving countries such as Canada and France. So why not the US? Because there’s just no telling what can happen in our lives--people are fine one day, and sick the next. No one should have to suffer or lose their life simply because health insurance was not made available to them. This was just an injustice I couldn’t shake off.

            After the documentary, we went sight-seeing in the beautiful city of Charleston. Despite the on-and-off rain and cloudy skies, we still had a lot of fun exploring. We got to walk along the boardwalk, and went souvenir shopping at a few local markets.On the way back, we stopped at a Piggly Wiggly’s and, by popular vote, we rented the movie, “Argo”. After we got back, we chilled out a little more and all made homemade pizza for dinner (probs the best pizza I’ve ever had!). We then had our reflection about the documentary we had watched earlier. After reflection, we played a game called “Heads Up” (which is basically like charades, but better) and broke down in hysterical laughing fits from attempting accents and bizzare gestures. All in all, we had an incredible first day in SC filled with fun and new learning experiences! -Usha

Pre-trip Service at KEEN!

Pre-trip service day!

Everyone had met a few times before but the ice had yet to be fully broken as we sat in the room waiting for everyone to arrive. Fortunately by the time we got in the van, conversation was flowing a little easier and we got to know each other better on the ride in to DC :)

Growing up in the area, I’ve been to DC many times before but this time we had something other than sightseeing on our agenda. We pulled into a sparsely populated parking lot and we were greeted by an enthusiastic woman who quickly started telling us about the program and some of the regulars.

A little background about KEEN, they are a non-profit organization whose goal is to get children with disabilities active and raise their self-esteem. These are children who sometimes end up estranged or are restricted from participating in activities with other kids simply because they are on different levels than their peers. KEEN is a safe haven for these children to run around and play without any fear of judgment or opposition from those they’re playing with. Even better, the program is free!!

The head coach was unable to come in that day, so we were let loose with the balls and the kids. But first- we went around in a circle and said our names and favorite movies.  

The kids loosened up quickly, it was obvious they were in their zone- bantering or showing off to the best of their ability. I wish I remembered more names but I do remember shooting free throws and wandering around the gym with 19 year old Dion, who told me about his family, favorite foods, and every Disney movie ever made. The two hours ended up passing faster than we could have imagined and it was with reluctance that we finally left the gym and headed back to campus.

This was actually my first time hanging out with special needs children-but when you get down to it was really nothing terrifying. Kids are kids regardless of the small differences in their genetic makeup. When it comes down to it they just need love and acceptance and someone to play with who understands that, and this trip to KEEN really helped put that into perspective for me. Full speed ahead to South Carolina!! -Gladys