Pine Ridge
LOG - Day 1
We had an uneventful night and everyone seemed to settle in just fine.
We woke up to beautiful Lakota flute music. That is how they do it at this center. It is less harsh than an alarm clock. The sun was shining and the birds were chirping. The group going to Our Lady Of Lourdes wanted an early start so they could do the bulk of their work before the heat of the day set in. The computer group was the next to leave and we had three students this morning so we are off to a good start. Two of our students stayed and had lunch with us. They came back into the computer room briefly after lunch but then had to go to do some things at work. They are talking of coming back tomorrow to learn some more things.
Ruth, Carol, Nancy, and Mary brought lunch to the computer center and ate with us. Ruth and Mary were at the Wounded Knee school in Manderson this morning. They will be helping the librarian move books out of the library so the room will be empty for new floor tile. They were able to speak to several of the teachers and the principal there. They are only offering summer school for the 8th grade students in June. The younger grades will go in July. They split it because they are working on renovating some of the rooms. This morning there were only two students so Ruth did not do an art project today. They were very appreciative of all of the music books and learning materials that we brought for them.
The playground group had a very productive day today. The holes are dug for the cement and the wooden fort is all stained. The weather, although warm in temperature, was not too bad as there was a very nice breeze all day.
David helped at the hospital and they were very pleased to have him back again this year. It was a fairly slow day but picked up around 4:00 pm when he was thinking it was close to the time he would be leaving for the day. He did make it back to Re-Member (where we are staying) by 5:30 pm.
Nancy provided us with a wonderful meal tonight. Tom read more “Wisdom of the Elders” to us and spoke of his experience on the rez. We heard from Keith Titus, Executive Director of the center, about how he came to be involved with starting Re-Member and what their first years were like. He was a Pastor in Michigan when he first come to Pine Ridge and discovered his calling to be here. We learned more about the center and their projects and the Lakota culture. You can read more about their program at http://www.re-member.org/
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