Day 07

Today was particularly interesting. We woke up very early to drive about an hour and a half to Roanoke, VA to the Goodwill Industries of the Valleys. We met up with Lesley College, from Massachusetts, which I learned is right around Boston. We introduced ourselves, did a quick warmup to wake us all up, and began our day with Goodwill.

We split up into two groups to tour the Goodwill place, and we learned that they focus on a bunch of different things for the community. They provide classes which allow citizens to obtain certifications in growing industries, such as hospitality (hotel services), health professions (Certified Nurse Assistant (CNA), other basic qualifications), manufacturing maintenance, and work with other local colleges to provide such training. They also help employ individuals that may be slightly physically or mentally disabled, such as people with Down’s syndrome, to do tasks that may seem menial and boring to us, but can be helpful and exciting for them. Coming from an engineering background, I thought about if machines could be engineered to do these menial jobs such as sorting and untangling hangers, but at the same time it would likely cause these people to become unemployed. I did not have the answers about what would happen to them, so I left the thought for later. At the end of the tour, we split up into two groups, one group to paint the mural inside (about 7 people) and another group (19) to work on the Good Guides Garden.

At the Good Guides Garden, about 2 miles from the Goodwill center, we began reconstructing the flower beds by knocking out the rotting wood with a sledgehammer and then drilling in new boards with screws, rather than nails. The Lesley College students were great to work with, as they were really friendly and cool to hang out with. They were also all wearing matching shirts that said Lesley College and all wearing plaid shirts, which was interesting. A television crew came by, as well as a truck loaded with dirt, as well a truck that delivered a fresh new lawnmower and gas powered generator. As people continued to construct boards, others began to shovel dirt into wheelbarrows to put into the flower bed boxes. Me, Sandaru, and a girl from Lesley College (Sarah – not sure which one, because there were two) were interviewed by VFC, a group headquartered in Roanoke that coordinates volunteer opportunities with colleges from many different states, from Virginia to Alabama. We did not have much time to prepare so I think I gave somewhat vague answers about what we thought about VFC and our activity.

Dominos pizza, cookie brownies, and water was graciously provided to us at 12:30. We ate and Lesley College decided to jam it out and we all had a fun dance session before lying down in the sun to rest before the next assignment.

After lunch, 6 of us from the University of Maryland returned to the Good Guides Garden to finish up the work there. Most of the work involved filling up the flower boxes with dirt, which took quite the amount of physical labor to shovel the dirt into wheelbarrows, maneuver them around, and. The 7 people continued to work on the mural of the starry solar system which turned out absolutely amazing. Most of Lesley College went to work on Goodwill’s garden where anyone could come to grow their own garden in hopes of making a sustainable food forest.

Once we finished, we headed back to BMC, quickly changed, and headed out to dinner at El Patio. El Patio was a great Mexican grill which is apparently local to Virginia. I personally got Choripollo, a mixture of grilled chicken breast, Chorizo (Mexican sausage), pineapple, and grilled onions, with rice, beans, and soft tortillas. It was great, and would recommend going again to try out other dishes such as their Fish Tacos to compare it to the ones I had in Puerto Rico.

Finally, we came back home and had a very touching reflection. We gave our last impressions of each other which gave more warm and fuzzy feelings, especially with how much we have learned about each other. We also discussed active citizenship and the four distinctions between member, volunteer, conscious citizen, and active citizen. After we discussed our self-placement, we wrote down goals we would like to see from ourselves to work towards becoming an active citizen.

-Eugene