| PICTURES INDEX and PROJECT SUMMARIES (below) |
| Corps Training Institute: February 2002, Perry Point, MD Photos1 We spent a lot of time getting trained in things like conflict management, diversity, CPR/First Aid, Red Cross disaster relief. In addition, we did day projects and team building activities. It was a lot of fun and adjusting to our new homes, getting settled on the Point and getting to know our fellow corps members. Round One: March-April 2002, Perry Point, MD Photos Two and Three Project summary: Our project was local. We worked as tutors for K-2nd graders at Harford Heights Primary School in inner-city Baltimore. On the spring break, we completed some other projects. One was cleaning and painting the school's computer lab. We also stamped over 4600 books so they could be distributed to faculty. We had a day project in Delaware, planting over 700 trees at a charter school. Jeopardy and Geovanna were the first Fire 4 members sent on disaster relief with the Red Cross. They helped after floods hit rural Kentucky. Daily life: We had an hour-long commute to and from school each day, in which we all dozed and/or listened to our own music. We played a lot of ultimate frisbee for PT. Since everyone lived in their own houses, we initiated team function nights so we could get to know each other and have some fun--these included bowling, potlucks and game nights. We all had a great time with the kids we worked with, though it was trying at times, dealing with discipline and the chaos of the lunchroom. The spring-break projects were a welcome break from the daily grind, and also gave us a chance to work together as a team. Everyone got a great start on ISP hours, working with Bea Gaddy Family Shelter, building trails at an elementary school and working with Garden Harvest farm. Round Two: May-June 2002, Montague, NJ Photos Four and Five Project summary: Our task was to get Trail Blazers Camp ready for the summer session. Our duties included lots of raking, lots of lashing, getting canvas up at the eighteen smallcamp sites, lots of cleaning the camp buildings, organizing the libraries, scraping and painting the docks and lodge basement, and repairing shelters (tipis, hogans and round-tos). Not to mention the gargantuan task of distributing all kinds of things out to each smallcamp--bed frames, mattresses, dishes, bear barrels, library boxes, mosquito net poles, etc. For a month, Joe and Seth were on assignment with FEMA, cleaning up after a flood in Virginia. Daily life: The team had to cook our own meals for most of the project, in the big camp kitchen. The huge task of cooking and cleaning for eleven was rotated among the team. Laundry and other errands were done in Milford, PA, just across the Delaware River. We enjoyed the treats at the Dairy Bar and made weekly trips to Wal-Mart for essentials as well as toys. The Appalachian Trail crosses through New Jersey just a few miles from camp, so a couple times we took trips up to the trail and to Sunrise Mountain (a disappointing name, as we found out our last day of camp, after we rose before dawn to watch the sunrise at Sunrise Mountain, only to miss it by time and obscured by trees). For the majority of the project, we lived in Chimney Corner, which during sessions was the girls' side nurse station. Since it was still winter when we arrived (in MAY), and Chimney Corner had neither heat nor hot water, we had a lot of cold nights. Thankfully, there was a plethora of moth-flake-ridden wool army blankets to snuggle under, and for some of the lucky residents of the corner "suite", a fireplace. We were kept company by flying squirrels and bats, plus numerous bugs. The last two weeks of the project, we moved into one of the smallcamps, called Farmers. We lived in hogans, which are canvas-covered wooden structures, like covered wagons without the wheels. While there, we survived mosquitoes and spiders, leaky canvas, angry mama birds and various rodents and the ever-present threat of bears. One of our last weekends, the team traveled to New York City to do some capping and have a bit of fun in the big city (what a change after the big forest!). There was one computer, the only telephones, VCR, and a fireplace in the lodge--so we spent a lot of time there. Round Three: July-August 2002, Bradford, NH and Cape Cod, MA (We don't really have pictures from this round.) Project Summary: Half the team (Jessica, Brodie, Mandi, Julie, Dezirae and Shannon) was gone on disaster in Texas for the first half of camp. The team's role at Camp Wabasso was to be Program Staff. We were to design different kinds of programs for the campers (ranging in age from seven to fifteen) during the day. In addition, the team helped out with horse-riding lessons and canoeing, and staffing the nurse station. An on-going project was to paint some new structures at one of the units. Once we moved to Camp Favorite, we painted a bunch of pavilions and bathhouses and the lodge trim, and did some cleaning and organizing too. Daily life: Meals were in the dining hall with the campers, which was always loud and harrowing. Especially after the first week or two, when the same songs were sung repeatedly. (Bob the Can must die.) The team lived upstairs in the lodge, complete with a single bathroom for eleven team members. Occasionally, on rare time off, we got to travel to New London or even Boston for a taste of civilization. In Cape Cod, we visited the Atlantic seashore a few times and explored nearby towns, by car and by bike too. Round Four: September-October 2002, Wallingford, CT and Bridgeport, CT Photos Six, Seven, Eight, Nine, Ten, Eleven, Twelve, Thirteen and Fourteen. Project summary: In Wallingford, our two objectives were to clear five miles of the Quinnipiac River and to build a meditation labyrinth at the trailhead in Community Lake Park. The first week and a half we spent canoeing on the river, lopping, sawing and just plain pulling trees, trash and debris out of the river. We all got big muscles from the paddling. We tackled the challenge of the labyrinth and completed it in under three days. A few days before our transfer to Bridgeport, Shannon, Dezirae, Brodie and Julie were called to disaster relief in Mississippi, and Jeopardy was called a few days after that. In Bridgeport, we finally got to work with Habitat for Humanity. We did some finishing work on several houses, and worked in the warehouse getting things organized and ready for use at job sites. We painted, mixed concrete, put up kitchen cabinets, and the like. Daily life: In Wallingford, we lived in the Emergency Shelter (it wasn't open at the time) and got dinners from the Choate School just up the road. We were grateful to have access to the Boys and Girls Club nearby for television and computer access. Our days were long and our weekends went all too quickly. There was a great bar a few doors down, and a great pizza place a few doors up. In Bridgeport, the team lived in a volunteer house owned by Habitat. We had a normal, fortyish hour work week, so there was a lot of free time for movie watching, napping, errand-running and video-game playing. Also, a couple weekends were spent in New York City, having fun and hanging out. End of year: Perry Point, MD Photos15 We began with a normal transition week, closing out paperwork, briefings and such. We had ample time for team building as well as things like van cleaning and other business, not-so-fun things. We went bowling one more time. There was an all-corps service day in the middle of it, where all the teams split up and worked on projects like "neighborhood enhancement" (picking up trash) and painting spaces for non-profit agencies. There was some hard-core cleaning of the campus houses to leave them presentable for next year's residents. The end finally arrived. It seemed like the beginning of the year was at the same time a million years ago and five minutes ago. Though everyone was looking forward to returning home and to normal life, the reality of the team breaking apart quickly set in. Goodbyes, though reluctant and very emotional, had to be said at graduation, and quickly too. We have vowed to keep in touch and someday we will finalize plans for a five-year reunion, perhaps in Yellowstone National Park. To see what each team member is doing now, check here. |