Cantognake Wednesday…That Means Generosity in Lakota

Wednesday was truly amazing from start to finish.  We were on our way to Pinky’s Store to set up for health promotion and drove past a woman who was hitchhiking with a big box of diapers.  After a quick discussion in the van, we decided to pick her up (this is not something that I would do anywhere else, but you have to understand how far apart things are here).  Her name was Maddie, and she was on her way home from getting diapers at the convenience store in Kyle (no grocery stores here but one you have to realize).  She had been walking for 2 hours to get home.  We drove her into the Manderson Housing and gave her a bunch of stuff for her 3-year old….clothes, more diapers,  hygiene stuff, etc.  Since we were parked on the street in housing, there were many people watching us from their homes…very curious to see what we were doing and why.  The house that we were parked in front of (not Maddie’s house) had several people of mixed ages in the front yard along with a toddler in a diaper.  My shyest student asked if she could get out and ask them if they needed anything for their little one…talk about challenging yourself and getting out of your comfort zone….I am so proud of her!  She talked to the grandma, and come to find out, the family also had a newborn.  We gave them a car seat, stroller, clothes, etc.  We asked both Maddie and the other family to spread the word that we would be at Pinky’s until about 2.  Well, word sure got out….our child focused stuff was set up outside then our adult screening stuff was set up inside, and we totally hit the jackpot with clients for our services!!!!  We saw about 15 adults for our screenings inside, and again, the students did a phenomenal job of engaging people and being respectful of the culture while also giving out valuable health information.  There was a lady doing laundry who had a 1-month old in the store….I think everyone of the students held him and loved on him and even changed his diaper.  We quickly ran out of our stuff for kids….fitted car seats in cars, gave away diapers, clothes, etc and at the same time tried to give some prevention infor related to kids.  It is easy for us to give things away here which may seem generous, but the title of the blog  and use of the word generosity is more related to the response of the people here.  There is so much need yet they are so generous in spirit.  One of the students (who had told me in the past that she did not like community nursing), actually said, “I could do this all day”.  The students have met my expectations completely, and I am proud of all of them for getting out of the familiar and taking a step into something that would challenge them.

After Pinky’s, we went horseback riding.  We divided the 16 of us up, and my group of 8 went first….oh my goodness, I had no idea that horseback riding would be kind of like a clinical day!  Only 3 students and myself had ridden before, and there was super high anxiety.  I have not ridden in quite a while and was nervous myself, but just like clinical, I could not focus on my own anxiety, I instead coached and served as cheerleader for the students who were also nervous.  After about an hour of just getting everyone on a horse and some tears (yes, there was crying), we all rode!!!!  I rode a beautiful horse named Bullseye.  As we were riding, I just thought to myself, “I can’t believe I’m riding, much less riding an Indian horse!”.  We at one point gave our a horse or two, nursing diagnoses….this helped to relieve anxiety, and as I tell everyone, the nursing process can fit in every aspect of your life!!!!!  🙂  I am again very proud of the students….they conquered horseback riding and survived!!!!

We also got to see a roping demonstration from a real cowboy!  Awesome!  Of course, the audience got to participate, and one of the students told the audience that she could use this method to catch her husband!  Hilarious!

What a day is all I can say!  Photos to come-I’m out of time for now!