I left off the last entry with guesses on how much in donations that the students raised–the final amount was an astounding $3240.92. Yes, you are reading that correctly–that is thousands of dollars. I cannot begin to express my feelings on this!
Now to the traveling…..we made it to Pine Ridge without any difficulties (car sickness resolved). I have had a very festive van with lots of conversation, which I love and helps the time pass by more quickly. Upon arrival to the reservation, we stopped in Kyle to talk to the manager of the Kyle Youth Center. I had hoped to possibly have students visit for health promotion activities during our stay, but have never done so at this site. While it will not happen during this trip, I have met the manager and have a better idea of their needs and hope to develop an ongoing relationship with her for future trips. She had some donation needs, and this is something that we will definitely help with during the trip.
After checking into my favorite motel and having a group lunch, we traveled to Walmart for food for the trip and to buy health promotion items with our donated money. This was an amazing trip–we divided the students into five groups and gave each group $500 to buy items. We literally cleaned Walmart out of many of their school supplies. We are also well-stocked with diapers, car seats, strollers, physical activity items for kids, and more. We then sent the students back to shop for food (we pay for it but they shop!). We could barely fit everything into the vans–student had to hold bags on their laps. After the requisite “Best Pizza Hut in the World” in Chadron, we traveled back to the reservation as exhausted as can be.
I have enjoyed seeing the students reactions to the reservation and excitement upon arriving. Their enthusiasm is invigorating to me–no matter how tired I am, I will keep driving and guiding the students through this experience with a renewed energy. Being positive is catchy!
Nursing Students at Pine Ridge 