Day 7- Last Day

Today was the last day of the trip, and we started the day by sleeping in for a little bit. In the afternoon, we went to the Columbia Museum of Art, and took a tour of the museum. In the museum were a few exhibitions of Renee Cox, an artist who uses body pictures to create art, and Imogen Cunningham, a photographer from the World War II era.





Walking back to the church, we decided to stop by an ice cream shop and buy some ice cream.



After relaxing in the church for a little bit, we left for Palmetto Place Children's Shelter, an emergency shelter for children who have experienced abuse and neglect. We made dinner for them, which consisted of pasta and turkey meatballs, as well as salad.



After dinner, we returned to the church, and reflected on our experience for this week. We also contemplated on our future goals, and how we can apply this experience to the future. This week has been very meaningful for everyone, and we are sad that it's over and we have to go back tomorrow. We will sincerely miss everybody we have met, our community partners, and the lovely weather.



-Jennifer and Raphael

Day 6

Today we began with a documentary called "Escape Fire: The Fight to Rescue American Healthcare" which discussed inherent challenges and flaws in our nation's healthcare system. It shined light on the tendency of prescribing pharmaceuticals to patients while overlooking the lifestyle and behavioral issues behind their problems, and through that spending less time caring for each individual patient. The film described today's healthcare as a "disease-care system [instead of] a healthcare system" focused on quick fixes over prevention and profits over patient care.

We continued the day by visiting Temple Zion Baptist Church where we met Terri from Healthy Columbia and helped clear the land, that the congregation hopes to transform into a trail, by pulling out weeds and clearing branches. Luckily, there was much improvement in the weather and the wind had died down significantly. After a couple hours of working, we sat down to eat our lunches as Terri discussed the importance of self-care as we continued our lifelong service to others, reminiscing on a recent conversation she had with her social work intern Chris.

The group then piled into the van to continue exploring the various disparities in the community. Terri had previously mentioned the impact of HUD subsidies in certain areas of Columbia and suggested that we drive past them to experience it first-hand. We first circled through Prescott Manor, a small subsidized community that seemed relatively well-developed and maintained. This was immediately followed by a view of Ames Manor, a property directly adjacent to Prescott Manor that received no such funding, and the difference was appalling to say the least. The sidewalks were rocky, windows were smashed in, and the entire atmosphere was that of a whole new world. Separated by practically 50 feet were two vastly different communities simply due to the impact of government funding.

In the short break that followed, the group walked to downtown Columbia where we visited Finlay Park and found an amazing view of the city.

We finally worked our way back to Temple Zion Baptist Church where we got to observe another Healthy Columbia Cheap Eats class led by Tyler, a Masters student at USC studying public health. While recreating the same meals from the day before, we had the opportunity to meet completely new people and learn a little bit about them. It was inspiring to hear all the stories they had to tell and see how they were contributing to their community's well-being.

-Rachael and Chaitali

Day 5

We began today at Haskell Heights Baptist Church where we assisted Terri Jowers and her team of interns from Healthy Columbia in leading a Cheap Eats program for members of the congregation. We split up into groups and worked with members of the congregation to make simple meals with ingredients like kale, salmon, black eyed peas, and rice that are inexpensive and easy to make at home. While we were waiting for the food to cook, we had a question and answer session with some of the interns who lead the Cheap Eats program. Members of the congregation were given the opportunity to ask questions about food they eat and food myths they have heard of. The interns helped clarify some of the questions and gave ideas for healthier eating in the future.



When the food was ready, we helped serve it and enjoyed the delicious meal with everyone who participated. The community at Haskell Heights was very welcoming to our AB group, and even sang a closing worship song for us before we left.

After the Cheap Eats program, we met with Terri and she talked to us about problems within the community such as violence and lack of community support. We discussed ways to make this area a safer place for everyone who lives in it. She told us that it is important to start from the ground, so we went to a local playground and cleaned up some litter in that area and the surrounding neighborhood. Although today was our coldest and windiest day so far, it was worth it to tough out the cold in order to see the impact that our simple efforts made.



We made our way back to St. Paul's Lutheran Church (where we are staying) to warm up and relax for a bit before dinner with members of this church. They made delicious lasagna, salad, and cheesecake which we shared with them whilst getting to know them. After the meal, some of us went and joined them for the evening prayer service after dinner.

Today was a meaningful day where we were given the opportunity to meet and get to know different members of the Columbia community. We are excited for the other activities we will be doing for the rest of the week and meeting more people along the way.

-Sarah and Desiree

Day 4

Today we visited Harvest Hope which is a food bank located in Richland County where dedicated volunteers package food obtained from farms, grocery stores, and food agencies donated food and other resources for the qualifying households in that county. We talked to Rebecca and she was very knowledgeable and her charisma was inspiring about the work she did. We worked on bagging beans as well as bagging beef jerky and crackers for distribution.

After that, we ate our lunches on the ride over to the health clinic sponsored by Healthy Columbia and we set up the different stations of the health screening. Some of us took BMI, others took blood pressure and blood sugar. We had the opportunity with third-year medical students from the USC Medical School for the checkout process. All patients received a bag of groceries and advice of how to be healthier. 

Then, the group split where about half went to work with an after-school program by EdVenture teaching kids how to eat healthier and the other group taught kids how to garden. Both of which were at elementary schools. The students who worked on a garden harvested kale and cabbage with the kids and planted spring vegetables. The kids were excited to eat the vegetables that they had grown. The healthy eating after-school program involved Ashley from EdVenture teaching kids how to make parfait using different elements from My Plate and they were able to eat what they made after. We can confirm that the parfait was really good since we had some too! After, we had the opportunity to hang out with the kids and play Just Dance videos with them. They were better dancers than us!!

Everyone returned back to the church and got ready to eat dinner- Taco night! The food was delicious and we shared stories and there were many laughs...

-Noor and McKayla

    

Day 3

   3/19/2018
 
   After breakfast and a quick shower at the YMCA, the Alternative Breaks group drove to EdVenture, a children's educational museum. As we all entered the building, we saw a massive sculpture of a person. We couldn't see his face properly, but we learned that his name was Eddie. We then met Dr. Kathy, who gave us a tour of the museum. The exhibits contained various interactive activities for children to learn valuable skills about science, safety, creativity, and the society we live in. These exhibits included an interactive farmer and market relationship, newsroom simulation, aviation, as well as a technology lab with 3D printers.

We then headed to Healthy Columbia in the afternoon where we met Terri, their director. With her charming and welcoming personality, she gave us an overview of the underlying health care issues and the solutions her organization are trying to accomplish to combat them. She discussed how it is important to not only give medications to patients but also to understand their lifestyle in order to improve their health in the long term. She also mentioned building relationships with patients is what must be acknowledged in order to know how to treat anyone experiencing a disease. Terri lead us to a trail location that needed cleaning by picking out weeds and clearing the trail route in order to allow others to be able to run and become more active by using this clear trail.

Next we went to a neighborhood where we are going to set up a Health Screening the next day. We went around door to door passing flyers and informing residents of the free event happening, while giving the incentive that free groceries will be provided to participants. Terri helped put up posters throughout the neighborhood. As we were ready to leave, the children playing there invited us to join them. We played basketball and football with them. Some of the girls watching the others sat with some of us and shared their life stories.

As everyone was hungry when we got back, the dinner crew started their preparations for pancakes, eggs, and bacon. The griddle was right underneath the smoke detector, and some smoke was released during cooking by accident. This triggered the smoke alarm, and set off dispatch from the local fire department. Once the firefighters came to check, the church staff decided to take a picture with them. The food turned out to be delicious though!

Day 2: Going on a Hike

Day 2: Going on a Hike 


After a good night’s sleep, we woke up excited and ready to go on a 4-mile hike in Congaree National Park in Gadsden, SC. We walked along the peaceful forest and discovered many beautiful sights. We crossed paths with many dogs and we even saw a few snakes. At the end of our hike we took a snack break and chitchatted under the sun. We returned and relaxed for a little while. We enjoyed yummy pasta and a delicious salad made by Jennifer and Raphael.









 After dinner, we had a brief reflection taking about our contribution to society and what more we can do for the community. Then we set personal goals for what we want out of this alternative breaks experience. We are looking forward to working with our community partners tomorrow.

-Stuti and Olivia

We have arrived!!!

After a long 7 hour drive (full of naps and lots of snacking), we arrived in sunny Columbia, South Carolina! We were welcomed by staff at St. Paul's Lutheran Church, where we will be staying for the week. We're fortunate enough to have the entire basement to ourselves, with a game room and kitchen. Later, we headed to the grocery store to pick up some food for the week and got familiar with the area. There was plenty of green shirts and St. Patrick's Day festivities to observe on our drive to the grocery store. 

McKayla and Noor worked with our Staff Advisor James to make us a yummy stir fry dinner, while others settled in and completed some homework. During dinner, we heard some stories about Maryland traditions, such as giving offerings to Testudo before finals and taking pictures in the ODK fountain. 

When dinner was cleaned up, we had a great discussion about vulnerability and empathy after watching a TedTalk by Brene Brown. We talked about how it's important to step outside of our comfort zones when with community partners to learn more about the people and community we are serving. We also discussed what we need in a space in order to be vulnerable, such as respect, compassion, and an appreciation for ourselves. With a game a Sneetches, we finished the night by learning a bit more about each other and were able to practice what we had learned about being vulnerable. 

We're looking forward to our hike tomorrow, getting to know Columbia, and creating deeper connections with other participants. 

- Sydney and Brian