Team leader is height challenged and it is VERY hot here!

It was cool and clear when Phil and I left Genesee early this am.  Such a beautiful day, always makes me wonder why I am leaving.  The quick flight(in first class!) was uneventful, I spent the time rereading my team leader manual, and reminding myself of all my responsibilities as well as the overall Global Volunteers mission and principles.  Many of you have heard it before, but Global only works where invited, lets the local community lead, works in partnership with local volunteers and workers etc.

Ross Whiteman met me at the airport.  He had originally learned of Global when he lived in Browning , Montana on the Blackfoot reservation.  He was so impressed with the work and the volunteers that he asked Global to consider sending teams here to Crow Agency.  He no longer works for the Crow Tribal government, but has retained his role as host and facilitator.  Longterm his goal is to turn the responsibility over to the local agencies who are in need of volunteers.  From the airport, he drove me on a grand tour:  first to Pryor, about 30 minutes from Billings, to meet the head of the team at the State Park where we will work next week on restoring the Chief's house.  Wide open spaces, hay, horses, rivers, and rolling hills. Few homes, few cars, and even fewer people.  The State Park is lovely, and I received a warm welcome.  Plans are set for our Monday morning start.

Back in the van, to head the opposite direction for Crow Agency.  Off the interstate now, even fewer cars, fewer people.  The landscape is vast.  Horses and cattle have free roam.  90 minutes later we arrived in Crow Agency, for a quick tour of the Senior Feeding program, the nursing home, and finally to Head Start, which will be our home this week.  Initially the reception was luke warm at best. Apparently the last team left the kitchen unacceptably dirty, and there seemed to be high sensitivity on the issue.  We will be using classrooms as bedrooms and dining hall.  All the attendant gear had been stored by the prior team, in the shed.  First team leader challenge of the week!  See attached for a birds eye view of the problem.  Les, the Head Start director(about 6 ft 5 inches himself), looked up and said:  "there's your stuff, see you later".  Hmmm........ingenuity, a chair, and yoga muscles prevailed.  All the boxes came down, no injuries.  The air mattresses are inflated, the rooms straightened, groceries in the fridge, and I even had a chance to find the Hardin Community Center pool(a cavernous place, built in the 1950s it appeared) where I had a delicious swim and shower( drop in cost: $1.00 for those 60 and over, haha).What a relief to cool off and have a shower(you guessed it, no showers here at our Head Start home).

Very quiet now, looking forward to some rest before I head to the airport in the morning to pick up the first arriving team members.  From what I've seen of Pryor and Crow Agency so far, we will have lots of opportunity to assist with repair, construction, and spending time with elders.  Although Crow Agency sits just feet off of Interstate 90, it feels like a whole different world here.

Love to all of you,
Barbara