The 1st week at the Main Center:)

The first week went by really fast! We have been so busy and having fun, that we did not notice the time fly by:) Working all day before the kids show up to The Main and then hanging out with either the teens or younger children, we are kept busy and occupied, which we all like. The weather has been nice and sunny, allowing us to get a nice tan. Also, we had the opportunity to do some gardening in The Main's garden.

The next two photos are from Jaime's Birthday at Dairy Queen. She has just turned 20 and we wanted to go out and do something special for her--we put candles on her blizzard!


The next photo is from the Bike Rodeo that happened last Wednesday. We helped set up the event, where the children, once they passed their "bike test," would receive their own free bike. The kids were really excited when they got to choose their own bikes! At least 150 children showed up!


There is a reason why we took a picture in the library...this is our sleeping quarters! We sleep among the books: either on the floor, on a mattress (which we rotate everyday), or in the chairs.


During the day, if they need help from us in making posters, we are in the art room and paint posters for the Main to use. We find painting to be a calming activity and a way to show our creativity.


Also, I would like to add that, to our pleasant surprise, a nutritional clinician who lives in the reservation came to talk to us about the history of a Native American tribe called WaterBusters and later talked about the Lakota tribe in Eagle Butte. First, we watched a movie called "Waterbusters"--> portrayed to us how the American government made the decision to build dams on reservations and as a result, make the Native Americans give up 136,00o acres of land to the government and were forced to relocate. As a consequence of the forced movement out of their towns, the Native Americans lost touch with many of their family members and neighbors. Since Native Americans rely on community support, this separation was devastating for many people. Later, the nutritional clinician talked about the Lakota tribe and some of the issues present in the community. For example, high infant mortality rate, alcoholism, unemployment, poverty, understaffed hospitals, diabetes, cancer, and increased gang involvement in the many Native American reservations. He was very informative and interesting and we were happy that he took time out of his day to come talk to us!