Days 4 and 5 Pictures

Day 4 and 5 Reflections

Day 4 (Thursday, 3/27/08)

Our last two days on the Reservation were the best days yet. On Thursday, we started off with a hearty breakfast, and then immediately headed out to Church Road to re-water the oak trees and buckwheat we had planted out there.

After doing our watering, John took us down to the Wier on the West Side of the Reservation, which is a mini-dam used to stop water and feed it into a tube which is used for irrigation water, or hose water. The water was so clean and clear that some of us were able to jump in and splash around in it for a few minutes.

After visiting the wier, we headed down to Poomacha to continue our clean-up. We divided into groups and some of us headed to houses where we moved broken refrigerators, washers, driers, and anything else that needed moving to the curbside in order to pick them up with a large truck and take them to the transfer station where they would be properly disposed of. At the same time, another group went out to the fields again and continued to pick up trash and clean up around the area. We were able to pick up a large amount of trash and move a LOT of heavy equipment that needed to be disposed of. Many of the neighbors living in Poomacha saw us and watched us, and were awed that we had given up our Spring Break to be there. This made them extremely happy and filled with hope to see that students who did not even live on the Reservation were taking so much pride in it and cleaning it up so much.

After picking up a lot of trash and moving appliances, we headed back to the West Side to have lunch on the beautiful land over there. There was a nice little pond which we sat overlooking, and where Roxy almost fell into (but was saved by Chau). We had a great time, and John ate with us as well, which was a great opportunity for us to show our appreciation for him and his efforts this entire week to be both our tour guide and our guide in general by sharing his knowledge of the Reservation with us and teaching us about every site we went to. We were all amazed that even though he is not Native to the land and is not a part of the Tribe, he has become a Tribal Member through his dedication to the Tribe and his vast knowledge of the culture and traditions.

After lunch, we split into two groups. One group headed back down to Poomacha and continued with the heavy-lifting. They continued moving appliances and picking up trash and recyclables for disposal. They also worked with John to use the truck and drive the large appliances to the Transfer Station and haul them off the truck. The other group stayed behind at the multi-purpose building and cleaned up the surrounding area by picking up trash and recyclables, and also cleaned up the areas of the building we had not cleaned up on Monday, including the rec room where the Head Start children stayed. It was rewarding for them to have cleaned up the dirty bathrooms the kids were using, and to help the kids a bit with their homework (thanks to Alle, who has been working with kids her whole life-she was able to help a few of them with their math homework).

While these two groups were working, Nikishna and I are proud to say we were able to leave them for about 30 minutes to create tasks for themselves and to continue working while we headed down to Rincon to the liquor store in order to pick up some more supplies and some more food for the barbecue tomorrow. When we returned, we were amazed and proud to see all of the work our groups had accomplished.

We made wet burritos for dinner that night, which were delicious. John stayed with us for dinner, and for about an hour after that while we played team-building games. After the team-building games, Jimmy joined us again and was gracious enough to teach us Indian Hand Games, which are games played with eight players, and where each player holds one black and one white stick and hides them in either hand and the other team has to guess which stick (white or black) is in which opposing team-member’s hand. While the game is going on, everyone who is playing and the audience members sing traditional Indian songs, which were fun to learn and to sing together. Everyone got a chance to play, and we all had a great time playing. We were all so thankful to Jimmy for being the referee, for being patient with us as he taught us the rules, and for continuously singing for about 2 hours during the time the games were going on.

After the games, Jimmy stayed as we finished off our evening and our week with our final reflections. During reflections, nearly every single person cried because it was so emotional to think about everything we’d been through together during the week, how much we’d all grown, and how much we have all become family to one another. It was also emotional to think that we would all be leaving each other tomorrow (Friday) and would return to life in Irvine. All of us expressed how proud we were of ourselves and of each other and of the work we’ve done over the week. We all felt like a part of the community and all felt like individual Tribal Members (or at least honorary Tribal Members), which was the most rewarding part of the experience for us.

To finish off our night, we decided to share ourselves with each other even more by having a “Native America’s Got Talent” Show. We all presented for each other our different talents, and it was beautiful to see how open each of us was to performing in front of each other. It turns out we are a pretty talented bunch, so we were all very proud of each other and were able to have fun with it at the same time.

It truly turned out to be a great end to the week, and we were all ready for the barbecue tomorrow (Friday), as we all made preparations to pack and to head back home.

Day 5 (Friday, 3/28/08)

Today, we all got up bright and early and ate breakfast. One group of us traveled down to the West Side to pick up Shirley’s (our guest on Tuesday night) old washer and drier which were no longer functioning, from her FEMA Trailer in order to move it to the Transfer Station for disposal. While we were here, we were all able to work together to move the heavy equipment and load it onto John’s truck. We also had a chance to experience first-hand the construction that is going on to rebuild many of the houses that were destroyed in the fire, which was an eye-opening experience.

In the meantime, the other group of us went down the the Campground to stake out a spot for the barbecue and to begin preparing the fires for grilling. When the two groups rejoined each other, we immediately saw 4 truck loads of Tribal Members and guests driving down to the Campground to join us, and we all hopped on the grills and began cooking.

By the time the food was on the tables and we were continuously grilling hamburgers and hot dogs, over 50 guests had joined us, including many of the Tribal Members and support staff we had met over the week, and members of the community who came out to thank us for our efforts. Some of our guests even brought food such as donuts, homemade potato salad, and delicious dutch apple pies. We were all able to eat, be merry, and mingle with one another and by the time all the ASB participants sat down to eat after each of the guests had been fed, we were excited and happy.

We all (including our guests) stood up to take a huge group picture, which was so rewarding to see the community and the participants come together and laugh with each other as we took the pictures.

After our large group picture, I gave a little speech to thank everyone for being there and for showing their support for us over the entire week and for truly making us a part of the community. I also expressed how our goal was to return to UCI and share with the community and with the students the absolute success of this trip in order to continue our partnership with the La Jolla Reservation and to encourage other members of UCI and the Irvine community to be aware of the La Jolla culture and its needs post-fire. After that, we all (including the community members, and John, Bro, Jimmy, and Shirley) gave a heartfelt thanks and cheer to all the participants for making this trip happen and for being so enthusiastic, motivated, and never tired throughout all the work, preparation, labor, and challenges we have faced over the week.

After this, we said our good-byes to the community members and cleaned up the Campground. We headed back to the multi-purpose building to back our luggage and the remaining food back into the car, and we headed off to return to Irvine.

Right before we left, we were happy to stop at one of the Tribal members’ homes and offer them some of the left-over cooked meat we had. They were extremely thankful, which was again, another rewarding experience for us.

Following this, we made the short journey home, and all departed as different people: we promised to all stay in touch and to share our trip with the world in order to keep our partnership with the La Jolla band of Luiseno Indians, and we all left satisfied, happy, and changed people.

Well, world, WE DID IT!!!!!!! and we did it really well.

Peace,

Lori

Day 3 Reflections from the Hot Hot La Jolla Heat

Day 3 Reflections from team “Hot Hot La Jolla Heat”(Wednesday, 3/26/08)

We have officially completed another successful day of service and learning!

Today admittedly started off a bit slow. We all woke up exhausted and sore from yesterday’s labor, but I was proud that everyone was still in high spirits and was still so willing and eager to do service. We ate a large breakfast of bagels, leftover donuts (which Shirley had brought last night during her presentation), and bagels with soy milk.

We started off by heading back to Church Road to install the alternative irrigation we’d made yesterday. We split into two groups: one group headed down the hillside where we planted yesterday’s oaks, and the other group went up to the top of the mountain where we had planted the buckwheat yesterday so they could install wooden stakes in them so they won’t wash away if rain falls.

I led the group that went down the hillside to install the irrigation systems (which consisted of recycled water bottles with tubing put through them) while Nikishna led the group that went to the top of the mountain to stake down the plants. We had to insert the tubing into the ground so that the oaks could be watered through the water bottle and would flow into the tube. My group had many challenges in finding the right method for inserting the tubing and water bottles into the ground, since we had limited supplies: only one steel stake (with which to poke the deep hole we needed) and one mallet (with which we hammered the stake down). However, we all kept in high spirits and remained optimistic that we could work together to accomplish our goal. We switched off using the mallet and stake and digging holes, and supported each other so we didn’t fall climbing down the hillside. By the time lunch came around, we had already completed 4 out of the 30 we needed to complete.

For lunch, we drove down to the campground river and sat on the rocks to eat the sandwiches we had prepared in the morning. We all had a chance to relax and soak our feet in the water, and we even went for a brief journey down the river, which was refreshing and beautiful.

After lunch, we headed back up to Church Road to finish as much as we could of what we had started: we split up again into our two groups, and all worked together to accomplish a lot. Nikishna’s group successfully staked down all the plants that had been planted both yesterday and today, and my group successfully irrigated 9 of the plants. At this point, John re-joined us for the day and we decided to leave the irrigation to complete at a later time and headed down to Poomacha, the area where many homes were affected by the fires. At Poomacha, we all got into groups of 3 and spent an hour and a half cleaning up the area by picking up trash, debris, and recyclables, which we then took to the trash transit point to be collected later.

For dinner, Nikishna taught us his wonderful recipe to make Indian Tacos, which consisted of making fry bread, which is made by mixing self-rising flour, then grilling them in a wok full of vegetable oil. For the insides of the tacos, we prepared beans, ground beef, (and boca meet for those who are vegetarians), lettuce, tomatoes, cream cheese, and salsa for everyone to load onto their tacos. For dinner, Tribal Members came to be our guests, and we served them the tacos, which everyone loved.

After dinner, we had 11 guests come to bird-sing to us and to speak to us about the history of birdsinging, which dates back to the creation of different Indian tribes. Bird songs tell stories of creation, and there are so many songs that exist that one could continuously sing different songs from dawn to dusk and even further.

The bird songs were inspirational and passionate: a few of the singers got up and danced at the same time, including Jimmy, which was touching to watch. After our guest performers finished, we handed them fliers to invite them to attend our barbeque, which will take place this Friday, on our last day here at the Reservation. The guests expressed their appreciation for what we are doing, which made us all feel accomplished and much more a part of the community. We also were able to spend time with Jimmy and his cousin Joseph, with whom we each shared our individual reasons for participating in the Alternative Spring Break Program. Being able to share on a more personal level with Jimmy and Joseph made us all feel much closer to them and much more comfortable with them. It is now as though we are friends with them, since we see them so often and we’re all able to connect with them collectively as a group and individually without hesitation.

During our reflection time, we all spoke about the challenges we’d faced during the day and how we were all so proud that we had overcome them together. We also expressed how happy we all are with our group dynamics and with the interactions we’ve had with Tribal Members thusfar.

Overall, it has been another successful day! We have decided to name ourselves the “Hot Hot La Jolla Heat” as our team name, since the weather is so hot out, but we’re all such troopers that we are still accomplishing so much.

Tomorrow, we will head back down to Poomacha to help clean up the area more, and to go to individual houses and help the Tribal Members remove any large trash they need to dispose of (such as washers and driers or other heavy items and machines). In the afternoon, we will head to the West side of the Reservation and collect waste tires, which need to also be disposed of, but which the Tribal Members have limited resources to remove.

We’re all exhausted and everyone is sleeping now, but we’re all ecstatic about the day’s accomplishments and the new level of group bonding we reached today. We’re all so much more comfortable with each other now than we were when we began this journey, and it’s amazing to see, from my viewpoint, how much each individual person has grown in different ways from being on this trip and from the challenges we’ve faced and accomplished. J

Peace (for now),

Lori

Day 3 Pictures :)

Day 2 Reflections (Tuesday, 3/25/08) :)

Day 2 Reflections ( Tuesday, 3/25/08)

Today was an immensely productive and inspirational day. We started off our morning at 7:30am, when a big group of us ventured down to the campground area (this is an area for paying visitors to camp in, and is one of the ways the Tribe brings in revenue as it is a non-gaming tribe) to use the showers which we thought would have hot water. Unfortunately, the hot water was not functioning, so we made our way back to the multi-purpose room, freshened ourselves up, and sat down to eat a delicious breakfast of cereal, soy milk, and bagels with cream cheese to energize us.

After breakfast, we headed down to the Tribal Hall to meet up with John Flores (the Non-Point Source Coordinator and our tour guide from yesterday). Here, we also met with Bro in order to help load supplies into trucks and into our SUVs for our task for the day: planting oak trees and plants. We loaded a good number of large bales of hay into truck beds, and loaded shovels and pick axes into our cars and all drove up to Church Road, a windy, rocky, steep dirt road which would have been impossible to get up had we not had our trusted SUVs and trucks.

We unloaded the bales of hay and threw them down the dirt hillside we would be working on during the day, and immediately got to work planting baby oak trees. We created assembly lines in order to hand each other the potted trees, which we strategically placed in different areas and ditches of the steep hillside. After placing them and learning how to dig holes and properly set the oaks into the ground, we all got to work and got down and dirty. Each of us dug holes, axed the dirt out from the deep trenches that were along the hillside, and worked in pairs to properly set the oaks into the ground. After each oak was planted, we rolled the bales of hay down and placed one bale in front of each tree to act as a dam to protect the trees, (since the area is subject to heavy rains and floods throughout the year) and we packed dirt in on the sides of the hay and in front of it to reinforce it.

At about 12pm, we stopped to take a lunch break. We had all packed our lunches in the morning and brought them (sandwiches) with us, so we had them available in the cars. To eat, we drove up to the top of Palomar Mountain, one of the mountains that was severely burnt from the fires, (we drove up to about a 5,000 foot elevation), and set up a picnic overlooking the hillsides and the beautiful land below us. During the picnic, Nikishna and John taught us about the high school system for Tribal Members.

After lunch, we drove back down the mountain and stopped to overlook the lake and admire the beauty of the land, then headed back to Church Road to continue our work planting the oaks. During this time, we split into two groups: one group continued to plant and reinforce the oaks, and one group worked to create and alternative irrigation system for the oaks, which consisted to using old water bottles, plastic tubes, wiring, and strings. Bro and John were a huge help in offering their guidance and helping us with the work during this entire time.

At about 3:30pm, the students (ranging from ages 5-11) from Head Start as well as the mentors, came to help us plant some shrubs higher up on the mountain and further up Church Road. It was a great experience to come together with members of the community and work to plant more greenery on the mountain.

Around 5pm, we began cleaning up, and headed back down to the multi-purpose room. Thanks to Bro, who fixed a broken valve, the showers in the gym which we had cleaned up yesterday were working, so we were all able to finally shower and clean ourselves up (which was perfect timing, as we were all covered with dust, hay, and dirt, and a few of us were slightly uncomfortably sunburned).

After showering, we all worked together to make our dinner: spaghetti with garlic bread. We sat down to eat together, and then had a sufficient amount of bonding time by playing ice-breaker type games, including “Black Magic,” “Triangulation,” and “The Stick Game,” which all tested our intellectual curiosity and offered us time to get to know each other better.

After our intensive bonding time, a woman named Shirley, who is Jimmy’s aunt, came to present to us in a Q&A fashion to share her experience as a Tribal Member, and her experiences resulting from the wildfires. Her home was lost in the fires (even though it wasn’t burned down, it was so badly smoke damaged it could not be recovered), and she shared with us the story of how she struggled to find housing and to get a FEMA trailer for her and her family to live in. She was extremely appreciative of us and expressed her gratitude for the work we are doing, which was very rewarding for all the participants.

Once Shirley had left, we gathered together again for a bit more bonding time and had a chance to share with each other our backgrounds and a bit of our family history. We also had a reflection time, during which everyone expressed how accomplished we all felt and how everyone was proud that every single person stepped up today to do what needed to be done, without complaining, and without ever feeling animosity or anger.

Today, I felt we, as a group, reached a whole new level. We were able to step out of our comfort zones in order to get the rigorous work done, to interact more closely with the Tribal Members, and to get to know each other and build relationships with one another. I was so proud of everyone today, because we accomplished so much and we all realized it and were able to appreciate each other on a closer level. We’ve also made a significant impact on the surrounding environment by planting these oak trees and have brought new life to a hillside that was once only filled with vast trenches, overgrown weeds, and random onion plants. I think everyone felt much more like a part of the La Jolla community today, particularly because John and Bro stayed with us the whole day and helped guide us, worked with us, and brought us replenishment and supplies whenever they could.

Tomorrow, (or, if you are reading this by the time it is posted it will be today, Wednesday) we will finish up planting the last of the oak trees and will put the alternative irrigation sources we made today into action. We will also be heading down to Poomacha, (the area were many of the homes that were lost are being restored) in order to help the community members pick up debris, and old trash and parts they need discarded so that we can help make the rebuilding process that much easier. We will also be learning birdsinging from many of the Tribe Members, and will be making some delicious Indian tacos for dinner (courtesy of Nikishna), which everyone is looking forward to.

Right now, I cannot be happier with our group. We have a great group dynamic, where everyone is so willing to work and mature about any challenges that arise throughout the trip, as well as mature in attitude in general. The Tribe Members, John, and Nikishna have also all been such wonderful guides for us that we now all feel comfortable with each other and with the work ahead of us.

Being out here is truly an eye-opening experience for one and all, which is rewarding in and of itself. We are all so thankful we have this opportunity to do this service, just as much so as the Tribe Members are tremendously appreciative of us for our hard work.

Peace (for now),

Lori

Pictures from Days 1 and 2 :)

Day 1 Reflections (posted a little late, but still just as great :)

Day 1 Reflections

We have just wound down from our first day at the La Jolla Reservation. We arrived here at about 12:30pm after having successfully loaded the SUVs with the help of Darlene and Adeli. Upon arriving, we sat down, ate lunch, and met a few of the Tribal Council members, including Tracy, the current Tribal Chairman, as well as Bro, who is the Program Coordinator for the Environment Resources Office, who both shared a lot about the fires and how they had affected the land.

After eating lunch, we all got up, unloaded everything, and went on a tour of the Reservation, which is 10,000 acres. We were able to drive up and down the windy roads and see the beautiful land that the fires had burned down, including entire hillsides full of trees, so that all that were left were bare bones and skeletons of trees. We also were able to see areas where homes had previously existed pre-fire, and where there is now only empty land because the fires had burned down the entire foundation, and all the debris had been cleared away by crews who had volunteered to help.

We learned about the water-filtration system here and how they create fresh water which is sent through the houses and throughout the Reservation.

Before dinner, we were all able to work together to thoroughly clean up the area we will be sleeping in for the rest of the week, which is the multi-purpose building where an after school program (Head Start) takes place. The Tribal members were gracious in offering us all cots to sleep in and extra blankets as well as supplies. John, who is a recent UC Berkeley grad, and the Non-Point Source Coordinator for the Environmental Resources Office, and who was the person who took us on the tour, was extremely helpful in offering us cleaning supplies and in trying to answer all of our questions, as was Bro, who is also a friendly, helpful, and inspiring Tribal Member.

Around 6pm, we all got together and made quesadillas with Mexican rice and tortilla chips and salsa for dinner. After dinner, we all cleaned up, and headed over to the Tribal Gym, which is where the Tribal Members and students who participate in the after-school program spend recreational time and exercise in. Unfortunately, the gym had been badly vandalized in the past and had never been restored, so we had the chance to help clean it up, clean the bathrooms, showers, the work-out area, and the basketball area. Surprisingly, we were all able to work together to get a tremendous amount of work done, which we were all proud of.

After our cleanup, we cleaned ourselves up, and headed back to our housing area where Jimmy, the Cultural Preservation Officer for the Tribe paid us a visit to tell us about the history of the Luiseno Tribe and about the impact the fires had on him personally. He lost his home in the fire, and told us about how difficult a time it was to get through, and just how massive the fire was at the time. He also shared a bit about how the Tribal Council works (the Tribe elects 5 members to appoint to the Tribal Council, who then vote amongst themselves after they are elected in order to decide who will hold what position in terms of the Chair, Vice-Chair, etc.) and how the laws of the land work (anyone who lives on the Tribal land is subject to the federal laws of the US in terms of criminal procedures and laws, and as far as civil law goes, everything is dealt with internally by the Tribal Court, which is held with all the surrounding Tribes). Jimmy was also able to tell us some great scary stories, which were admittedly chilling.

Lastly, we had our reflection time, where everyone shared what one thing they learned during the day and the one thing they found as a challenge. Each person had very insightful things to share, including the fact that all their stereotypes about the Native American culture flew out the door as soon as they met the Tribal Members and experienced the land and the high spirits of the Tribal members even after such a disaster had occurred. We all found the labor a bit challenging, as we were not used to doing so much of it, however, we all felt we did a great job working together as a team and are all ready to get down and dirty tomorrow, when we will be working to plant oak trees near the Church (which was built in the 1800s and is still preserved to this day). We will be working alongside the younger students who are a part of Head Start (the after school program), as well as their mentors, so we are extremely excited!

Pre-Trip Reflections

Hello,

My name is Lori Chiu and I am the Service Learning Intern for UCI’s Center for Service in Action (formerly the UCI Volunteer Center). As of tomorrow, March 24, 2008, I will be the Alternative Break Site Liaison for the Alternative Break San Diego trip!

Currently, I am packing my bags and preparing for the journey ahead. My first success of this trip has been setting up this blog, which was not as hard as anticipated. I will continue to update as much as possible during the trip.

Here are our goals and objectives for the trip:

• Students will have the opportunity to be involved in a community-based, hands-on experience to contribute to maintaining a healthy environment. Students will be exposed to experiential and service learning through reflection activities which will teach them not only about Indian culture, but also about the impact, results, and implications of the service they are doing.

• Student participants will play a large role in rebuilding the land and the property of those Tribal Members whose homes were affected by the wildfires, and that the students will help maintain the land itself by planting and re-planting vegetation.

• Students will learn from the experience and share with others what they have learned about the Indian culture in order to raise awareness about the issues they face within their unique culture.

• Both students and Tribe Members will have the opportunity to share their diverse backgrounds and cultures in order to build lasting friendships and share their knowledge with the outside community.

FOR MORE INFO about the Alternative Break Program and the San Diego Trip, hit the “About this Site” link to the right –>