Service Retreat

Part of going on an Alternative Service Break trip is that you are required to participate in the team service retreat in January-February. Our service retreat took place over this past weekend.

On Saturday morning our team traveled from NC State to Hillsborough, NC (which is only about 45 minutes away) where our faculty advisor, Roger, lives. The morning portion of the retreat was spent cutting logs of wood and putting them in the back of pickup trucks. The trucks were then driven by members of our team to a local Habitat for Humanity village. A man named Mr. Williams lives there and has family members who rely on wood for their source of warmth in the winter. So all of the wood that we were able to cut went to him and his family.

The majority of the team helped cut the logs and stack them and a few got to travel to the community and meet Mr. Williams. They said he was quite a character and extremely appreciative of our service. I feel like this was a great experience for our team and they all worked really well together.

After we were all tired of cutting and delivering wood, we had lasagna for lunch which was made by Roger's wife for us. It was delicious! We all sat at the same table and had good conversation. It was great to see some team members come out of their shells and get to know one another.

Once lunch was over it was time to do some team building activities. The first of which was a "trust walk". Our team was divided into pairs, one member was to be blindfolded and the other was going to lead them on a walk around Roger's home. Sounds easy enough right? Well, the person who isn't blindfold can only help the other member by nonverbal cues. No talking is allowed. Each member did that for about ten minutes and then switched positions. I had never done this activity before and I think it worked really well for our team. Being able to trust each other is very important on a service trip. Some of the members may have never flown before, some may be skittish about traveling in general, and others may have not done a service trip before. It is good to know that you have people on the trip with you that you can trust and have your best interests at heart.

We had an excellent discussion about the trust walk with the team members and they seemed to really enjoy the activity. Next, Roger surprised us by saying that we were all going to be blindfolded and he would lead us on a trust walk. We all held hands and he lead us around his property. He then stopped everyone and pulled me to the front of the line and took off my blindfold. I had to lead my entire blindfolded team through the woods without speaking to them. So I did that for a little while and then Roger laid down in the woods and instructed me to have the team step over him. I had no idea how well this was going to turn out. Well my suspicions were confirmed when the first member I tried to help step over Roger stepped right on Roger's crotch. I was mortified to say the least but eventually I got everyone over without too much trouble.

When the walk was over we had another good discussion with the team. I told them how this activity was particularly challenging for me, feeling totally responsible for each member and making sure they don't get hurt or fall. I also explained that Nadeem, Roger, and I are so enthusiastic about the trip because we want them to have the same meaningful experiences we have had on ASB trips. We recognize not everyone will feel the same way about the experience and others may gain more from it than others but no matter what we want them to enjoy it and embrace whatever comes from it.

Next we did some more team building and awareness activities and went over the logistics of the trip. The team got into it and seemed even more excited about the trip. Roger, Nadeem, and I all feel that this team is amazing and we're really going to have an impact while in Alaska.

I am so very fortunate to be working with this group of people and can't wait to get the trip started. I feel that this trip will be another growing experience for me and I am looking forward to it. I know I said that this post would hopefully contain some pictures of our day but sadly it doesn't. My laptop is on the fritz and I'm trying to get a new one sometime this week. So be looking for a picture post soon!

Only 18 more days until 13 amazing individuals and I head off to Alaska!