I can hardly believe there is only one week left of this program! Monday was a typical day at the M.K. Gandhi Institute. We did some gardening and litter pick-up before the rain sent us inside to work on stencil-making for the new mural. This has quickly become my favorite time of the week because we sit on the floor of the meditation room listening to music, drawing and chatting.
Tuesday was our first day at Maplewood YMCA, and it’s such an awesome place! One of the students even came two hours early to practice basketball before work started. I love socializing with the older YMCA members having breakfast, at workout classes and playing games. We weeded and harvested the veggie garden and set out fresh produce for members to take home. Our room in the Y is a newly renovated “teen room” featuring whiteboard tables, mini golf, corn hole and a pool table. We’ve also been able to try some (highly requested) cuisines like Jamaican and Puerto Rican food! The group voted on “Skilled Chicken with Root Veggies” as the recipe of the week, and it was a major success! One student reported, surprised, that it was “mad tough,” which translates to “very delicious.” Paul from CCE came to video this exciting cooking workshop.
Thursday we went to a welding class! The students each made a 4-H clover logo with their initials on it. Everyone enjoyed it and there were no injuries! One particular student was a natural and hopes to work with cars or motorcycles in the future. The car ride was a beautiful one hour each way around Hemlock Lake. This gave us plenty of time to talk, listen to music and bond in the mega vans. We ended the day voting for employee of the week. The winner was very deserving and so happy to be chosen.