For those of you who dont follow our house blog I am going to paste my recent post to the house blog here..so you kinda know whats going on over here. It was my turn to blog about my experience here on Rosebud reservation so here is what I had to say..
A Change of Pace
Who knew 2 weeks ago there will be no kids at my one of work places. I work with religious ed classes with St.Francis Mission and Spring Creek. Starting this year St.Francis Mission came across a conflict between an agreement with St.Francis Indian School. The school has an agreement that with parent permission their children are be able to attend religious ed classes once a week for an hour. We knew the students haven’t been meeting the states testing requirements, but didn’t know that their electives will be taking out and place some extra math and science classes and religious ed cut out.
Taking religious ed out is nonsense! There is so much anger, hurt, and addiction here that by the time they are in middle school alcohol and drugs are their only outlet. Religious Ed is a chance for us teach the children to know God and understand there is someone with them who loves them unconditionally. Its sad because on the res some parents don’t even show their children what love really is; even then most parents are out drinking and not caring to shower or feed their child.We just offer a chance for these children could have a safe and loving environment. You might think that these children wont get who God is, but OH THEY DO! They know that He keeps them safe and is with them when they are sad or happy—they know. We are giving them faith, hope, and love…which is something their family and school environments are not. A chance to love and be love my God instead of surrendering to alcohol, drug, or even to suicide.
I am a flexible person, so when it came to starting work here we were not having all the 200 1st-5th grade children that we were expecting but only 75 1st and 2nd graders– which was okay with me. I made the most of teaching religious ed to these kids, which I LOVED (especially if arts & crafts were involved)! These kids were adorable, although some might have been brats at times but they would totally make my day. Two weeks ago we got word that they are seizing all kids coming to religious for the rest of year and that was including my 1st and 2nd graders 
. We are currently in the process of dealing with this conflict and hopefully by March we will have an after school program for 2nd graders in preparation of a Native School Fr.Hatcher (President of St.Francis Mission) is wanting to start. Until March, I am continuing working one day a week at Spring Creek teaching religious ed.
. We are currently in the process of dealing with this conflict and hopefully by March we will have an after school program for 2nd graders in preparation of a Native School Fr.Hatcher (President of St.Francis Mission) is wanting to start. Until March, I am continuing working one day a week at Spring Creek teaching religious ed.
Neil and I made these turkeys 
-- One of our projects for Spring Creek to decorate the place... HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!
-- One of our projects for Spring Creek to decorate the place... HAPPY THANKSGIVING!! So NOW the question is, What else do I do with my time? Well, speaking with my awesome Jesuit spiritual director, Brother Pat, I mentioned how the Betty Ford/SFM Recovery Workshop was something I was interested in and maybe even helping out. ( You can check out our other blog “Call Me Sober for more details about this program). During this workshop there is a whole section on communication. For those of you who do not know, I graduated from UTPA with a degree in Communication Studies. Within this major, I learned and adopted communication styles and methods on how to communicate effectively interpersonally, interculturaly, nonverbally, in group, and in conflict ( These were all semester courses! It was so a fun and interesting major …I’m missing a few but they were all great classes). I feel that God is showing me and giving me opportunities to use my different talents here on the reservation. This is a chance for me to broaden my experiences and even use my major. This is new for me, but I love a challenge!! I am going to be in charge of the communication aspect of this workshop, which I am EXTREMELY excited about!! YAY!
YAY!So all-in-all, I’m still able to work with children in religious ed and have started officially on the Betty Ford SFM staff . OH one more thing, I will also be helping out at Buechel Memorial Lakota Museum, which is actually one of the two Lakota museums in the WORLD! So hopefully I learn and hopefully remember some Lakota words, traditions, and way of life.
and have started officially on the Betty Ford SFM staff . OH one more thing, I will also be helping out at Buechel Memorial Lakota Museum, which is actually one of the two Lakota museums in the WORLD! So hopefully I learn and hopefully remember some Lakota words, traditions, and way of life. Keep our JV community and the people of Rosebud Reservation in your prayers and you all will be in ours.
Blessings,
Monica
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