Orientation week was a lot of fun. It was a great chance to get to know my roommates and the people in the El Paso house. What has stood out most from that week is our time in El Paso. It was fascinating to be able to get a feel for the border. You've seen in a previous (though very brief) post that we were able to visit the border fence and talk with a border patrol agent.
The first week of work was an interesting experience, with its fair share of ups and downs. For those of you who I haven't been kept in the loop I work at a place called the Mesilla Valley Community of Hope. MVCH is a homeless day shelter on a campus of buildings that provide other services to the homeless or near homeless such as a soup kitchen (which I eat lunch at daily), a day care for children, an emergency food bank, and other services. Every one I work with has been very kind and helpful to me though I admit there have been many times where I feel very overwhelmed. My job description is one of many tasks and is very up to me to shape what I want to do with it. The community garden is a very big focus for me so far. Recently our gardener left so I'm trying to figure out how to keep the garden running smoothly and recruiting volunteers to work in it in exchange for the fresh produce the garden supplies.
Another task of mine is recruiting and interviewing volunteers for the agency. Many have been New Mexico State University students who need the volunteer hours and some need it for an internship. It's been weird being the one giving the interviews and not being the one interviewed.
The part of my job I have found most rewarding so far at MVCH is getting to know and work with the homeless clients we have. I have helped several people fill out job applications online and I weekly post a job board of places that are hiring. One day after a heavy rainstorm I was able to hand a few clients some dry clothing from the donation room. It's incredibly rewarding to be working face to face helping people in that way.
The clients are so interesting and fun to work with. Most have been very appreciative of the services we provide and are excited to get to know me and help me out as I start my year long service. I occasionally work at the front desk signing people in and checking out lockers though that hasn't been as often as I would like since we have so many volunteers coming in and that is where we often place them.
After the first week of all of us at work the BSC group went on a retreat to Silver City, NM. We stayed in this large old covenant house and spent most of the weekend hearing about our experiences as we began our jobs. The Las Cruces house cooked the first two meals of the weekend and the El Paso house the second two. Hearing that everyone was as overwhelmed as I was was very refreshing.
I've had lots of fun in the BSC! Since I've been down here I've been swimming in the Rio Grande, hosted German couch surfers, and spent some time at White Sands, which is absolutely beautiful!
There's much more to tell but I think this is where I will leave off for now.
Travis HP
P.S.- Send recipes for vegetarian dishes! Many of my roommates are vegetarians so I need to learn this new style of cooking!
