This summer, I spent half a month on the Blackfeet Reservation in Montana with Visions Service Adventures to help the local community. The service program improved my understanding of what it means to be responsible and also taught me a lesson on how all people should be in awe of the nature.
During the program, I spent most of my time with four other partners at a local woman’s house. Besides fixing lattice and painting over vandalism, one major project we worked on was to mount a new deck. Before we could start working on mounting the new decking, a difficult task we faced was to remove the old structure. Because the old decking was rotten, it took us two days of work to just get rid of it. We then began to place the new decking, but it was not any easier than removing the old one. We need to measure the length of each panel precisely to make sure it just fit and then cut it.
Being outside for six hours just repeating the procedure of cutting and mounting with the sun right above your head was not that much fun. But what happened during the process really taught me what responsibility was and made me realize that how tightly the Visions Service Adventures bonded us with the local community.
We were behind our schedule, which meant that we might not finish the job on time. Considering the fact that it would definitely cause inconvenience and may even trouble the lady to call some professional workers to finish the job we left undone, our team decided to stay longer each day and finish the job before we departed for our backpack trip. Even though the longer work time made us miss dinner for several nights, the smile on the woman’s face when she saw the brand new decking brought joy to everyone on my team. Her smile made the wood chips, burning sun and the noise we endured over the past few days seems worth it.
In addition to serving the local community, I also had a chance to experience my first ever backpack trip. The distance we needed to travel to the site was only about 2 miles, but the bushes and trees in the middle of the path and the heavy tent I carried on my back made the hiking difficult. After I climbed over the steep slope and the glacier appeared before my eyes among the deep forests, all the pain I suffered from hiking was forgotten. At night, the group sat around the bonfire and we looked up, staring at the milky way and the big dipper. It is a spectacular scene that can never be captured by any camera. As I marveled at the the beauty of nature I was reminded how tiny the human being is compared to the earth and that we should always treat the planet with respect.
The Visions Service Adventures broadened my view. It not only gave me a chance to look into the life of the Native Americans but also fostered me to work with responsibility and treat nature with respect and thankfulness. This past summer is just the beginning of showing myself what I am capable of doing, and I believe it will have a long-term effect on me and the communities that I am and will be part of in the future.
