WorkFest (our alternative spring break program for college students) has come and gone, and it was everything, and so much more, that I thought it would be. It all started with my housemates and I moving out of McCreary House and into a dorm area at Camp Andrew Jackson. Camp is beautiful, but I was so worried about the upcoming weeks that I only noticed in passing. The following day, after church, I met Jay. He was pretty much as promised—an older Army vet who was eager to see the job site, meet the family, and get going on our job. We went out to the job site, looked around for a bit, and then headed back to camp. Our site was about 20/25 minutes away from camp—one of the closer sites. The story there was so sad. It is a family of 6—2 parents and 4 young kids. While the family was out one day, the water heater caught on fire and the house began to burn. Just about everything that didn’t burn was water damaged when the fire was being put out. Our job was first to finish gutting the inside of the house, and to tear down the addition to the house—only the bones remained there anyways. After that, we would start to rebuild.
Next thing I knew it was Monday morning, and I was racking my brains to figure out what to do. We had met our crews briefly the night before, and today was it—the beginning of it all. I was the assistant crew leader to the purple crew, and I was feeling shaky at best. Well, I was lucky that week—all 3 weeks really. I had a great crew, which included 2 people who pretty much knew what they were doing. Day 1 and 2 we got to do all demolition, which everyone loved. The first day we tore down all the remaining drywall and insulation inside and went back to camp looking like coal miners. Then, disaster struck. Jay had an infection in his foot, and it wasn’t responding to the antibiotics he had been given. He went in to the hospital Tuesday night for them to look at it, and didn’t come back! He was sick, his wife was at camp cooking, and was stressed, and I was flying solo. Luckily, another CAP person (former volunteer, now employee) (Mike!!) was up for the day, and I hijacked him into my crew. Kevin (my normal crew leader) was also there, and held off on running the dump trailer back and forth for the day. So, day 3: shaky, but doable. Then, Thursday, I was pretty much on my own. Kevin needed to get to Shanna’s site, and Mike had to go back to work. Again, I was so lucky that the 2 guys had an idea of what they were doing, and that the whole crew was so flexible and supportive of each other and of me. It all worked out in the end, but I won’t lie, I was relieved when the week was through. Especially because my site would be changing again. In addition to Jay getting sick, we found out on Wednesday that the septic tank at our site was no good, so the site had to go on temporary hold until the tank situation could be rectified. So much change, and I’m no good at change!!! I was sad to see my crew leave on Friday, but I welcomed the down time and the chance to reflect on the week in preparation for the next 2 weeks to come.
Our work for the next two weeks was just 5 minutes down the road-closest job site ever!! Don and I were crew leaders, because we didn’t know if Jay would be out of the hospital yet. It turned out he was, so Don, Jay, and I were on the site. And then Kevin showed up a lot, so really it was just a big party! My crew that week was fantastic as well! They worked like crazy, and got on with each other real well. We were working with a family of 3—2 parents and a young boy, who loved basketball. We were doing a roof-over, which literally means we put a roof over the pre-existing trailer roof. The trailer roof was cracking and caving in, so we dug holes for posts, made 31 trusses, put them all up, and got half a side decked and tar papered. It was a great, productive week, despite the rain. Some moments were still tough-there was a point when I had done something Kevin’s way, and it turned out Jay had different ideas. That’s just the way it goes though-there are just so many different ways of doing things-granted, this meant the roof got measured 4 times, but, hey, at the end of the day, I climbed the hill behind camp before dinner, and sat myself in the tree at the top—it’s just perfect up there—that’s all I need, time to be alone and breathe before heading back into the melee.
That Friday I was asked to give the final reflection. I haven’t done a whole lot of large group reflections, and certainly not for a group of 100 before, so I was a bit nervous. However, I had a song to go off of (Walk Down This Mountain, by Bebo Norman) and I had full confidence from CAP people. Then, at the end, we circled up one last time, and, in imitation of the previous week’s leader, I prayed. Now, I know this sounds lame, but I don’t pray extemporaneously in front of others, it’s just not my thing. I don’t even pray aloud when it’s just Kevin, Shanna and I, but somehow, it worked. WorkFest was working on me as well. In any case, the week ended, and once again, I was sad to see my crew leave. I didn’t think it could get better.
Week 3 rolled around and I had another great crew. It was just Jay and I this week, on the same job as week 2. We finished up the roof, and put up all the fascia and soffit. This week, the weather was beautiful for the 1st 3 days—perfect for roof work!
I’ve heard it said that WorkFest is the best of what CAP has to offer. I believe it. It’s 3 weeks of hope given, and hope renewed. Of new perspectives, and new challenges. I told the students during my week 3 final reflection that I had expected them to feel changed, but somehow I also felt changed. The trick now, is to carry that change with me. For them to carry it with them. In case any of the 2011 Camp AJ purple crews are reading this—I want to thank you all for changing my life in the ways that you did.
Janean Shedd is a long-term volunteer in CAP's Housing program. She lives in McCreary Volunteer House.
