Sickness, continued...

Right now I'm reclining in the amazing automatic blue/pink polka-striped chair that stands you up when you press a button with a box of tissues sitting on the chair next to me and a bright pink blanket covering my lap. I'm all alone in our little home. Over the past few days it has become sort of a home, a place to come back to at the end of the day and sit back with a cup of tea and people who care about how your day went.
I'm sitting here all comfy-fied because my sickness has decided to take over my head as well as my chest and work did not seem like a pleasant option for me. I did go to work this morning, mostly because I couldn't get in contact with my supervisor and we agreed to have a 2-hour notice before sick days, but also because I thought just maybe I was psyching myself out and wasn't as sick as I thought I might be. Then on the way there I felt like my lungs were trying to escape from my body while managing to cover the bottom of the passenger's side with a layer of used tissues (I know, yuck) and decided maybe I should just ask to go back. So after talking to Ms. Robinson I made my way home and have been here ever since. (except for that trip to CVS to get dryer sheets I just made). Brandon came back for his lunch break earlier and we ate lunch together/chillaxed until he had to go back about an hour ago. I decided working on my blog would be a good way to kill some time.

So about my day yesterday:

I left around 7:30 to get there around 8:00. Ms. Robinson wanted to get me to start putting information into this new online database that basically keeps track of all the information for current and incoming students. Internet connectivity is horrible at this place and it took a long time to even get the system online. When it was online, I felt like the typical well-meaning intern. You know, the one who wants to work hard but has no idea how what they are doing? That was me. I was trying to figure out everything that she knew without having to think about it, and I felt like I was hindering her much more than helping her. After that failed attempt I answered a few phone calls and worked on some other things before we rode out to some of the local primary schools. Nichols Head Start operates in District II in Marion and Dillon counties, right along the edge of both. The area around it is very rural, with everthing far and in between. I asked her if many of the parents that she encountered didn't have cars and she said, with emphasis, "absolutely." And I thought: Without a car, without any way to get to a job or to get the kids to school or to get to anywhere, to have limited social interaction and no way to get assistance of any kind unless you have a family member maybe who could get you there but even then how the hell are you supposed to get a job when you have to have a college degree these days to find a job anywhere? online college? But that means you have to have a job to get internet, and you can't get it out this far anyway. Well there are scholarships surely, loans that could work maybe...but how are you supposed to get there? And who will watch the kids?
She said these are the people they sometimes stumble upon by chance when they go out recruiting in the neighborhoods.
Man.
I also asked her what she thought the greatest need was in the program. She said, "the needs of the parents." Many of the parents just don't have the resources to have their various needs met, on every level. Who suffers? The kids. She mentioned that many of the parents are just accustomed to accepting circumstances/other things without ever asking why or questioning why something exists and sometimes don't know how to be self-sufficient in the ways they need to be. This is why programs like Head Start are so important. It not only assists the children, but it offers services to the parents and resources that can help them out.
When we got back I got to see a couple families go through the enrollment process and saw some adorable (but kinda rowdy) little kids. I felt kind of awkward because I was just sitting there doing nothing while Ms. Robinson did her job, but learned a little about the process. I stuffed some envelopes with forms to be sent out to parents of new students and then left. When I got back we had leftovers and I did some doodling. Benton Wise (one of the BN 13'ers) came by with his dad when they dropped of David Womble after a day on the farm.