Columbia, SC

People, Places, and Things: A Breakdown of Our Experience

When it comes down to it, our memories are filled with the words and actions of the people we meet, the places we have seen, and the things we have learned along the way. Nine members of Viking Expeditions travelled to South Carolina to help with flood relief in January of 2016. When we left, we took with us lifelong memories, which I would like to break down quite simply as people, places, and things.

January 10, 2016

People:

Steve Lawless- When we arrived Sunday evening, tired and groggy eyed from our travels, Steve greeted us with opens arms and an open heart. Steve is a retired English teacher who now spends his time volunteering. Through the organization, Community Collaborations International, Steve enriches the volunteer experiences of groups such as ours by helping plan service as well as making sure everyone leaves with a new understanding of what service is all about. Oh, and did I mention he is a fantastic cook? Steve cooked delicious meals using the method of adding a pinch of this and a dash of that. Every morning as we left for service, Steve ran up to the vans dressed as the Mini Muffin Fairy or Mother Teresa. He would say, “Now go do that voodoo that you do so well.” Although it was a little much to handle before our coffee had set in, it always had us laughing to start our day.

Places:

Trinity United Methodist Church- We called this church our home for the week, and it was a great place to stay.

January 11, 2016

People:

Reverend Ken Phelps- Ken is the leader of the flood relief efforts we helped with for the week. A Vietnam War veteran, Ken is a great leader and motivator. He taught each of us at least one skill we would have never learned otherwise. Even when the work was hard or tiring, Ken kept us going with his kind words of encouragement.

Miss Faye Washington- Faye’s home was severely damaged when floodwaters left it completely submerged. Although she is a rather shy individual, she showed great gratitude toward us when she came to our dinner Wednesday evening and gave each of us a hug goodbye to thank us for our help.

Places:

Miss Faye’s home- Our first worksite posed project that were intimidating at first, but we conquered together by the end of the long day. We spent the day pulling out nails, tearing down ceiling, repairing a chimney, and spraying for mold. The work was tiring and icky at times, but at the end of the day left the group feeling accomplished.

Things:

Teamwork makes the dream work- This is corny, but true. Our first service day filled with challenging work really brought us together as a team that was working towards the same goal. We all rallied together knocking out project after project, and built some real team camaraderie by simply lending a hand when something was too heavy or by holding a ladder.

January 12, 2016

People:

Other Steve- Also known as Steve #2, this gentleman volunteering on his own became a real asset to our team. Like Ken, Steve taught us all a lot about doing home repairs. He was there offering up his skills and time with the mission to help people as much as he could. Needless to say, he was a wonderful person to meet and work with.

Norma Phillips-Norma taught us what southern hospitality is all about. When we asked her where the closest laundromat was, she responded, “My house.” After helping her with her home, Norma insisted we let her wash our dirty, moldy work clothes. She even patched a hole in someone’s jeans. If that’s not southern hospitality I don’t know what is!

Places:

Norma’s home-Contrary to the first home we worked in, Norma’s home did not have severe flood damage. One major project we worked on was tearing out the carpet in her bedroom and replacing it with laminate. The other project was crawling under her home to remove wet insulation.

Things:

Helping just to help- Volunteering at Norma’s house was a good lesson that we should be willing to lend a hand whether a person seems to need one or not. Norma lost her husband a few years ago and really just needed some help around the house as well as good company. We weren’t helping a homeowner who was completely devastated by the flood, but it still felt good to help just to help a person who was so willing to lend a hand herself.

January 13, 2016

People:

Cooper Family- Luann Cooper is a cancer survivor who lives with her mother and son. The family was very thankful for our help. They were very excited to be invited to dinner as well because they said they hadn’t been invited to a dinner for a very long time.

Places:

Cooper home- We did a lot of miscellaneous work on this home such as replacing flooring, cleaning and spraying for mold, repairing the roof, and fixing doors and windows.

McNee home- This home was very damaged by the flood. We took out all of the insulation from the walls. Also, we demolished a cement block pump house. We really had to channel our big, strong selves to complete that one.

Things:

Being thankful- Wednesday evening Steve cooked a thanksgiving meal and we invited the homeowners we had met thus far. The meal really had a way of bringing everyone together. Sitting at a big table with everyone made you feel thankful for the whole experience.

January 14, 2016

Places:

Myrtle Beach and Charleston- On our free day we went to see the ocean and took a walk along the coast together. Afterwards we went to an art gallery nearby. Then, we headed to Charleston for a pizza dinner and shopping.

Things:

Balancing work and play- It was nice to have a free day after working hard for a few days. Even on days where we did service, we still played games together in the evening. Working hard really makes you enjoy the free time.

January 15, 2016

People:

Mary- She came home during a break from work to come check on us to see if we needed water or anything. When we showed her the floor we had finished replacing, she went over and walked across it with a big smile on her face.

Places:

Mary’s Home- Our last worksite brought with it tasks we had completed at other houses throughout the week including patching the floors, walls, and spraying for mold. It was rewarding to come together one last time to get everything done.

Things:

Reflection- It is true that service without reflection is just work. The evening of our last day Steve led our deepest reflection of the week. We discussed so many great lessons that we would take with us. We talked about no matter how hard or dirty the work was it was worth it because we helped people. We discussed how much the week made us appreciate what we have in our lives. We reflected upon how important it is to love one another. Each of us took with us our own unique memories of the people we met, places we saw, and things we learned.