Driving from South Bend down to Kentucky started off as a very boring and mundane trip. The cornfields of Indiana nearly put us all to sleep, and it felt like we weren’t actually moving – just because everything looked the same. The first half of the trip was awkward and boring – mostly because my group mates and I were still partially strangers and we knew we were forced to use the time down there to bond. It happened eventually, but it was still very awkward in the beginning.
The more South we went, the more we started talking. People woke up from the back of the van to talk to each other. The scenery changed as well – the cornfields of middle Indiana transformed into the small hills of Southern Indiana. The more and more South we got, the more strange sights we began to see. (One of the most memorable things we passed by on the way down was a street light store. It was strange...) Along with the odd businesses came odd homes and more prominent signs of poverty. The houses got smaller and the cars got older. Also, I felt time slowing down the more South we went.
We arrived in Mount Vernon, Kentucky at ASPI – Appalachia Science in the Public Interest. According to their website, “ASPI is a non-profit resource center advocating for sustainable development, responsible resource management, and informed personal choices. [They] use science and technology to benefit current and future generations and the environment by promoting innovative ideas and appropriate technologies. [They] accomplish this through education, advocacy, research, consulting, and demonstration projects” (http://www.a-spi.org/). I was excited to work with an environmental agency because as a Biology major, I felt that I had more experience and exposure to the human/animal side of biology. For some reason, I didn’t know much about ecology and the environment, which are huge aspects of biology in general. I felt that my education in biology had always been somewhat focused on animal life, human life and cellular biology instead of the environment. I took this a first-hand opportunity to learn a little bit more about how all life is dependent on each other and just how important Earth’s resources are.
When we pulled up in the parking lot, our supervisor, Deb, greeted us all with hugs and a smile. She wore simple clothes – blue jeans and a plain colored sweater. I considered this usual dress for the Appalachian people. She wore a knitted beanie on her bald head – a result of years of chemotherapy. I didn’t know it then, but this lady was something very special to myself and the rest of my group.
The ASPI office wasn’t the most modern or updated of buildings... It was in somewhat of a run-down old home. It even had a kitchen and bathrooms. The main room was surrounded on every wall by shelves of books. The books were about the environment, mountaintop removal, laws and public policy. Deb had been with the company for quite a few years and oversaw a lot of things that ASPI had done in the past. She drafted environmental bills to influence the decisions of politicians, and even spent some time in New York City working on activism campaigns to spread awareness about the environment in Appalachia.
The group and Deb sat down at a table in the “library” and got to know each other a little bit. After a few minutes of talking, every single person in the group woke up from the long car ride and started to pay more attention to this lady and what she was saying. She talked and talked and talked and gave us an incredible amount of information about the region and the company. That’s how the whole trip went – she was more of a teacher and a friend than a supervisor. She knew EVERYTHING. After returning to our house the first night, everybody agreed that Deb was one of the wisest and most knowledgeable people we’ve ever met. Meeting Deb was a contradiction to the stereotype of Southerner – she was extremely well educated. She had tons of life experiences, and even wrote laws. Yet she wore simple clothes and spoke with an accent. This was an eye opening experience for me because I realized that first impressions of someone are not always indicative of who they are.
The first day the group got up bright and early to begin working with Rockcastle County Recycling Center. We worked on the side of a mountain, just off of a road, picking up trash and litter. Initially looking down, the area seemed pretty clear of garbage and waste. None of us thought there would be much to do, but we were wrong. We got down there with garbage bags and grabbers in hand. We picked up small things and eventually our findings got larger and larger. We began to dig up the strangest items, uncovering layer after layer of trash. James, the director of the recycling center, told us that the area had been a popular dump site for the surrounding counties since the 1950s. It was still a dump site until only about a decade ago. He shared with us the difference between dumping and littering; littering is disposing of small simple items one or two at a time, whereas dumping is bringing bags of garbage, construction materials, broken appliances and other large items to a site to leave on the Earth.
Dumping was a big problem in the area because it was the junction of three counties without trash service. In the 1950s, people were just beginning to inhabit the counties and there was no public trash pick-up or recycling. This makes sense because there just wasn’t any funding for those services. So the people from these three counties took their garbage and unwanted stuff to this site, dumped it and left. According to Rockcastle County’s 2009 Strategic Plan, “[They] only have about six or seven known dumpsites left in Rockcastle County” (www.rockcastlecountyky.com/plan/) In my opinion, that is still an obscene amount of dumpsites...
Uncovering the trash all day was tedious, irritating and enraging all at the same time. We found the strangest things – gas tanks for cars, refrigerators, washing machines, shoes, and even a couch. One of the most surprising things that was down there were bottles used for doing some type of drug. (Don’t worry – we were instructed not to touch those.) Digging this stuff up made us all realize what a problem littering has become in the Southern region and our society in general. One of the biggest lessons I learned that day was that there is no “away” – nothing ever goes “away”. It always ends up somewhere, and it’s really annoying being on the other end of that.
We did different things the days that followed. Most of the things we did weren’t much work – we toured eco-friendly homes, college campuses, took hikes in the forest, and worked at the original ASPI office for a little bit. The work wasn’t difficult when we did it – the supervisors were great and told us to take breaks when we wanted to. The work day wasn’t rushed at all. It was great being able to take our time doing work with ASPI, and this reflected what we had learned in our pre-immersion lectures – that the lifestyle in Appalachia is significantly slower paced than what we are used to.
One day, we went on a day-long tour of various living situations. In the morning, we went on a tour of Berea College, which is a private school in Berea, Kentucky. Berea was an interesting place because it’s a liberal arts school and most of the students are artisans. It was also different than Notre Dame because they require every student to work a minimum number of hours a week at an on-campus job. In return, the students get free tuition. This system was interesting to me because it made me realize how spoiled myself and most of my classmates are. Granted, we do a lot of academic work, but these kids were inspiring to meet because they not only worked, but they also crafted, went to school, and maintained an active role in their college community. That’s not an easy thing to do when you’re from the Appalachian area, and it gave me a new perspective on the education system in the region. It exists, but it is more labor and vocational directed than education is in the North and the rest of the United States.
Up until the last day, the trip had been mediocre at best. We learned about mountaintop removal, caves, the ecology of the area, public policy, dumping, recycling…and all of that was great – but I still didn’t feel completely satisfied. Most of the work we were doing was done in uncomfortable and depressing situations. It was kind of a reality check and definitely sobering to see the kinds of places that these people live in. Despite this fact, the people we met were very friendly people.
We did some work with ASPI and then went to Jamie’s cabin. Jamie works with ASPI and was involved with a lot of their projects. That night, we realized that Deb, Jamie and Jamie’s family were, hands-down, the most amazing people we have ever met. That night in the cabin wasn’t anything short of magic. It’s hard to convey the experience through words, so you’ll just have to have faith in me on this one.
There was something special in that cabin that night. That last night was the perfect way to end our time in Appalachia.
When we arrived at her cabin, Jamie greeted us all with hugs and joy. She was genuinely excited to meet all of us. She cooked dinner for all 11 of us students, her work friends, and even her family. We had a typical southern meal of Sioux-beans and cornbread. We had apple cake for desert, which was phenomenal. I can still taste that meal when I think about that night and I don’t think my family’s cooking can compare to it. (Sorry, Mom) The more time we spent in this cabin, the more we got to know Jamie and the more she shared herself with us. Her main job was working for a nonprofit that provides children across Appalachia with free dental care and checkups. Hearing her story was so inspiring for so many reasons, but seeing her face and how content she was with her life was something else entirely. She told us about how every New Years she has a resolution to learn more about her Southern heritage – this past New Years she decided to take up basket weaving. The products of her labors hung above the bar in the kitchen. That alone showed me how Appalachians are different from the rest of us – their goals aren’t self-oriented, they’re directed towards others. Jamie wasn’t concerned about her weight or making money – she was concerned with her friends and family and making sure we were all comfortable. Jamie was such an inspiration – such a genuine, warm-hearted, friendly, selfless and talented lady.
After dinner, we all sat in a circle together in her living room and listened to Jamie and her sisters sing a capella. A few of us even starting crying because we were so happy, surrounded by joy and love and hospitality. Jamie’s nieces and nephews got together and played guitar and sang for us as well. I don’t think there was one person in that family that wasn’t musically talented.
And here came another difference I noticed between my culture and the Appalachian culture – families down there are much more tight-knit than others, and this is where the sad part of that night comes in for me. I saw and observed what was around me – a cabin filled with love and hospitality. Then, I thought about my life back home and how I almost never talk to my family. The cabin that night felt like a home with a family. My home feels like a house with roommates. That moment was more of a personal epiphany for me because it made me see what a family should be like. It gave me a moment to step back and see my family from a different perspective. And for the first time ever, I actually wanted to fix things with them and be closer to my sister and my parents.
There was so much more that happened that night in the cabin that can’t be described. The love was eminent in the room and it was felt by every one of us. For the first time on our trip, I didn’t want to go home and go to bed. I wanted to stay there with Jamie and her family all night. This night was a great way to wrap up our trip.
Most of our trip was spent seeing eco-friendly solar houses owned by people who tend to give up the modern comforts that we’re used to, like showers, flushing toilets, and electricity. Jamie didn’t live that way, but she wasn’t wasteful either. This was a revelation for me because I realized that it doesn’t matter if you live in the wild or if you live in the suburbs of a big city – what affects your relationships is you and your values, not how much electricity you use or water you waste.
Don’t get me wrong – that last night didn’t just completely derail everything I had learned about the environment over the past week. But that last night gave me the bigger picture about what it means to be environmentally friendly and how there can be a happy medium in which humans aren’t harming the Earth as much as they are now.
I learned more from the people I have met in Appalachia than I ever would have learned in a class. The work we did didn't matter at all - I mean, it really wouldn't matter if we never touched up the concrete outside of the ASPI office. What was important for us and for them was being together and sharing stories. Ministry of Presence & Solidarity.
