A New Beginning

Heading home

As I sit down to write the final blog from the Sistah Care Health Careers Camp for this year, I am struck by the amount of experiences we (the counselors, campers, and I) have had, and the indelible mark that these beautiful young women have left  on my spirit. As each person grabbed their belongings (which seemed to have quadrupled in numbers) out of the vehicles, it occurred to me that I had not introduced the campers to you- the readers in blogland. With that said, it is my pleasure and honor to introduce these magnificent young ladies to you:

Alexis, Age 11, Future Pediatrician

Angel, 16, Future Nurse

Francis, 15, Future Medic in Air Force

Tahani, 14, Future Nurse

Sharae, 17, Future Pediatric Nurse

Shailene, 13, Future Midwife

Kijana, 14, Future Midwife

and last, but not least:

Daughter & Father: Johnyell, 14, Future Nurse

On our way home from the coast, we stopped here:

Tillamook

We learned the history of Tillamook County and the rich history of creameries in that area.

Learning about our food

The time spent in Lincoln City, OR, at camp has been amazing. We worked, we laughed, we cried, we stretched, we prayed, we played, and made friends whom we hope to be in touch with for a long time to come.

Alyssa gets a new hairdo from a few campers.

As we begin the process of evaluating the first Sista Care Camp- there are several things that I am reminded of: the need for a safe space for young women to question, discover, and be empowered. There must always be those willing to step forward to protect & inspire the next generation of midwives & healers, and we as a community of interest- those who support women & children- have to support with our hearts and our actions- the work on the ground.

This camp happened in real time, driven by passion, purpose, and urgency. We need these young women to complete their respective programs of study. Our communities need these young women. In order to do this- we have to donate our time, effort & money. These young women have pushed me to dream bigger. When we love ourselves and our community- we show that through action. I pray, that I am able to continue to put what I feel in my heart into action.

I would like to thank the International Center for Traditional Childbearing for their bold vision and awesome effort to put on this camp. Thank you to all of the supporters, partners, and funding organizations for your efforts in making this possible. I would also like to thank each young woman who woke up early and went to bed late- but always showed up willing to learn.

A few of the Sistah Care Campers

Thank you families for entrusting your daughters to us. You- and they- are beautiful!

Shailene & Carlene

Ms. Hunnicutt

Sistah Care Campers, ICTC Staff, and Parents

Sis. Shafia- thanks for your vision, warm heart, and great cooking.

Sis. Shafia & Angel

We, the camp counselors, Alyssa Schmidt (Senior at University of Portland, OR who will be applying to graduate school as a future physician’s assistant)

Alyssa Schmidt

and I, enjoyed this privilege. As I pack my things, getting ready to head back to Chicago, IL, and into my last year of my BSN nursing program at Olivet Nazarene University, my hope is to continue moving forward with this work.

Thank you for reading a bit of our story blogland.

Goodnight,

Aimee Zeoweh Tarr aka Memee

Alexis & Memee

The Circle

View from the Beach House

Good Morning Blogland! I assure you my fingers have never worked faster to bring you the story from Sistah Care Camp. Last night, the late night blogging caught up with me! I fell asleep in the rocking chair. Normally, I am the last one asleep, so no one knows that I snore melodies religiously.

This morning, while all was still quiet in the beach house- my fellow camp counselor informed me that I’d been snoring… Well, let me assure you- that you cannot live more than 25 years & not snore. Medically impossible. Why, you say?

I am convinced that we see so much that we cannot possibly explain it all during our waking hours! This has definitely been my experience here at coast of Oregon with these incredible young women. Yesterday was a day of skills & sight seeing. We opened our day with a Unity Circle or Umoja Circle ritual that represented the importance of being in control of how we treat our sisters & our selves. We got dressed, blessed the food, said our affirmation, sang the Black National Anthem, and did our stretches.

Morning Stretches

Morning Yoga

We watched Born in water, had a group discussion, and finished research on the Black & Latino women and men who made history in their respective health care fields, and paved the way for upcoming generations.

After lunch, we learned how to take vitals (temperature, pulse, respirations, and blood pressure).

Alexis checking Francis' blood pressure

Angel Jenkins checking Shay's blood pressure

We refueled for lunch and headed to D River Beach Wayside

.

We are still not sure what this is... any guesses?

Exploring our sea findings

We had shot put competitions, rock throwing competitions, and dug holes. I’m not sure who started it (probably me), but we tried to see how far we would have to dig in order to reach water.

Nia digging a whole for water.

Even after all of this- we still hadn’t reached water! We drove 30 minutes south on Oregon’s Route 101 & saw these sights:

The View from Oregon's 101

We headed here next.

Museum Visit!

These are some of the things we saw:

Look at the starfish!

Turtles

We drove back to the beach house, ate dinner, and watched Bringin’ In Da Spirit. This video affirmed what some of the young women had started to feel: they wanted to become MIDWIVES!!! And with that, the next generation of Black midwives had been born.

Body Beautiful

What lurks behind these doors?

(This post is picture heavy- may take a while to load)

Culinary Midwife

Last night as I signed off- I could still here giggling coming from the rooms upstairs in the beach house- tonight I am writing to you on the other side of a day that was packed full of activity from sunrise to sunset. And, yes- I can still hear chatter/ laughter from the rooms upstairs. Note to self: must blog before midnight- real talk (as the campers always say)!

Breakfast

Now, for those of you older than 20 reading this blog- let me translate: you say real talk (before or after) what you want to say- when you need to stress the importance of what you’re saying. Real talk, is like your own personal pomp & circumstance punctuation mark- prior to or post- serious remarks and commentary. Example: “We should not have a bed time- real talk.”

Day 2 Breakfast

Real talk: there is no phrase that better fits this day. We opened around the table with our morning affirmation, the Black National Anthem, and the meeting opening prayer written by Grand Midwife Ms. Molly C. Doughtery.

We jumped right into morning exercise on the beach (no pun intended). While we were at the beach, we started our first activity of the day.

Morning Circle

Before splitting into three groups of three, the campers where charged with creating sand art that answered the following question: what is a beautiful woman? Here are some of their answers:

Beautiful Woman Beautiful Me!

Angel depicts a beautiful woman in sand.

These young women created curvy hipped, wide nosed, well proportioned women- complete with petite stomach pooches! They articulated that a beautiful woman is confident, smart, and secure. I had to drag them away from their artistic renderings…and one camper in particular (who shall remain nameless) had to be talked out of the ocean with promises of evening hot tub adventures. We returned to the house, journaled, and had a panel discussion on basic academic requirements for entry into various health careers. After a small break- the next few hours were life changing- real talk.

Alexis Mathis 'freewriting' in her journal.

We worked our way through the curriculum on Personal Health beginning with the Miracle of Life. We covered menstruation, female anatomy, health, wellness & challenges to both- then we put it into action!

IGA Excursion

After huffing and puffing up what has got to be the second longest & steepest hill in Lincoln City, OR, at Sis. Shafia’s request- because real talk: we (the campers, Alyssa, and I) wanted to drive. We stopped outside of the local IGA to get instructions for the next activity.

Each group of three young women were paired with a counselor. The campers were given $100 to purchase food for breakfast, lunch, dinner & a snack for a 25 year old pregnant mom with a three year old son. Please note the extensive detail in this scenario. The young women wanted to know exactly who they were to consider during this activity.

Kijana trying to make her $100 stretch to buy organic.

Shay & Johnyell very serious about the fact that they are NOT buying organic

Sis. Shafia's Group reading labels

Alyssa's group being fiscally conservative.

The least amount spent on groceries for the day was $35.42 the highest amount: $99.38. The higher the quality (organic, whole grains, low sodium, nutrient dense, etc.) of the food, the higher the price tag. We examined how much a family of 5, receiving $500 in food stamps, has to spend on food for a day (in a month with 31 days), and we were shocked.

Real talk, these young women reported feeling empowered & proud to plan these meals and mock shop, and were so consumed that they did not even notice the many, many patrons who came to inquire about what they were doing & commend them.

Learning to read food labels.

The downhill walk back from the excursion was much better. After lunch, fashioned by the hand of our resident chef, we watched the Vagina Monologues. This movie, evoked tears, anger, sadness, pain, and discussion. We worked through some  new terms: abuse, survivor, silence, strength, support, community, and power. We journaled. We cried. And, we began the work of healing that these young women reported they needed support in. We also came up with action plans & allowed ourselves to be still after the movie.

Francis recording her reaction to the Vagina Monologues.

After a quick trip to Papa Murphy’s (this is a whole new concept that requires a separate conversation: we paid to have someone make a pizza, but not cook it- real talk) we pampered ourselves! Manicures, facials, a bath salts workshop, and the Secret Life of Bees.

Organic Green Clay Mask

Alexis- waiting for the clay to dry

Alyssa & Francis

Nia Monroe posing with the mask

Refreshed & energized- we will wake up to do it all over again tomorrow! The real talk of this day was centered around unlearning the things that harm us and impede our ability to lead healthy, fulfilled, and productive lives and stretching towards learning and affirming the things that will move us on the path to being the beautiful women we want to be!

Goodnight blogland,

Aimee Zeoweh Tarr aka Memee

Sistah Care Camp- Here We Come!

Yikes!! Look @ all of this stuff!

This particular day in June began with a bang- literally. I awoke to the noise of coffee percolating & breakfast being made in a beautifully colored house. Today was the first day of camp for the Sistah Care Health Career Summer Camp in Lincoln City, OR. The energy and excitement was so electric you could feel it in the air. We (Sis. Shafia Monroe, Alyssa Schmidt, and I) were about to meet 8 young women, ages 11 – 17, from Portland, OR, and one who flew all the way from Houston, TX, for the camp. Hands down the biggest obstacle of the day was trying to fit enough food for a small famine (aka a week on the coast), 14 suitcases, 9 young women, 3 adults, and sleeping bags, toilet paper, etc. into a 12 passenger van & one S.U.V!  After loading our things we were on our way!

If you have never been to Portland, OR, one of the things you will notice is the abundance of greenery. It is everywhere! The water is so clean, residents here drink it straight from the faucet! They even have water fountains in the downtown area that pump cool, clean water for all to drink. Free of charge, but I digress. Bare with me. Our day was so packed- I want to make sure to capture it all.

Farmers Market View from the coast

The drive was breath taking. We followed the Pacific Coast Scenic Byway a little over 2 hours to Lincoln City, OR, taking 3 rest breaks along the way. There is something very calming & awe inspiring to see nature like this. I used the words beautiful so many times that I’m sure my van mates were sick of it. While I was busy soaking in the sites- uproar broke out in the van over the pure funkiness of cows. The smell made some young women swear off beef altogether- prompting Sharae (a camper you will meet a little later)- to ask “why would they do that? Don’t they know they stink?”

After we arrived, unloaded the vehicles, settled in, and picked living arrangements we got to work. The young women set ground rules for our Sistah Care community and introduced themselves formally (we’d already shared laughs & jokes in the van). While Sis. Shafia prepared lunch we were able to talk about what type of health care professional we wanted to be, characteristics of health care workers, and what we thought it took to achieve our dreams. We picked famous African American and one Latino health care professionals to research during this week, and we were off to walk on the shore.

The view from the beach house on the coast of Portland, OR

We walked along the beach for a bit & learned proper hand washing skills when we returned. After lunch, we focused our attention on starting the discussion of health care disparities. We began with the powerful documentary Unnatural Causes: Is Inequality Making Us Sick?: When the Bough Breaks; Becoming American. We watched the portion of the documentary on the disproportionate numbers of African American women with premature, and or low birth weight babies & the root causes. What I didn’t expect: the opening of flood gates. There was an engaging discussion that followed this film- which were able to capture portions of on tape.

We ended the day with a Tyler Perry movie, root beer floats, chocolate fudge chocolate cake, and a romp in the hot tub! Even though it is 12:46 and the night shift shower crew should be in bed fast asleep- I can still hear them giggling.

Signing out for tonight! Stay tuned for more,

Aimee Zeoweh Tarr aka Memee