Saturday

While spending time in North Carolina I have found that the generosity is highly given and appreciated. Today while we were white water rafting we came across a man who fell off his raft. The tour guide that we had made sure we got him in our boat and taken to safety a little farther down stream. This is just one example as to the generosity that I had witnessed. While I was here in North Carolina I had strived to improve the health and quality of others. For example, when observing the meetings at the recovery center, I made sure to give my advice and encourage and support everyone through the hardest parts of their recovery. I thought that this culture would be able to get healthier if the drugs were eliminated. Unfortunately, the drugs will continue to get worse unless people start getting help for themselves and other people. I hope that all of the great rehabs and help that is available to these individuals improves the drug problems to allow the heritage to be successful in future generations. It is so sad to me to see the Cherokee culture slowly start to die off. In this day and age it is more acceptable than it use to be to mix races. Even though this is a huge success in our world, there is still a sense of sadness to see the culture start to decrease, along with the language. Something that I did this week that was out of my comfort zone would have possibly been the church. Not that I am completely out of my comfort zone, but more of the fact that I am not use to actually going to church masses. 

After reviewing my blog from the first day I feel like so much has changed and impacted me from this experience. I had no idea about a lot of the culture and so much about the healthcare system. I had absolutely no idea about the free healthcare costs and the amount of money that they receive when they turn 18 and the money they receive from the casino. I do feel guilt for what my ancestors have done to the Cherokee and it is so powerful hearing the story and seeing the trails that they had walked on. I am shocked to see the amount of beauty in the area. I also had no idea how bad the drug abuse and alcohol abuse was until this trip. It is really great to see rehabs and other treatment centers working to overcome this issue.