leaving joplin, mo

i've been in joplin since june 10th and today is my last day here. it's so strange to think that i'm done here. having seen all the different sides of disaster management was just a very surreal experience. i worked in missing persons, worked with group intakes so that we could have large group volunteers, worked to welcome volunteers, helped with our volunteer center making sure we had food and all that we needed in order to run on a daily basis, done data entry so that we can catalog all the information here, and worked at debris removal in the field. overall this has been just an amazing experience. meeting all of the different volunteers who have traveled so far to come and help is just so uplifting. talking to the families affected by the storm and hearing how thankful they are for all we do is heartwarming. even though the circumstances are just horrible, i'm very glad i got to come to joplin and meet all of the amazing people.
yesterday was my last day of work and i spent it working in the field doing debris removal. today i got to sleep in(!!!) and now i need to go pack up all my things then we're cleaning up and we'll have a team dinner together and then pack our vans. tomorrow morning we leave for denver. the drive will take two days so we'll be back in denver on thursday. friday we have some office work to do and then we get a week off from work. working 12 hours a day 6 days a week i think we've earned a week long vacation! after that, everyone else comes back to campus and we'll start doing our debriefs and other office work to wind down from this round. i graduate from the program on the 29th and then i'll fly back home.
i can't believe my americorps experience is almost over. i remember my first day in denver and how excited i was and all the trainings we went through and each project we've had and how hard we've been working. some days the ten months seemed like they would never get here and some days i wished i could slow the days down and enjoy them longer. it's been awesome being able to work with such an amazing team that i've come to love and to see how different we are and yet how we can all come together and get things done. it's awesome to meet so many volunteers at all of the places we've worked and to see how driven so many people are to help others. it's been such an amazing time!
for now, i have to go pack but i know i'll write again soon:)
hope everyone's doing wonderfully
xoxo,
B