the "food"...

So my friends and I were joking around that we would be partaking in the 'Appalachian Slimdown" over break.  We figured, hey , we're going to be working all day and making food for ourselves.  Let's not kid ourselves, we won't be cooking, we'll probably be surviving on pb and j all week.  

Well...we were definitely wrong. One of the ways in which we experienced the West Virginian hospitality and kindness was through food.  The gift of food was unexpected and really was probably better than any material or monetary gifts we could have received.  This really demonstrated the positive values that West Virginians hold and reminded us to take time out of our day, slow down, and enjoy good meals with each other.  

Why did the "slimdown" not occur??

We were given homemade bread, "cinammon rolls the size of a face", chess bars (ingredients = cream cheese, butter and sugar), birthday cake upon birthday cake and...my favorite...calico casserole.  According to Donnie it's ingredients are"ketchup, mustard, brown sugar, all types of beans, ground beef and onions chopped so fine you cant see".  And that, my friends, is why the slimdown was so unsuccessful.

purple mountain majesties?

Ok so we all know appalachia is beautiful, and I luckily was able to experience it in the Fall.  But there is this little thing called mountaintop removal that is occuring.  It's a new form of mining...you can read all about it on ilovemountains.org.  We were actually able to take a pic of it as we were driving into Kopperston.  There wasn't actually any mountaintop removal mining happening near our site.  Many of the West Virginians we spoke with (including one coal miner who worked underground)were against the bad effects of mountaintop removal, but they said that the higher levels of safety are definitely preferable.  In addition to the environmental problems that mountaintop removal cause, there are many other problems that are compromising the state of such a beautiful environment.  For one, many of the water systems, especially in rural areas are coming from contaminated sources.  According to our program director, many of the towns just don't care to talk about it because it is obviously not pleasant to hear the feces is floating in your water.  And changing the systems would cost them money they dont have.  In addition to these problems with water, there is a problem with trash removal and pickup.  As we were cleaning a backyard out and taking out trash for a man, we asked what day the garbage truck cam around to pick up trash.  The response we got was that it depended, sometimes he doesnt come, sometimes he wont take trash if the bag is too heavy, sometimes he will come at 7 in the morning, sometimes he will come at 7 in the evening, etc., etc.  Also, there was ABSOLUTELY NO RECYCLING.  Although Kopperston is in a rural area, the county/state should still allocate for regular trash pick up and recycling education and pickup.  Who knows, this maybe would even create a few more jobs.  I did some googling and it looks like last year the state did award Wyoming County 10,000$ for trash pickup, but it was to be allocated specifically for the pickup of abandoned mobile homes.  

It's sad, but when people are living along the poverty line, the environment is not going to be a top priority; it's just not.  So, again, a rehaul of the economy and labor market is needed in order for change in other sectors to take place.  

Kopperston, WV...

Three years ago I never would have thought that my college experiences would have taken me to West Virginia. I actually had to look at a map and refresh my memory as to where West Virginia is.  Turns out it's sandwiched between Kentucky, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Virginia.  It also just so happens that the Charleston (which was to be our meeting place with our site leader as we road tripped down to Kopperston) is not the Charleston of South Carolina, but is actually the capital of West Virginia.   I think that, judging not only from my lack of geographical knowledge but from the responses of others as I told them where I was headed for Fall Break and the responses of fellow site mates, West Virginia is very much a forgotten state.  It gets written off as being very rural and filled with uneducated backwards people who are still marrying their own cousins.  One of the first things our favorite West Virginian named Donnie said to us was, "Here in West Virginia, even though divorce is allowed, you have to remind them that they are still brother and sister.  Nothin's gonna be able to change that". Even though they may take such stereotypes lightheartedly and find room for jokes(we definitely spent a lot of time laughing with Donnie!), the image of West Virginia to some extent just perpetuates the hopelessness of the people and also the cyclical nature of the problem.  

Moving on to talk about Kopperston specifically...I googled it before leaving and found a website that compares population demographics of any two cities that you type in.  So I chose Kopperston and Upland, CA which is a suburb of LA and also happens to be my hometown.   The results were intense: www.bestplaces.net/city/.

Kopperston has a population of about 3,400 and the median age is skewed upwards at 40.7.  This hits on a point that many of the residents talked about.  According to the residents, Kopperston used to be a model coal camp back in the fifties.  It even had differentiated houses, making it seem like a real town and not just a place dominated by the mine.  This was all fine and good until there was no more coal left, and they shut the plant down in 1997 (www.coalcampusa.com).  Since then, jobs in Kopperston have been scarce. The only real jobs require commuting upwards of 30 miles away.  Within it's zip code, there were only 804 employees in the year 2006. (business patterns)  The largest industry naturally is retail.  This blow to the economy has meant that the young people in the town either leave and never come back or they, according to residents, deal drugs, do drugs and bum around.  It was really weird too because the only young people we saw when we were over there were small children and a few teenagers.  This also leaves a lot of older folks without adequate care or social support.  Once the older generation passes away, then the population will decrease even more unless there is something to rejuvenate the economy.  The economy definitely plays into the social factors of the society, and I think a change in the economy is definitely necessary in order to bring about change in the society.  

Let me start off by saying...

This past October, I went on a service trip to Appalachia. More specifically, to Kopperston, WV(more on that later).  To document my experiences there, I wrote a journal.  Now that I'm back I decided that I should publish these thoughts in blog form to spread the word...Spread the word about Appalachia...Spread the word about a forgotten sector of America's population...Spread the word about what can be done.  So these posts will be drawing on my experiences, my thoughts at the time of the trip, and my thoughts now.  Of course I will use photos, websites, media, etc., etc., to add some life and perspective to my words, and hopefully this will reassure you that my view is not completely biased or unfounded.  That is all.  Enjoy.