A little bit of Japan came to the Cheyenne River reservation earlier this month, when a longtime Cheyenne River Youth Project® supporter from Missouri arrived in South Dakota with a group of international students for a week of volunteer service and cultural exchange. The highlight of the group’s stay was a “Japanese Bistro” night in CRYP’s Keya (“Turtle”) Cafe on Wednesday, August 1.
“Debbie Wills from our St. Louis branch of CRYP was leading the undergraduate and graduate students, and since five of the 10 young people were from Japan, they came up with the idea for this special Japanese-themed evening,” said Julie Garreau, CRYP’s executive director. “They designed the menu and purchased all the food before making the trip to South Dakota.”
Eighty-two people attended the dinner event, which incorporated appropriate decor, traditional dress, traditional music and dancing, and a menu that incorporated a choice of chicken or pork entree with rice, plus soup, salad, rolls and beverages. Guests also were able to taste free samplers, including sushi.
“The volunteers worked with our young people all week, teaching them origami, calligraphy and the traditional Japanese dance we featured in the bistro,” said Megan Guiliano, CRYP’s youth programs director. “Our younger children at The Main Youth Center helped create origami creatures for our table center pieces, and those children joined our teens at the Cokata Wiconi Teen Center to create many of the decorations for the Keya Cafe, including writing their names in Japanese calligraphy.
“It was a wonderful opportunity for all of our youth to get involved,” she added. “They did so much to welcome the international student volunteers to Cheyenne River, and to make the Japanese Bistro a special, memorable event.”
A few teens even helped to co-host the event. CRYP Power of Four teen interns Meta Charger, Allen Meeter, Madison Gripne and Romie Rabbit joined group volunteers as the bistro’s waiters and waitresses for the four-hour dinner service, with new seatings every hour.
“The interns really enjoyed working with the Japanese students,” Guiliano said. “We paired each intern with a Japanese student to cover each different table section — sea, rock garden, spring and summer. Beforehand, we did an hourlong training session to review the menu, the process of taking orders and good customer service. These are excellent job skills, and life skills, for our teenage interns.”
All group members wore ukatas, traditional Japanese dress; and every half hour, the group performed a traditional Japanese dance for the diners.
“They asked guests to join in the second time,” Guiliano recalled. “Our community members really enjoyed this unique dining experience, and several told us they hoped we would host different ethnic dinners in the future. They especially liked the pork entree and the Japanese pancakes we served as an appetizer.”
The Japanese Bistro raised $500 to support the nearly 25-year-old, not-for-profit youth project’s programming and services. Thanks to a matching grant from the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux (Dakota) Community, those funds doubled to $1,000.
“It was such a great fundraiser, for a couple of reasons,” Garreau said. “Not only did our community members enjoy the experience, our kids and the international student volunteers got to experience each other’s culture and learn more about different cultures. That’s priceless, particularly in a place like rural South Dakota, which wouldn’t normally see many opportunities for cultural exchange.”
Guiliano said she hoped the to make the bistro an annual event, incorporating different international students from Missouri each time.
“Of course, we may see a few of the same faces,” she acknowledged. “Some of the Japanese students said they’d very much like to come again next year!”
Now that the Japanese Bistro is past, CRYP’s Power of Four teen interns are looking toward their next projects. Guiliano said her biggest priority is to get the teens involved in CRYP’s 2-acre, naturally grown Winyan Toka Win Garden.
“I’d like the get them involved on a weekly basis, having them take shifts each Friday to help process and can the produce from the garden,” she explained. “We’ll be doing salsa, zucchini pasta sauce and jams over the next couple of months, and learning to make these foods with fresh, healthy produce from our very own garden will be good for them in terms of life skills and wellness.”
Guiliano said she’s also planning to have the interns help lead activities at The Main, getting them into leadership roles with CRYP’s youth programming. And, she said, the teens also are developing new ideas of their own.
“Madison Gripne and Meta Charger have met with me regarding a surprise for their peers at this weekend’s DJ Dance,” she hinted. “Meta initiated it, and for all of us at CRYP, we’re thrilled to see one of our teens take that step and really embrace being a leader. We hope to have a great turnout on Saturday evening, because we think the girls’ surprise is going to be a fun one.”
CRYP’s Power of Four program was designed to give teen interns the necessary training and support to learn how to represent their peers and to serve as advocates for their needs and the needs of others in productive, meaningful ways. All activities and events fall under the umbrellas of four key modules — leadership, life skills, job skills and wellness.
Power of Four’s primary focus is to build a 10-member youth advisory board that will represent local young people among CRYP’s board of directors. The council will continue in perpetuity, long after the official three-year internship program has ended. This year’s interns: Cecil Baker, Sierra Bobtail Bear, Meta Charger, Madison Gripne, Allen Meeter and Romie Rabbit.
Each Cheyenne River teen in the Power of Four program serves 16 hours per month and, for this service, receives an $88 monthly stipend. The 16-hour service requirement includes regular meetings at the Cokata Wiconi Teen Center. And it’s not too late to get involved: To learn more about the Power of Four and to apply for an internship position, contact Guiliano at (605) 964-8200 or send email to megan.cryp@gmail.com.
To follow the progress of the Power of Four teens, visit their blog at http://cheyenneriveryouthprojectpo4.wordpress.com.
To learn more about the Cheyenne River Youth Project® and its programs, and for information about making donations and volunteering, call (605) 964-8200 or visitwww.lakotayouth.org. And, to stay up to date on the latest CRYP news and events, visit the youth project’s Facebook “Cause” page. All Cause members will receive regular updates through Facebook.
The Cheyenne River Youth Project®, founded in 1988, is a grassroots, not-for-profit organization dedicated to providing the youth of the Cheyenne River reservation with access to a vibrant and secure future through a wide variety of culturally sensitive and enduring programs, projects and facilities that ensure strong, self-sufficient families and communities.