Thus far, I have completed approximately 26.5 hours of service at the Multicultural Family Center in Dubuque as well as contributed in a city-wide winterization project. Overall, I believe I have learned quite a bit in my contributions. Though I am only at the center twice a week, it is refreshing to have a couple kids literally jump up on you in excitement just because you're there today. Though, it's not all fun and games.
Last Wednesday in particular, we had a different group of kids that were very disrespectful and did not listen to anyone. They would not listen to any elders and would roughhouse, use foul language, and just be plain right disrespectful to us and others. To me, I have no problem disciplining kids that are relatives of mine, but it is very difficult to me to really use so "force" to discipline these kids that I don't know or have only known for a short period of time. Sometimes I don't feel like it is my place because this disciplining is usually taught in the home.
Through that, it really makes me wonder what homelife is for some of these kids. A child may come in with snot dried up all over their face or is really young and just walking out in the town by themselves or with a slightly older sibling or cousin. It really makes me wonder...these parents are working so hard to give these kids the materials they need, but some of the kids aren't getting the love they need.
Last night at our Halloween party, I was sitting and thought to myself (sometimes I think way too much) where these kids will be in ten years. I look at them and see so much potential, but will they be given the tools to use it? Will they have the opportunities to go to college or train for the career that they are capable of? Will they have to work too hard for their kids? All these questions and more run through my mind, and I hope that these children get those opportunities, I hope they're in excellent positions, and I hope that they will have the time to really teach their children the basics of life. When these kids come from wherever and are absolutely starving when they get to the center, there is likely a deficiency somewhere.
Basically, my experience in service up to this point shows that I have a lot to learn. There are deep issues that this society faces, and with an election coming up in a few days, it really makes me wonder if anyone can turn this society around. The people that oppose helping these people are still afraid of a socialist society, and the people that want to help struggle to figure out what will help the most. There is no simple way out of where we currently are. There is much to be learned.
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Hi Ryan,
You have already done over 25 hours? Congratulations.
It is really sad to learn all of those things about real life. Sometimes it feels like we live in a bubble where we have food, a family who loves us and we forget that there are people out there suffering.
I had a similar experience as yours when I was in high school. During my junior and senior years we had to do a service project at a grade school in a very poor neighborhood of the city. All the kids were adorable but sometimes you would talk to them and they would tell you that they didn't have dinner the night before because their parents didnt have any money. One time a little girl had a red cheek and she told me that it was because her mom had hit her. She told me but there was nothing I could do besides simply listening to her.
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