Week two summer service papers
Giving away cookies
One thing we’re never lacking at the Family Center is food. Although there’s no food shelf connected to the shelter (the nearest one is about a block away), local grocery stores often give us day-old bread, pastries, and cakes. The baked goods are usually just set out on the table and then anyone who comes by can take some.
Today, however, the donated food worked out especially well for us. We had the counselor-in-training orientation session this afternoon, and two boxes of chocolate cookies were among the assortment of breads. We put them away in our back room, saving them to offer to the teenagers.
About an hour before the orientation, Anita and I were alone in the family center, except for a receptionist. An elderly Russian gentleman came wandering back into our area, not an unusual occurrence. His eyes gleamed when he saw the cookies, and he asked if he could have a box. “I just want something sweet,” he told us in broken English. I looked through the rest of the donations, but to no avail. Anita and I looked at each other, unsure of what to do; but the man looked like he really wanted them, and we figured we would have enough of them anyway, so we gave him a box.
This whole exchange lasted about five minutes, and we didn’t really have time to ponder what we were doing, but in retrospect I wonder how much true compassion we were showing the man. In one sense, we definitely failed. In their book “Compassion,” Nouwen, McNeill, and Morrison write about some characteristics of false, selfish, compassion. The authors describe the attitude many people have of “helping the less fortunate,” where it is assumed that “we have made it and have gotten it together while they simply have not been able to keep up with us and need to be helped…since we are Christians we have to lift them up and give them a share in our good fortune” (30-31). We were giving to this man out of our excess, and while we were trying to be elitist, the definition of the “haves” and the “have-nots” was pretty clear. I know personally part of my motivation was that I would feel guilty keeping the cookies.
At the same time, I don’t quite agree with what Nouwen, McNeill, and Morrison about the unnaturalness of compassion. They write that “compassion is neither our central concern nor our primary stance in life” (6). To me, however, sharing our cookies seemed like the proper human response. We had more then we needed; he had less; the solution appeared to be clear to both of us. To just hoard what we had would have felt wrong.
I think the authors of “Compassion” set a very high standard for true compassion, and therefore they become overly pessimistic about its practice. Granted, divine compassion would require the complete sacrifice of self that they demand. However, to grow in any virtue, we must strive for the divine through mundane daily choices. We can’t expect to leap from never practicing compassion to doing so perfectly. In this particular instance, I’m sure I could have done better; but I think to have done nothing at all would have been worse.
No Proselytizing Allowed
One of my favorite experiences so far was meeting a little girl named Diana. She came in with her mother, but quickly made friends with the rest of us while her mother talked with the social worker. I showed her our toys while she jabbered away in Spanish. She told us that she was two (“no, three, no, four”), about her grandmother in heaven, and that of course she spoke English – the English word for “gato” (cat) is “bee-dee” according to Diana! She asked Anita and I why we weren’t in school and where we worked. Then she became intrigued by the medals I always wear around my neck: one of St. Therese, and one from Notre Dame. I told her what each one represented, and then paused. I wanted to talk to her more about church, but I was worried. I didn’t want to cross the line into “evangelization.”
When I began my Summer Service Project, I knew that the camp I was working at was purely secular. Neighborhood House, the sponsor of the camp, is a non-profit charitable organization which was originally founded by Jewish benefactors and now receives government funding. Their volunteer booklet clearly states that any attempt at evangelization is inappropriate.
This creates an interesting set of boundaries for me to work within, and it does present somewhat of a challenge. After two weeks of working at the site, I think I can identify two reasons why this aspect of the project is a struggle for me. One is that my faith and my religion is intricately connected to who I am and why I’m doing this project. It’s hard for me to keep quiet about my faith, especially around young children when talking about God seems so easy, and so important. Yet this part of me I think can learn to co-exist with the rules of my workplace. I can still wear my medals and talk about church if the kids bring it up. I’ll still pray before meals, and probably silently to myself whenever something goes wrong!
However, I’m coming to recognize that part of why working in a secular environment is hard for me is because evangelization is a very satisfying thing. It’s kind of a trump card for personal achievement; days may come where I feel I didn’t accomplish much but at least I told someone about God – making my day worthwhile! But this approach doesn’t really fit into the definition of true agape love. Michael Himes writes in “Doing Truth in Love” that agape means “love which is purely other-directed…love which does not want anything back” (10). Seeking a sense of religious satisfaction is just as much of a selfish thing as any other type of reward, and if I can learn to serve without it, I will be that much closer to loving with agape love.
These “boundaries” will, I think, be helpful to me for another reason also. They will, I hope, help me realize the value of God’s physical creation. As Michael Himes wrote, “If God does not love you, you’re not damned. You simply aren’t” (15). All of the kids I’ll be working with
are. I know, of course, that God loves everyone, but Himes’ chapter covers more than that. Existence itself is a sign of God’s love, and anything that adds to that existence can be a religious experience in and of itself. I’d like to close with another quote that also inspires me to view any kind of work, from cutting out name tags to calling donors, as a participation in the life of God:
In practice I [had] regarded prayer as somehow more spiritual then sitting on a committee, preaching as more anointed then plumbing. Only the revelation of Christ’s Humanity infused vigor into my bloodless theoretical doctrine. Through Him, my eyes were opened to the teaching that the Incarnation and our participation in it restores Creation. (Mark Shea, This Is My Body, 30)
SSP papers
I was noticing that the good folks over at the
Shrine of the Holy Whapping occasionally post their papers from school that might be of general interest (or not so general, lol). So, I figured that as long as my Summer Service Project (SSP) requires two short papers a week, I might as well post them. For those not in the know: ND has a program called the SSP where you do 8 weeks of service projects, some reading, and papers, in exchange for some scholarship money and theo credits. I'm working at a day camp for immigrant children.
Week One
First Impressions
It was 3:30 pm on Monday, my first day at the Summer Service project site. I had just gotten off the phone with a Karen, an Hispanic 14-year-old, had already left a message for Valentin, the Russian teenager, and was waiting for a call back from Edwin, who had come to the US from Kenya a year ago. Behind me, a social worker was carrying on a conversation in a language I couldn’t even begin to guess. Others in the family center were translating complicated government forms, answering medical questions, or assisting the families in other ways. That’s when I realized: helping others takes brains!
Herbert Anderson writes, “Understanding cultural diversity and honoring differences among religious or ethnic traditions is an intellectual exercise” (Anderson 17). While he goes on to explain that coming to such an understanding must be more then merely an intellectual or pastoral pursuit, my first day at the Summer Service site helped me realize just how important these intellectual strengths can be.
For one thing, a knowledge of languages is nearly indispensable for the social workers in the family center. I believe almost the entire staff is at least bilingual, speaking fluent Spanish, Russian, or a number of Eastern African languages in addition to English. They also must be aware of the various backgrounds of the people they work with, and how their cultural identity impacts how they will deal with problems and government requests. Many of the social workers were immigrants themselves, and have successfully transitioned into life in the United States. Even the counselors that were hired for the summer camp that I’ll be working with have impressive backgrounds. One was a member of the Peace Corps, another had done several years of social work, others had coached sports teams or had degrees in psychology or sociology.
Looking at the life experience and knowledge of the people I’ll be working with suddenly makes me feel a lot less prepared. Although I’m sure it will all work out fine, I think I’ll be doing a lot more observing and listening then I had planned on, and rely a lot less on the skills and knowledge I had coming into the summer. I’m surrounded by so much wisdom that I’m quite sure I’ll end up learning more through this experience then I ever could in a classroom!
Local Theology
11-year-old Nardos is from Ethiopia. She is a tiny little girl with huge brown eyes and dark hair braided into cornrows. She came into the Family Center having heard about our summer camp, and although she’s too old to participate in the camp, she can be one of the counselors-in-training. She listened very carefully to me as I explained what her responsibilities would be, and another family center worker who also immigrated from Ethiopia several years ago made sure she understood.
Nardos and her family only came to the US a few months ago. She’s picked up enough of the language to be able to communicate, and she has been going to school. What impressed me the most, however, was how much she already felt connected to her new world of Minnesota in general, and the people and places around the Sibley Manor housing complex in particular. When we showed her the pictures from last year’s Summer in the City, hoping that the pictorial explanations would help her understand better, her face lit up. “I know her!” she pointed. “And her! And him!”
I’m amazed that this little girl, who has gone through so much upheaval in the past few months (and probably even longer than that) is so deeply rooted in the community already. In fact, in the story above, I was the one who inserted pronouns; she knew all the children by name. It took me until our second meeting to even remember her name, and I’m still not sure I’m pronouncing her sister’s name correctly.
In this aspect of my SSP, then, I’ll be following the example of an 11-year-old and trying to become as immersed in the local community as possible. John McAllister writes in Doing Local Theology that theology requires “learning how to listen, learning how to see, learning how to discover, learning how to speak. Waking up means seeing differences between times and places, cultures and peoples.” He goes on to explain, “Doing theology in this sense means doing theology where you are – in other words, doing local theology.”
I think the biggest difficulty with many mission trips and service projects is that they don’t last long enough for the volunteers to truly begin to relate to the people around them. Around Sibley Manor, it seems that everyone knows everyone else’s business – crossing all sorts of racial and cultural barriers. After only a few months, Nardos was deeply connected to this community. If I can do half as well as she did in just two months, I hope that the knowledge I gain can help both me and the children I work with.
What the heck
Ok, so I'm multi-tasking by surfing the net while simultaneously watching TV. (These are the kind of nights that really screw up your average number of hours spent in front of screens.) Anyway, an ad just came on for McDonald's latest service: DVD rentals. Yes, you can now get your food for the night
and a movie at that hamburger joint that pretty much sums up everything that's both right and wrong with America. As far as I could tell from the commerical, there was a limited selection of movies the "Red Box" could spit out, but I wasn't sure if they were all originally there or if it was like burning them on the DVD while you waited? I dunno, but it was only $1 for the night. So...now taking bets: How long until video rental stores are obsolete?
The alphabet game
A is for Age - 18
B is for Booze - um, none. Eventually wine I guess.
C is for Career - Currently a student, in the future, who knows?
D is for Dad’s name - Brad
E is for Essential items to bring to a party - Food. Especially if you're crashing it.
F is for Favorite song at the moment - I'm just loving being able to listen to my KS95 since I've been home and hear actual top 40s variety.
G is for Goof off thing to do - read, dance, talk ;)
H is for Hometown - Ham Lake, MN
I is for Instrument you play - Violin
J is for Jam or Jelly you like - Strawberry
K is for Kids - Don't have any; i live with four
Living arrangement - Summers at home, school year in Breen-Phillips at Notre Dame
M is for Mom’s name - Deb
N is for Names of best friends - Oh, don't make me do this!
O is for overnight hospital stays - When I was really little, I had unexplained seizures, and ended up in the hospital for a few days I think.
P is for Phobias - Bees, the dark, and stalkers.
Q is for Quote you like - Check the top of the page, lol.
R is for Relationship that lasted longest - Approximately a year and a half I guess, depending on when you consider it to have started, but currently almost three months.
S is for Siblings - Jacob, Bekah, Rebekah, Monica
T is for Texas, Ever been? - Why would I?
U is for Unique trait - My strange attraction to foods that are both salty and sweet. If I ever become pregnant, I will have horrible cravings.
V if for Vegetable you love - Potatoes (does that count?)
W is for Worst trait - bluntness, a tendancy toward self-pity
X is for X-Rays you’ve had - Only at the dentist.
Y is for Yummy food you make - Wild rice soup, ice cream cake.
Z is for Zodiac sign - Libra I think?
Kudos
Congrats to my mom and Mrs. K (identifying her by her initial is only partially for internet security, but mostly because we end up calling her that since she's blessed with a long Polish last name, lol) who successfully organized the "7th annual denim skirt invitational" (TM emily), AKA the
MN Catholic Home Education Conference. Everything went off beautifully, and we had over 1100 attendees and more than 70 vendors, as well as approximately 700 pregnant ladies. ;)Honestly, the average number of children for all the attendees must be up around 6 or 7. At least nobody was going into labor during the conference this year.
Anyway, my mom and Mrs. K are severely overworked and underappreciated for all they do (not to mention underpaid!). So...on behalf 0f homeschoolers all over the place, thanks! I'm sure the blessings will be spewing forth soon, eh Mom? ;)
