Contextualize and Take It to the Drawing Board

Second Harvest Food Bank and The Boys and Girls Club of Southeast Louisiana were our hosts today, and thus the day was split between indirect and direct service. This juxtaposition gave the group a chance to learn about issues of hunger and food distribution, and to talk to children and get an idea of what their dreams and joys were.

These two opportunities were incredibly fun for the group, but brought to light much more serious issues than if the food pantry would get boxes within the weight limits or if Roger the 2nd-grader was gonna make the freethrow. After group discussion about the meaning of today's service, we broke down the relevance and meaning of what we did.

Packaging cereal and grits can give us an idea of the sheer volume of food distributed by the Food Bank, but it can't begin to convey to us the experience of a hungry New Orleans senior citizen who took out thousands in hurricane relief loans and can't be certain where their week's meals will come from. These kinds of experiences are valuable to get the ball rolling and spark interest in volunteers, but our responsibility is to ask questions and learn more about root issues, both so we can understand the value in our service and so we can take these experiences back to Atlanta where we'll work to solve the larger issues that plague not only this city but our country.

The direct service with the kids at the Boys and Girls Club was fun for volunteers and for the club members. After talking to the kids, however, volunteers started to notice a disturbing trend. The older group of students, ranging from sixth to eleventh grade, almost all wanted to be professional athletes or a similarly sensationalized superstars.

These dreams were bold and brave without a doubt, but upon further questioning they had no basis in life experience or in the support systems offered by several of the students. Reflections of public figures in the media were evident in the pursuits of these students, and this lack of representation really hit home to me, as a media student. I should not be able to tell Jeremiah why the only successful black men he sees on TV are athletes and rappers. I shouldn't have to question Brian about why he wants to be an engineer like the Asian characters in movies.

I came to New Orleans braced to handle issues of homelessness and hunger and to really delve into the deeper issues surrounding those plights, and today caught me off guard, to say the least. Something about my feeling of inadequacy as another source of support for these kids just really upset me. Maybe I'm too comfortable in the ways I do service. I'm used to a volunteer coordinator setting up a project with clear cut objectives and goals and value, and a good time to be had by all. Today has made me really re-evaluate the way I serve and the way I contemplate what I see and do.

-Carrie

Edit 1: (1/7/15 2:40 AM)
I can't stop thinking about the some of the things that writing this made me feel. I appreciate my fellow volunteers and classmates, and my trip leader for his continued support and willingness to help me work through these issues by talking through them with me. I think the way I go about service is seriously lacking sometimes, and I need to majorly re-evaluate myself.