What an amazing summer it's been! After coordinating and managing dozens of pounds of food, volunteer hours, and community individuals who are served, I can honestly say I am exhausted! Fantastic moments from the past few months include: running across campus with four bags of Sheetz food, mystified gawkers staring at us as we cart that bright orange carry bag and Little Tykes wagon through Gettysburg streets, picking on Sara and her recipes for disaster (e.g. biking AND dragging the wagon, riding the wagon down a hill), desperately trying to find creative uses for zucchini ("weapon" was one suggestion), our great conversations during Heston dinners...it really has been fantastic!

 My favorite part of working with Campus Kitchens has been getting to know community members who are truly excited about food! I still love going to the Senior Center two or three times a week to drop off meals for Meals on Wheels--and I never object to joining a good competitive Rummy500 game if I have time! Every time I go, everyone seems so happy to see me... they make me feel like part of the gang (and what a gang they are--just ask Isha)! I'm also really excited for our up-and-coming dinner/soccer party at the rec park with some of the LIU families that we serve. I'm dying to meet some of them (and a tad apprehensive about their opinion of our food!). From Circles to Reentry Services to the Farmers Market to Green Goodies to the Local Foods Network... it's just wonderful to walk through Gettysburg and see familiar faces among community members. I really think this summer has brought me closer to the greater Gettysburg that isn't just the campus. There have definitely been challenges, but I'm starting to see those as fences in an outdoor obstacle course. They serve their purpose, but they also have their limits. I'm learning to see the grass and the trees and the flowers among these fences... I'm starting to find the positive side of my work. I'm sad to see Christine go (this was her last week as CKP coordinator), but I'm excited for what the school year will bring--I'll be continuing my work with Campus Kitchens come August. This summer has definitely been a huge learning experience for me and I certainly won't forget what I've learned! Olivia Haddad '11

Everything for GIV Day is coming together. We have 250 freshman and hopefully 30 faculty members. That day they will be split into two groups, and participate in both a Poverty Simulation and a service project somewhere in the community. I'm excited, nervous and apprehensive about GIV Day. More than any of the logistics going off without a hitch, I'm nervous about the freshman getting out of GIV Day what I'm aiming for. I'm trying to create a connection and cultivate an understanding of the issues our community faces. In doing this I'm trying to create more students on campus that are involved in different aspects of the community.

  Ultimately it would amazing if the freshman could put aside their nerves, homesickness, and other worries and be able to put everything into this one morning. But realistically I know that this is a lot to ask. I am hoping that through the more intensive GIV Day, with more activities that will show what our community is there will be some students that can at least begin to see the issues our community faces and from there use the tools we give them and resources we give them to be able to further that work. It's a lot to ask for one morning, but I can hope right?!

  On a more personal level planning GIV Day has led me to find something out about my self that I hadn't previously know. In the past I thought about possibly a career in something with non-profits, and planning banquets, fundraisers or events for them. Don't get me wrong, I LOVEEEEEE planning GIV Day, it's a lot of fun, but I have realized that in terms of a career, as a person I need to be making those personal connections with people I'm helping/working with. That's what is enjoyable about social justice work for me. The relationships and connections you take out of a situation are the most important and valuable for me. So while I do like planning, whatever I do chose to do will have to be something where there are relationships being made between myself and the people in whatever community I'm in.

  Emily Ball '11

Working at the LIU Summer School of Excellence is amaaazing. Seriously, if someone decided to film our everyday experiences and make it into a show, "The Office" would be out of business.  Im a teacher aid for a class of 11 (9 mexicans - 1 PRican - 1 Somali) kids who  just need extra attention ESL wise to catch up with the curriculum in their schools. The program is great. We have field trips every Monday; we have breakfast, lunch and snack in school; we have artists in residence for theatre, art, and music and of course, a soccer coach. It is so great that the kids have a program like this available for them - I wish some kids didnt take it for granted. Those kids are sooo smart and loving and  sweet and gentle - its so sad to see them get frustrated because they don't understand something or cant do something without help..that is when they start to act up or cry and complain. But the cool thing about summer school is that we're all about them - we dont have a strict lesson plan to follow or 20 kids in the class in incredibly different english levels. My teacher and I adapt our lesson plans to fit all of our eleven kids- we have to make enough time so they all learn...all of them. Regardless of the complete lack of english skills that some of the kids have. I love doing that type of work - personalized education. Instead of moving on with the lesson plan when two or three kids still dont know what is going on, I love when the kids work together to help each other out and work in groups to make sure that everyone in the class understands what is going on. 

I have learned so much at the summer school that I really don't know what to share...The one thing that I have seen that makes me a little uncomfortable about the kids is that some of them have had a difficult time with their families or travelling and what not - so the parents start spoiling them to make up for things. When the kids start six grade they develop an attitude that makes them hard to work with - well its more complicated than that...the fact that they are behind in class when compared to their peers in the school year does not help their self teems and they start getting frustrated. Thats why I think this program is so important and so necessary - It gives kids a chance to prove that they are like any other kid their age. They are amazing and unique individuals that without a doubt have the talent and heart to do anything they want. I really, really hope they get the chance. I love those kids. You should all see them - they'd make you smile too. :)

Working at the Office for Aging has allowed me to look into the different facets involving lives of seniors and the people helping them live it as comfortably as possible. When I started my work, I had no idea about the problems that plague the American system as it does in other countries. Considering my lack of knowledge regarding the system here, I was expecting very less if not any problems and barriers that the office might have to face in its quest to provide services to the seniors. I was expecting to see a somewhat balance between the need and provision of the services. This would include well-facilitated and funded senior citizen centers, well-paid and satisfied workers, enough vouchers, volunteers and participation. However, that hasn't been the case. The path for creating sustainable communities have had countless compromises. Prioritizing has been the main focus. Small senior centers located in the community with a sense a belonging or a large one somewhere else with more facilities? Social dynamics vs economics. Everyday home delivered meals- the only contact point for the seniors to the outside world and highlight of their day or every other day meals - efficient, cost effective and environment friendly? Social dynamics vs economics vs environment. These are some of the questions that have to be answered everyday and decision to choose has to be made.
 
Isha Rajbhandari '12

I never knew such a love could grow so quickly. I have an immense, overwhelming love for the children at El Centro. It may sound odd, but the way that I have gotten to know these children, the way that I have seen them express themselves has created this strong sense of love for these children who often roll their eyes, pretend to forget my name, or ignore my instruction. The youth at El Centro blow me away. Paula, the director of El Centro, told me one time, "I was speaking after I received an award and I said, 'These children are my heroes.'" There are no truer words than these. These children are amazing. In small glimpses you can see the beauty of the human spirit and the depth of the human potential shine in these youth. Through simple statements, written words or small acts, these children amaze me everyday. I read a book once, in which the author at the end said he wished he could take all those he knew, those who had suffered and those he loved up in his arms, and hold them in a giant embrace. These words speak so true to how I feel towards these youth, I want to hug them, bring them home and give them healthy food and attention. I want them to be free from their burdens, their stress, their fear, I want them to enjoy and shine. Such pressure and stress these children bear. Through my work with these youth in our writing workshop, I have seen expression of their uncertainty of the future, a hope for justice for all people, a desire for a cleaner planet and an immense urgency and hope for immigration reform. Children of 8, 9, 10 and 11 are writing about their fears of deportation, their hope for Mexicans to be treated with more kindness and respect. These children are my heroes. After tutoring at El Centro once a week last semester, I felt as though I had some sort of concept to the difficulties these youth face. I understood the language barrier, having just come back from learning abroad, but I missed so many other key factors in my analysis of these children's lives. Working with them day in and day out, I truly am getting a better picture of the life, personalities and strengths of these youth, and everyday I love them more. Such a complex web of situations and factors come together to give an accurate and representative picture of these children's lives. Some have neglectful irresponsible parents, but many simply have hard working parents, gone for long hours of the day trying to provide for large family with huge stresses hanging over like humid clouds. The youth of El Centro are expected to grow up quickly and handle responsibility and burdens far beyond their years. These youth love to have fun and be silly. From the ditzy 8 year old girl to the smooth talking, "cool" 10 year old boy, to the compassionate 12 year to the giggly 6 year old girl to the rebellious, smiley 8 year old boy, to the goofy, intelligent 11 year old boy, the faces of these kids and the stories behind them are incredible. Their English is not perfect, nor is their Spanish. They are low performing, often misbehaving, wonderful, wonderful, kind and loving children. Sometimes, all they need is a hug.

  Kate

Workshop day #3

WaaaAAaahh. BIG BIG BIG day. Lots of writing. Lots of drawing. It’s WORK time. Yo.

Last time, we made the kids share in class what happiness is. Although most kids participated, we got similar answers like “I would be happy if I was a doctor” slash engineer slash nurse slash I want to do great things for my country and this would make me happy. We got the students’ aims. I also thought we got the answers they thought we were looking for. They are only 12 to 13 year olds…we knew there were things that made they happy-er? At least immediately. Mind you. We were not undermining what the kids said, but we just had gut feelings that there has got to be more to their source of happiness than that. So, a light bulb went off in my head and I figured I’d make the kids discuss about “What kind of things make (them) you sad”. We would make them write whatever they shared. Then, we would surprise them and instruct them to draw whatever happiness is for them. My only prompt was… “well if happiness is when all your sadness is put away, isn’t it?”. This made a lot of them go back to what they wrote about sadness and the drawings came out pretty amazing. Of course, the girl who said she is sad because her parents went to court and separated had no different kind of drawing than kids who said they became sad when they didn’t get what they wanted their parents to buy them. Also, these kids’ drawings were no different than the kid who said she becomes sad when she doesn’t get to visit her village for more than a year or…any different from the kid who said she becomes sad when she returns home and is given so much work that she has no time for homework…or any different from the kid who wrote “I get sad when my friend gets kidnapped.”

What I’m trying to say is, how do I show to the rest of the world what these kids are going through??? It is difficult for kids growing up in Nepal at this time. I want people to know how they are struggling and how they are living through it.

I thought a lot about it and realized some things about this.

I know we can’t publish a book called “sad stories of nepali kids”. This book we are putting together is going to be about happiness. To know about what makes these children happy is to know how they fight or try to fight through what makes them sad. This opportunity to realize what things have been making them happy or being able to dream about the things that could make them happy is important. Happiness is important.

love and peace,

Sneha.

 

Workshop day #2

SO SO SO EXCITING! This was a work to just let our fabulous forty try out different mediums they could possibly create their final work with. We set up 5 work stations, each with a different art medium. We had color pencils, pastels, crayons, paint and cut and paste station. It was so much fun. I tried really hard to not even scribble anything with the brand new colors. I didn’t want to distract the kids in any way. But gosh, it was so exciting letting the sixth graders use brand new colors and tell them they can use it however they want. Art is a privelege not provided so often in most schools.here .But even though I went to one of the best schools in Nepal and we had weekly art classes, breaking into a new set of colors was always always so exciting. I imagined the excitement would be of the same sort with the kids and it was. I always treated new colors very special even as they turned old and short. I hope they respect colors and making art with them the same way.

 

With love,

Colorness.

P.S. - it was a wonderful photo day for me; perfect lighting, happy people and lots of colors

(download)

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Reading_and_Reflection_Nepal_w.zip (187 KB)

Workshop day #1:

We had 39 pairs of eager eyes looking at us at 1:30pm when the workshop started. Our first work day was only an hour long. It was basically introductions and icebreakers. Yea, Res.Life taught me a lot of that…Kudos to Res Life also for the people skills. So intro day turned out very successful. I also learned by the end of the work shop what I had REALLY got myself into. A lot of work. Haha but this project is my Baby…and there are no ugly babies.

 

Ooh I can speak Nepali!!! I mean, only in Nepali minus English.

By now, having interacted so much with the school staff and now beginning to interact directly with school student who might possible be looking up to us, it is so importantly for me to speak in Nepal. ONLY Nepali, I mean. I have a tendency, just like other young educated nepali people to mix up and speak Nenglish. A mixture of Nepali and English words in the same sentence. Speaking only Nepali, is more difficult than you think. Anyway, I am proud to be able to speak in only Nepali when I want to. You see, it is important for me, as a Nepali helping the people in my community, to be able to speak in a way that is not foreign in any way. I do not want the people I am working with and trying to help that I am so different and…foreign. I want them to know that I am nepali, am just helping another nepali. Okay. CHEESE CHEESE CHEESE. I know. It sounds cheeseey but the thing is, everytime such a development project is carried out, it’s always a foreign aid agency pouring a bunch of money to create something new and shiny that won’t last. Well. This project is the opposite of all this. This project is funded from outside of Nepal but involved is not just money. It involves an amazing person who is appreciative , adapting , and respectful to another culture and involves a local nepali too. This project is special. Everything matters. Everything counts.

love,

sillynepali_22

-Sneha