Two main themes come to mind when I think about my experience with World Relief. The first comes from our trying and frustrating times with our first family. I learned that with frustrations come the perfect opportunities to be patient. We gave that family almost a month's worth of chances before we finally decided to move on and find another family. I don't know what it was about working with World Relief that made me feel so patient, because normally in that kind of situation, I would not have held on and waited as long as we did. But, I knew that we were helping someone in need, so I felt the need to be patient and allow them any time that they needed.
The second main theme I noticed during our experience came from working with Margaret. She taught Emelia and me valuable lessons about faith, perseverance, acceptance, and equality. She showed us that it shouldn't matter what culture you are from or what religion you affiliate with. What matters is that we are all people who are from the same God who loves us equally. She taught me that stereotypes are low and deserve to be broken. She values every person, which is something I need to work on.
Both of these themes will help me greatly in my future interpersonal encounters. Patience doesn't just have to be shown when working with someone who doesn't speak your language. It has to be shown no matter who you're talking to or what you're doing. Everyone is different and approaches things in different ways, and it is important to be patient and accepting of different methods of approaching a situation. The lessons about faith, perseverance, acceptance, and equality are perhaps the most important ones I learned during this experience. Everyone is going to experience hardship in life at some point and it is very important to keep your faith close to your heart and not give up. We are all going to meet so many different kinds of people in life and, while they may be different from us, we must realize that we are all from the same God and therefore we all deserve to be treated with the same amount of respect. These are all incredibly valuable lessons that I will carry with me into every encounter in my life.
Thursday, November 7, 2013
Blog #4: Watching It Grow
Emelia and I were a little bit nervous going in to see Margaret today because we knew that we would be there on our own without the help of the volunteer coordinator today. Just as before, she met us at the door with a warm smile and a big hug. She had a visitor from a few apartments down when we first arrived, but she left pretty quick after we got there.
Today's visit was pretty similar to our visit last time. She had grapes and Milo (Asian hot chocolate) for us, and she talked to us again about her faith. She mentioned to us last time we visited that she really was wishing she had brought her rosary over with her from Burma, so we brought one over for her. We told her she lived the lifestyle of a college student when she told us that most days she went to bed around 2:00 in the morning, which gave her a good laugh. The only difference, of course, being that while Margaret is up that late praying and taking down scriptures, most college kids are awake doing homework or partying with buddies. Things started to get a little odd when she tried explaining to us that she had not had a bath yet today. She said she wanted to get one taken before it got too late in the day. After saying we thought that was a good idea, she got up and left the room, and soon we heard the shower turn on. She left us in the living room and went and took a bath! We couldn't be mad though, she's just too wonderful.
Our relationship with Margaret is definitely still in the developing friendship stage. We got along with her just as well during this visit as we did last time. Burmese people place great emphasis on forming strong relationships, and apparently on doing so quickly! Something that caught my attention this time was something that reminded me of the first family we worked with. Margaret's orientation to time and to others seemed a little different to us this time because she left in the middle of a conversation to go take a bath. It could be possible that the Burmese culture does not place as much importance on be on time, as long as the task at hand eventually gets done. The task of conversing with us did eventually get done, just after she took her bath!
I learned a very important lesson when talking to Margaret today about faith. I realized soon after we got there that I had brought my rosary for her that I got from Rome and that it had a picture of the Pope on the box. I got nervous because I knew the main religion in Burma was Buddhism. But she didn't even bat an eyelash; she was still thrilled to have it. She stressed the point that we are all refugees coming to God for one reason or another. Religious affiliation has no effect on how much God loves each of us. I've learned more about equality, acceptance, and God's unconditional love in two visits with Margaret than I did in the four years I spent in Catholic school...Wow...She left me speechless today, that's for sure.
Today's visit was pretty similar to our visit last time. She had grapes and Milo (Asian hot chocolate) for us, and she talked to us again about her faith. She mentioned to us last time we visited that she really was wishing she had brought her rosary over with her from Burma, so we brought one over for her. We told her she lived the lifestyle of a college student when she told us that most days she went to bed around 2:00 in the morning, which gave her a good laugh. The only difference, of course, being that while Margaret is up that late praying and taking down scriptures, most college kids are awake doing homework or partying with buddies. Things started to get a little odd when she tried explaining to us that she had not had a bath yet today. She said she wanted to get one taken before it got too late in the day. After saying we thought that was a good idea, she got up and left the room, and soon we heard the shower turn on. She left us in the living room and went and took a bath! We couldn't be mad though, she's just too wonderful.
Our relationship with Margaret is definitely still in the developing friendship stage. We got along with her just as well during this visit as we did last time. Burmese people place great emphasis on forming strong relationships, and apparently on doing so quickly! Something that caught my attention this time was something that reminded me of the first family we worked with. Margaret's orientation to time and to others seemed a little different to us this time because she left in the middle of a conversation to go take a bath. It could be possible that the Burmese culture does not place as much importance on be on time, as long as the task at hand eventually gets done. The task of conversing with us did eventually get done, just after she took her bath!
I learned a very important lesson when talking to Margaret today about faith. I realized soon after we got there that I had brought my rosary for her that I got from Rome and that it had a picture of the Pope on the box. I got nervous because I knew the main religion in Burma was Buddhism. But she didn't even bat an eyelash; she was still thrilled to have it. She stressed the point that we are all refugees coming to God for one reason or another. Religious affiliation has no effect on how much God loves each of us. I've learned more about equality, acceptance, and God's unconditional love in two visits with Margaret than I did in the four years I spent in Catholic school...Wow...She left me speechless today, that's for sure.
Tuesday, November 5, 2013
Blog #3: A New Crop
We came across a bump in the road during the course of this project. Every time we tried to go back to our family's house, they either would not answer the door or they would be gone altogether. We came back to their house every Thursday at the same time for three weeks and still they never came. I thought this was very rude, but then I remembered that different cultures have different perceptions when it comes to orientation to time. As Americans, we expected our family to always be punctual because we made a commitment to teaching them. It could be possible that the Burmese culture does not place as much importance on be on time, as long as the task at hand eventually gets done.
After explaining our dilemma to Kelly, the volunteer coordinator, she assigned us to a new family. We are now working with a single Burmese widow that is completely fluent in English. Our main job is to keep her company one day a week and talk to her about our lives since her husband has passed away and her children live all over the place.
We had an instant connection with Margaret the moment we walked in the door. She gave us all a huge hug and offered us something do drink and a snack. She was so excited to have visitors that she just started talking nonstop about her life and sharing wonderful wisdom with us. She has an incredibly strong faith. She has 10 biological children, 6 of which have now passed away. But she still believes that the Lord has a plan for all of them, including herself. She writes down scriptures and prays the rosary in all of her free time. She prays for everyone in the world, whether she knows them or not.
Normally I would expect the initiation stage of forming a relationship to be awkward and consisting of lots of small talk about the weather and how the day goes. Emelia and I had about 3 minutes of that with Margaret before we delved into the deep conversation about faith in God. I know that Burmese people place great emphasis on forming strong relationships, and this was incredibly evident in her. She moved very quickly through the initiation stage, breezed through the acquaintance stage, and we were instant friends. Sometimes this is a cultural thing, but in this situation I think she did that because that's just how comfortable she is with people.
Margaret's ease and willingness to befriend new people has helped me greatly. She showed me that it shouldn't matter what culture you are from or what religion you affiliate with. What matters is that we are all people who are from the same God. She taught me that stereotypes are low and deserve to be broken. She values every person, which is a quality that we definitely need in more people in this world.
After explaining our dilemma to Kelly, the volunteer coordinator, she assigned us to a new family. We are now working with a single Burmese widow that is completely fluent in English. Our main job is to keep her company one day a week and talk to her about our lives since her husband has passed away and her children live all over the place.
We had an instant connection with Margaret the moment we walked in the door. She gave us all a huge hug and offered us something do drink and a snack. She was so excited to have visitors that she just started talking nonstop about her life and sharing wonderful wisdom with us. She has an incredibly strong faith. She has 10 biological children, 6 of which have now passed away. But she still believes that the Lord has a plan for all of them, including herself. She writes down scriptures and prays the rosary in all of her free time. She prays for everyone in the world, whether she knows them or not.
Normally I would expect the initiation stage of forming a relationship to be awkward and consisting of lots of small talk about the weather and how the day goes. Emelia and I had about 3 minutes of that with Margaret before we delved into the deep conversation about faith in God. I know that Burmese people place great emphasis on forming strong relationships, and this was incredibly evident in her. She moved very quickly through the initiation stage, breezed through the acquaintance stage, and we were instant friends. Sometimes this is a cultural thing, but in this situation I think she did that because that's just how comfortable she is with people.
Margaret's ease and willingness to befriend new people has helped me greatly. She showed me that it shouldn't matter what culture you are from or what religion you affiliate with. What matters is that we are all people who are from the same God. She taught me that stereotypes are low and deserve to be broken. She values every person, which is a quality that we definitely need in more people in this world.
Blog #2: The First Drop of Water
The first encounter that my partner and I had with our World Relief family was an interesting one. Thankfully, we had the help of Autumn, a long-time volunteer with World Relief that offered to help us start our project on a good foot. If she had not been there for us, we would have been left in the dark without knowledge of how to interact with our family.
We worked on basic conversation skills with our family on the first day. This proved to be more difficult than I expected because both the grandmother and the grandson barely knew how to say hello to us when we came to the door. The grandson knew more English than his grandmother, so he was able to help us explain some harder concepts to his grandmother (phrases like "How are you?" and "Nice to meet you".) Emelia and Autumn worked with the grandmother on conversational phrases while I worked with the grandson on some of his homework. He had to memorize the names of places around town, like the fire station and the post office. He knew that a station and an office both meant a building, but he had a hard time differentiating between the two, which resulted in words like "fire office" and "post station".
We had to understand that our family had to have a high tolerance for ambiguity during this experience. We had to realize that no matter how many times I wrote down the phrase "Nice to meet you" on a piece of paper, the family might say it and spell it without ever attaching the right meaning to the phrase. This also applies to the interpretation and organization stages of the perception process. Our family was able to organize the information well enough to say it and spell it correctly, but not to an extent on which meaning is attached. With no meaning (or an incorrect meaning) interpretation of the message can be wrong and the family could be left saying things that make no sense in context.
The biggest lesson I learned during our first interaction is patience. We have to have a high tolerance for ambiguity when working with our family. If we do not do this, then it is possible to get very frustrated with the family and get less work done than would get done otherwise. In our next experience, I need to calm down beforehand and tell myself that speaking English will never be as easy for them as it is for me. If my tolerance for ambiguity is high, it will make for a much smoother experience.
We worked on basic conversation skills with our family on the first day. This proved to be more difficult than I expected because both the grandmother and the grandson barely knew how to say hello to us when we came to the door. The grandson knew more English than his grandmother, so he was able to help us explain some harder concepts to his grandmother (phrases like "How are you?" and "Nice to meet you".) Emelia and Autumn worked with the grandmother on conversational phrases while I worked with the grandson on some of his homework. He had to memorize the names of places around town, like the fire station and the post office. He knew that a station and an office both meant a building, but he had a hard time differentiating between the two, which resulted in words like "fire office" and "post station".
We had to understand that our family had to have a high tolerance for ambiguity during this experience. We had to realize that no matter how many times I wrote down the phrase "Nice to meet you" on a piece of paper, the family might say it and spell it without ever attaching the right meaning to the phrase. This also applies to the interpretation and organization stages of the perception process. Our family was able to organize the information well enough to say it and spell it correctly, but not to an extent on which meaning is attached. With no meaning (or an incorrect meaning) interpretation of the message can be wrong and the family could be left saying things that make no sense in context.
The biggest lesson I learned during our first interaction is patience. We have to have a high tolerance for ambiguity when working with our family. If we do not do this, then it is possible to get very frustrated with the family and get less work done than would get done otherwise. In our next experience, I need to calm down beforehand and tell myself that speaking English will never be as easy for them as it is for me. If my tolerance for ambiguity is high, it will make for a much smoother experience.
Monday, September 23, 2013
Blog #1: Planting the Seed
For our Interpersonal Communication service project, my partner and I will be volunteering with World Relief in Moline, IL teaching English to new refugees. Our first meeting with our World Relief family is coming up this Thursday, and I have a lot of internal anxiety going on about meeting them. I am fully expecting and hoping to be challenged by this project. I always did service back home in Des Moines and at my high school, but I don't think I have encountered a project that has presented such a challenge as this one. In high school, I tended to stick to the "safe" projects and the projects where I could see what was coming next. I always gravitated toward the typical food pantry and homeless shelter-type projects, just because that's what high schoolers my age were most comfortable doing. You go, serve some food, and go home, without having to do any sort of social involvement. And even if there was social involvement, it surely was done in English. So my hopes for this project of TEACHING English are certainly that I will be challenged in a way that I have yet to be challenged in life.
I'm assuming that World Relief provides for its refugees just what its name suggests: relief. Lord only knows what those refugees have been through in life, and it is my hope and my assumption that World Relief is there for them to provide a new opportunity to start their lives over and get back on their feet again. I don't know a whole lot about the work that World Relief does, only what Kelly explained to us when she came to talk to our class. From what I understand, World Relief provides a jumping-off point and a chance to start over for the refugees it serves. A lot of the refugees come from hostile environments in which they don't feel safe. They come to America to start their lives over in a new, safe environment. Some (if not most) come to America with nothing, so it's the job of World Relief to at least start them off with a place to live and references as to where to find a job, learn English, etc. I am so excited to be able to be a part of this process of providing a new life for someone, whether it be a single person or an entire family.
While I have never done volunteer work with World Relief specifically, I have always had a passion for volunteering and helping others. At my high school, we had a service requirement of ten hours every semester. For me, it was a lot more than just a requirement to be fulfilled. I believe that working with the various organizations that I did, I became a much more well-rounded person, and I became more compassionate as well. Technically, I am still undeclared at this point as to what my major is, but I really think I want to pursue a degree in psychology. I want to be a social worker or a counselor. I love and have a passion for helping people become the best versions of themselves possible. I really feel like teaching English to refugees with World Relief will help me accomplish this. More importantly, it will help the people I work with to accomplish much more in the working world and just in everyday life than they would be able to without knowledge of English. This is a great step for me to take in order to better myself. But that doesn't even matter when I think about how much better off so many other people will be because of me.
I'm assuming that World Relief provides for its refugees just what its name suggests: relief. Lord only knows what those refugees have been through in life, and it is my hope and my assumption that World Relief is there for them to provide a new opportunity to start their lives over and get back on their feet again. I don't know a whole lot about the work that World Relief does, only what Kelly explained to us when she came to talk to our class. From what I understand, World Relief provides a jumping-off point and a chance to start over for the refugees it serves. A lot of the refugees come from hostile environments in which they don't feel safe. They come to America to start their lives over in a new, safe environment. Some (if not most) come to America with nothing, so it's the job of World Relief to at least start them off with a place to live and references as to where to find a job, learn English, etc. I am so excited to be able to be a part of this process of providing a new life for someone, whether it be a single person or an entire family.
While I have never done volunteer work with World Relief specifically, I have always had a passion for volunteering and helping others. At my high school, we had a service requirement of ten hours every semester. For me, it was a lot more than just a requirement to be fulfilled. I believe that working with the various organizations that I did, I became a much more well-rounded person, and I became more compassionate as well. Technically, I am still undeclared at this point as to what my major is, but I really think I want to pursue a degree in psychology. I want to be a social worker or a counselor. I love and have a passion for helping people become the best versions of themselves possible. I really feel like teaching English to refugees with World Relief will help me accomplish this. More importantly, it will help the people I work with to accomplish much more in the working world and just in everyday life than they would be able to without knowledge of English. This is a great step for me to take in order to better myself. But that doesn't even matter when I think about how much better off so many other people will be because of me.
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