10/26/2009 For the fall 2009 Celebrate Service Day here at Goshen College, I served a volunteer with my other house mates. Totaling nine girls, the residents of Howell House spent the day with members of ADEC. The Association for the Disabled of Elkhart County (ADEC) is an agency that supports people with disabilities in Elkhart County. ADEC helps provide job opportunities for people with disabilities that will strengthen the community. Because of this agency, people with disabilities can maximize their abilities and also have a supportive community around them. There are day services available to teach ADEC members life skills for the future.
My house mates and I volunteered to facilitate a day of activity at the Elkhart Sports Center. The morning session was to play sports such as softball, volleyball, basketball, and kickball with the ADEC members. I was paired with my friend Chelsey and we were assigned kickball. She was the pitcher and I mainly was in the outfield, directing the players where to go. At first, I was incredibly shy and didn’t want to talk much, but that didn’t last long. Soon I was having so much fun and getting to know all of the players on my team. Chelsey worked really well with the person who was kicking and telling them to run to first, and my task was telling the players on second and third to run!!! Some of the players didn’t need as much help as others and spending time with them helped me better understand personalities and characteristics of the players. There was a wide range of disabilities which made it difficult because there were many needs to be met. For example, one individual was in a wheelchair and had to be pushed to first base, etc. On the other hand, there were players that had mild disabilities that could get impatient if others were taking a long time. Working with these individuals really stretched me and made me use various forms of instruction. For example, some individuals did really well with verbal commands that told them specifically which base to run to. But there were others that preferred visual reminders with less verbal commands. I thoroughly enjoyed my time facilitating a game of kickball!
For the afternoon activity there was a music therapist that came and had everyone make music. Again it was very interesting to see the different personality types; some loved keeping a steady beat while others would prefer improvisation and dancing. I was really impressed with the music therapist for how should could encourage everyone to express themselves in their own way. When one ADEC member who has Down syndrome started feeling the music she got up and danced. While this wasn’t what the therapist told her to do, she encouraged it and thanked her for her creativity. This is a great way to help individuals feel comfortable in the setting while still having fun. Using shakers, beating drums, clapping our hands, and dancing was such a great way for these ADEC members to release energy and express themselves. I feel very lucky to have been a part of this day full of activities and I will be able to reflect on this day when working with people with disabilities in the future.
4/20/09
My mother has helped with music at our church for many, many years and I have helped her when I can. For five years, I’ve volunteered one week of my summers to lead music for Vacation Bible School (VBS). Usually I lead with my mother, but last year she was unavailable. So for that year I took her place at leading music for my church’s VBS. There was surprisingly a lot of planning that went into this (more than I thought). I had to plan songs that fit with the theme for that day and make sure I had enough to fill up the time. I had some practice at this, but it still took quite a bit of organization to make everything run smoothly.
Organization wasn’t the only thing that I learned from this; I also learned to have plenty of energy! I was working with various age groups so I had to play “cool” to the eighth graders who didn’t really want to sing and do motions, but also jump around to the music with the kindergarteners. This was great practice for me to meet the needs of my “students”.
Some of the classes had around 15 kids, which made it a lively time. However, I needed to keep their attention as much as possible. Having all of my materials ready to go, in order really helped me manage the kids. If I didn’t give them time between songs, they were less likely to talk, and less talking means more singing! After all of my work planning the days and working with the kids, I was rewarded with an excellent performance the following Sunday. Volunteering for doing VBS music gave me experience with organization and using my energy efficiently, which will be useful in the future!
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For a fall 2008 Study Service Term, SST, I went to the beautiful island of Jamaica in the Caribbean. There were two parts to the trip—a study term and a service term. For my service term I traveled to Kingston, the capital of Jamaica, to volunteer in a school for the Deaf. Caribbean Christian Center for the Deaf (CCCD) was a residential school in the heart of Jamaica’s capital. It was fenced in with strict curfews and 24 hour security. I lived on campus in a small apartment with one other Goshen student. CCCD provides education for about 80 kids ranging from preschool to tenth grade. There is a mixture of Deaf and hearing faculty and staff. I spent six hard weeks working for the school in whatever way needed.
My roommate Laura and I started out our six weeks trying to get to know students and help out in classrooms. It was such a change being in classrooms with only Deaf children. The classroom has to be set up differently, activities are different, and communication is much different when comparing classrooms with hearing children. For these six weeks I was in a new culture being in Jamaica, but I also was in a new culture living on a Deaf campus. I had to adjust to the ways typical to Jamaicans and also of Deaf school children. I had to learn the ropes of their discipline which was really difficult at times because our morals didn’t quite match up.
The teachers used us as aids to help out in the classroom where they needed us along with prep work outside of the classroom. I made countless posters and charts for the teachers’ rooms. Since Deaf individuals are so visual, they love colorful posters that serve as an overview of the unit. Days in the library got extremely long and hot! But we did our best to keep being positive about everything. When we saw how grateful the teachers were to have their classroom decorated it was well worth it! Also seeing students use the posters during homework time in class made every minute of work count.
In being with these Deaf children I learned a lot about their culture and their backgrounds. A lot of the stories they told us or we heard about were very sad. Out of all 80 students, none of the parents knew how to sign. When the children would go home for occasional visits or holidays, I can’t imagine the lack of communication and the struggle that brings into the home. But through this endeavor, I saw how truly strong these Deaf individuals had to be and how far they’d come. They are inspiring people to anyone who gives them the chance. It was such a pleasure to work with them and get to know them and their stories.
For a service project, my youth group went to Bayou La Batre, Alabama through Mennonite Disaster Services (MDS). We worked on houses that were damaged from past hurricanes. Our youth group worked with a group of Muslims from New York. Going into this, I had no idea what it would be like. I didn't know what they would look like, how they would dress, if they would talk, or if they'd like me! We talked about it as a youth group, did Bible studies centered on it, and prayed in our preparation.
Once we got there, we realized they looked exactly like us. The had east coast accents, but seemed the same as us. Their names were unfamiliar to us because they were originating from the Koran, just as some of our names come from the Bible. It was very interesting to learn about their culture as time went on, and I learned a lot! Although we all looked like ordinary teenagers, our roots were completely different.
Throughout the week, we did a lot of sharing and listening. It took me a while to let go of my pride and realize that we are just different people. I had to gain a respect for these teens, and I did this by listening to their stories. I felt that they respected me for what I believed in and we did find similarities. One of the biggest ones was our love for service. Both groups wanted to help these people that had lost their homes and even lives.
This process of gaining respect is something I hope I can take with me into my teaching profession. Hearing students' stories and listening to everything they say will help me achieve this goal. I want to create a safe environment in my classroom and I think by gaining and giving respect for cultures I can do so.
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