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Worktrip to CO with Habitat
For Humanity: Denver, CO
For this trip,
I was a counselor for a group of 14 teenagers. Our church group travelled
to Colorado for a week in which we teamed up with Habitat for Humanity
to work on a shed and retaining wall. Though I helped out some, my
main role was to provide guidance and a role model to a group of teenagers.
As the result of my age, I was torn often between being both a responsible
adult and a young person for the teenagers to relate to.
Kwetu Home For Streetchildren:
Nairobi, Kenya
Kwetu
means "our home" in Swahili. The home is run by NGO catholic organization.
Its mission was to rehabilitate streetchildren by removing them from the
streets, provide a primary education and then teach them a trade.
I worked peridoically at this establishment for six months. My responsibilities
were to teach computers to the streetchildren, ages 13-19 and to the nuns
that ran the orphanage. In addition, with the sisters we returned
several of the young children that were kidnapped by older boys back to
their families.
Bronson Hospital, Emergency
Room: Kalamazoo, MI
I
worked at Bronson Hospital as a volunteer for six months. I performed
multifarious tasks but my main position was in the ER and required that
I interact with both the patients and the family. I tried to help
the family in anyway possible to make their tragic experience a little
less painful. This position requires intuitive instinct and patience.
One of the most challenging part of the job is when you feel that you are
just in the way. Due to the high stress levels in the ER, doctors
and nurses can be very blunt and say so to the volunteers. However,
there are other times in which the staff actually takes the time to say
thanks.
St. Vincent's Home for Boys:
St. Louis, MO
St. Vincent's
Boys Home is an orphanage that takes in boys and girls from ages 4 to 15
years old. The children have been removed from the courts due to
mistreatment from the parents. Many of the children's parents and
sibling are in jail for one reason or another. My position was as
a volunteer in which I worked along side a teacher and helped her in any
way possible. This included tutoring each child one on one.
We also played and organized games for the children. The hardest
part of the position is listening to the children whose slang vocabulary
plagues their speech. These children often look up to their sibling
and many want to be dealers of drugs like their brothers. Another
equally depressing part of the position is how the kids, once pass 6 years
old are sedated when they act up. One child of mine throw a cup of
water at the teacher. The child was then removed from the classroom
and later returned in a comatose state.
Bronson Senior Home: Kalamazoo,
MI
This volunteer
position is unique from most I have. The intensity is quite different.
The people that I work with are mainly elderly women with most restricted
to a wheelchair and oblivious to most things around them. My position
at this institution is to organize games and activities with the elderly.
Unlike other volunteer positions, this one includes a group of fellow students.
One of the most challenging part of this position is knowing that someone
of the people are on anti-depressants. Each visit to the institution, I
see each person in a new mood. For example, one lady, named Mary,
was totally sedate one visit and next time did not stop laughing.
Then again later she was again in a comatose state. Though the senior
home is not the same intensity as other positions I have held, it does
create some strong emotions and triggering thoughts about the furute of
my parents and even myself in the future.