ASB Reflections

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Like I Never Left

Hello everyone,

Barbara here. Today was our team’s first day of service at Community Servings. This is my second year working at this amazing organization and so far, nothing’s changed. And I mean this as a very high compliment. The chefs are still extremely talented and devoted to making nutritious and delicious food. The volunteers are still hopeful, excited, hospitable, and helpful. The mission is still the same: delivering nutritious and tasty meals to families living with chronic illnesses. I am so glad to be back!

We began our first day of service with the volunteer orientation. Our team learned how important washing our hands were as many of Community Servings clients have suppressed immune systems and so any contact with bacteria or germs could potentially result in a client’s hospitalization or death. We learned the importance an organization like Community Servings has in the community. Many of the volunteers Our team spent the entire day slicing, dicing, plating, scoping, packaging, washing, you name it! We realized just how much thought gets put into feeding these families. I was on the assembly line packaging a meal of chicken cacciatore, mashed potatoes, and vegetables and I remember that we would wipe the containers so that they were clean and aesthetically appealing, which reminded me that actual families are eating these meals and we should treat them with the respect they deserve.

Today reminded me a lot of cultural assumptions about those who receive free food or services and assumption that they will be glad to get ANYTHING (the sort of beggars can’t be choosers scenario). Community Servings reminded me that retaining the dignity of those we serve is fundamentally in service work. We should not come in with the attitude that those we serve should be appreciative of whatever we give them. Rather Community Servings helps me realize that I am working to benefit someone else, and I should think about their wants ad desires, not the other way around. I’m reminded of what serving the community means to me: understanding what the community needs and working to provide what community members need in tandem with the community. I am super excited about continuing to do just that with Community Servings for the next couple of days.

Till some other time!

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Hope Is Vital: Day One at Community Servings

Today was the first day of our service here in Boston with our community partner, Community Servings. The organization works to feed individuals with life altering illnesses and their families in many parts of Massachusetts. We were welcomed the second we entered the Community Servings building, as our group is volunteering at a time during the year in which the organization is low on volunteers. After a short volunteer orientation explaining the rules of the kitchen and a little more about the organization, we were eager to get on our gloves, aprons, and hair nets to start our service in the kitchen.

Our team was split up into all sorts of tasks from cutting vegetables, to packaging salads, and assembling full meals to be deliver to people in Boston and neighboring areas. I feel that even in just one day, we were able to see the process of assembling ingredients into delicious meals to be sent out to thousands of clients in need. All of the work put into making these meals was very careful and I could definitely see that the workers truly enjoyed and cared about the final product. We were also able to have amazing conversations with various people who worked and volunteered at Community Servings. Each of the grouup members heard life stories about why they worked here or about their families. It was an amazing feeling having what were strangers at the beginning of the day open up to us so much. Our day wasn’t filled with constant seriousness and reflection, as we had many laughs with fellow volunteers and workers as if we had known each other for years.

I am very eager and excited to be waking up bright and early tomorrow morning to have another long, but fun day at Community Servings. I can’t wait to see what the rest of the week unfolds.

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Let the Construction Begin!

Today is our third day in El Salvador and it has been a complete blessing. I have already learned so much than what I have ever wanted to know. Reflecting from the home visits we had yesterday I was able to connect and understand with the families we are serving.

During this trip we are serving two families. Both families are beautiful and full of hope. Our group of fifteen split into two and began working on the two houses. My team and I worked with Jose’s family of two kids: Jose and Jaimie and their mother, Sylvia. This family is humble and very hard-working.

Today was the first day of actual construction and to be honest I was very surprised and happy for all the work we were able to accomplish. We were able to accomplish what was set to be done for the day and more! I was excited and nervous to start the houses mostly because I’ve never done anything like that and I wanted everything to be perfect.

All of the master carpenters were incredibly patient in teaching the group which was great. By the end of the day we were able to have the frame of the house, roof, and windows all done. It was very calming to see the house go from pieces of wood to an actual frame of of the house up and almost done.

One touching moment was seeing the two kids come back from school and willing to help with simple things such as handing nails and other tools to us. They seemed to appreciate what we were doing for them which made everything worth it.

If you are interested in helping in any form please feel free to visit the OPAT website for more information

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Alumni Connection

Today was all about connections for Team Super. Beginning with our prep for Brilla, we worked in small groups to polish our lesson plans and make them accessible and meaningful to the students we would be working with. Hopefully the students find the lessons as exciting as we do. Lunch was an adventure as we traveled into Midtown and met up with Alums Steve and Jillian. The treated us to a fantastic lunch where we got to learn about Steve and Jillian’s history with ASB. Their advice was refreshingly honest. They spoke to us as equals and told us about how their linkage to ABS did not end with their time at Lafayette. Steve had continued his work with ASB long after graduation and was changing his career path to be a better conscience citizen. Jillian, who now teaches at a charter school in Brooklyn, gave us an opportunity to speak to an educator before going to Brilla. She gave us insight on the students, community and lives we would be interacting with. Jillian was a breath of fresh air when it came to her honest and savy tips on how to best be helpers rather than saviors.

Speaking to Steve and Jillian gave us time to reflect on ASB as a program rather than our small group. We were able to see the lasting effect ASB and these trips leave on those who are apart of them. There’s a reason we chose to come aboard these trips and its because we want to do more than just live in this world. We want to help change it. The connections we shared with Steve and Jillian helped us push forward as group and really bond. Something about seeing two former ASBers be so invested in each others lives and service was inspiring. Their passion was contagious and as we set forth on our first day at Brilla, I can only hope we are half as passionate with our work as they are with theirs.

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Hope is Vital – Day 2

With today being MLKJ day, a lot of things were closed but we were lucky enough to get enough tickets for our team to go see Selma. The theater was packed but for good reason. The movie led us to some interesting conversations especially about teamwork and leadership.These continued for the rest of the afternoon and even into our alumni dinner. The three alumni (classes of 2009, 2011, and 2013) were happy to talk about a variety of topics from careers and majors to experiences on ASB trips and travel advice. After a great dinner we headed back to the hostel for our first team reflection which was great. We talked about our hopes and fears for the week as well as our expectations of our service. I feel like this time really got us all excited to get started at Community Servings tomorrow morning. We also got to hear from each team member about where we stand right now and got us all on the same page. We can’t wait to meet our community partners tomorrow!

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Hope Is Vital: MLKJ Day Adventures

Today we started our day walking around until we found a very popular bakery and cafe called the Flour Bakery. It was interesting to see the very different types of people, since many had traveled in order to visit such a well-known food-attraction. Although we got quite lost on our way to see the Selma movie today, I believe it strengthened our team unity since we all kept our spirits up and had to cooperate with one another to find our direction. I think that such bonding will help us work well together when we begin our volunteering tomorrow. We also ate dinner with some Boston alumni, and one of them had actually been on the same ASB trip as ours! So it was great to hear about his experiences and how they’ve affected him and possibly how our experiences may affect us.

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Day 2 Reflection

On our way to the Communidad de las Brisas, you can’t help but notice the advertisements taking over every street corner, wall, and telephone post. Except these ads aren’t selling the latest stylish shoes or the most recent iPhone, but trying to sell the people of Santa Ana on their future. These are political ads bracing the public for the upcoming election. While I don’t know much about the election’s issues, one thing is certain: El Salvadorians are frustrated. The frustration stems from the lack of progress. Residents are disappointed by the failed promises of the party in power to fix dilapidated infrastructure.

As bad as the situation may be, there is no shortage of hope. Upon entering the community, we were greeted by a celebration consisting of music, dancing, stories, and poetry. Smiles lit up the event while we introduced ourselves to the locals. It was apparent how much they cherished what they had and knew that their situations, as tough as they may be, could be even worse. It didn’t take long for me to realize that our mission there was not to “help” them, but to understand them. Their hope derives from this understanding. As fun as today was, it’s time to get to work.

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El Día Segundo

In our first night of reflection the term “limited understanding” kept coming up and I know that I was one of the individuals that used this specific phase.   I cannot speak on behalf of the whole group’s perspective, but on an individual level I know that before I came to El Salvador I only had the knowledge of what I learned from education meetings or from reading something. Because of this limited understanding I believe in a way my perspective had been crafted for me. Of course I could draw my own conclusions or look at something in a different light but my thoughts were always derived from a secondary source. Without having an experience directly you never can see an entire picture. And I definitely do not believe that by the end of this ASB trip I will be even close to a complete picture, but I believe that I will have a few more pieces filled in allowing me to have a better understanding of poverty.

Going back to that phrase limited understanding I think my understanding of poverty has changed significantly in the two days that we have been here. I never really understood why poverty was perpetuated. But poverty is so much more complex then just money, which I never really had a strong grasp of. For example someone could give an individual a large sum of money but without education that person will run through the money quickly and return to the lifestyle that they were at.

And I think the most important thing I learned about poverty in the two days we have been here is that poverty can be beautiful. Getting the opportunity to interact and be welcomed into the communidad de Las Brisas allowed me to meet individuals and laugh and smile with them. The residents of this community all had this lively, optimistic spirit. Thinking back to my limited understanding of poverty I can recall being taught certain stereotypes of poverty but none of these stereotypes were even close to being true. These welcoming individuals had this level of dignity that I cannot even put into words. Being welcomed into this community really opened my eyes and allowed me to see poverty in a different light.

The fact that I have already knowledge has grown so much in such a short time shows me really how my limited understanding was truly limited. I know that I am no where close to understanding the complexity of poverty but I know this experience has helped me see and recognize things I would not have gotten from reading some text. I came on this trip with the hopes of understanding poverty. I now know I will never be able to understand poverty, but hopefully with every passing day I will gain a new insight I did not have before.

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Day 2 SUPER: Me, We

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After our first team breakfast, everybody gathered to watch a short clip about changing education paradigms. The video followed an engaging group discussion about what could be improved about the education system and how students should be sorted based on their ages, ability or interests. All team members agreed that learning should be made more of a collaborative and not isolated experience where students are not treated like manufactured products but like promising individuals. The discussion emphasized that non-academic did not mean non-smart.
Even though the members have already warmed up to each other from daily interactions like traveling and cooking together, we played group bonding games like human knot. It was more strenuous than any of us expected but we finally succeeded in getting closer to each other, literally.

The visit to the Studio Museum in Harlem inspired a heartening discussion about the stereotypes the Black population have to endure, even in today’s times. The team’s favorite was “The Jerome Project” where Titus Kaphar tried to personify the repercussions of imprisonment of the overrepresented African American population with tar. The team leader pointed out how Muhammad Ali’s poem “Me, We” conveniently summarized what we, not only as individuals but also as a team were trying to accomplish on this trip.

It was my first time watching the “Freedom Writers” and I finally realized what the hype was all about! Discussions about the movie covered topics like the difference between white supremacy and white ally, striving to earn respect from students, communicating with them the true purpose of education etc. Acknowledging the problems with the education system and blending in all that we learnt, we discussed the best ways to teach students of different levels of competency.

One thing is for sure, none of us can wait to meet our students and finally begin teaching!

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“Me, We”

After beginning our second day in New York with a short video (Changing Education Paradigm) and untangling a human knot, Team Super headed to The Studio Museum of Harlem. Out of all the exhibits, I found a piece entitled “Me, We” to be the most intriguing. It featured neon lights with the words “Me” and “We” mirroring each other. To me, this piece represents how each individual is part of a larger community. Every “me” is part of a larger “we.” I think the exhibit relates very closely to ASB’s mission of creating community awareness and civic engagement. It is important for us as individuals to remember that we are part of a larger community and that all of our actions impact the greater community in some way. Following our museum visit, the team watched the movie Freedom Writers, a powerful story about a high school teacher who was able to create a passion for learning among struggling students in an urban high school.

Tomorrow, we get to meet two Lafayette ASB alum. I’m so excited to hear their stories and see the lasting impact that ASB has had on their lives. I’m especially looking forward to meeting one of the alum who has experience in both public and charter schools in NYC. It will be interesting to hear about the differences between the two types of schools.

I’m really looking forward to finally getting to Brilla on Tuesday. After months of preparation, we are finally here! The team worked really hard creating our “in-school field trips” and I can’t wait to see the plans come to life!