Category: 2015

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Service Day 3

Day three of service and the time spent at Community Servings is still flying by. It is hard to believe that we only have one more day to spend with these wonderful people who devote so much time, energy, and emotion to others in the most graceful of ways. The word “graceful” may not be the most common adjective used in association with community service, but for me, it has become a surprising prevalent theme for this trip.

The idea was first brought up by a volunteer at Community Servings. This person volunteers most days out of the week along with working professionally in a hospice. Surprisingly, what frustrates them the most are the assumptions made by others (patients, other volunteers, outsiders, etc.) that they only do what they do because it is their job. And I understood what they were trying to say.

The golden rule states “do unto other as you would have them do unto you.” In this context, we have to put ourselves in the shoes of those we are serving, which is exactly how we spent this evening’s reflection. We discussed our own agency (in brief: ability) and thought about what our lot would be if we were HIV positive. When placing myself in the shoes of someone who receives meals from Community Servings, I would not like to feel like a charity case, a burden on society.

And that is what the volunteer was telling me. We should serve with pure intentions; not out of pity or to build our own reputations, but because we genuinely want to help people have better lives. This mindset shows through the actions of many of the workers at Community Servings. They really put thought into everything they do and can be meticulous to the point of perfection.

I am sad that tomorrow is our last day here, but have appreciated every second.

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Building Homes and Friendships

We have had a successful day four here in El Salvador! Yesterday, our team split up into two groups to work on the construction of two family homes. After another long day of hard work, both groups prevailed in completing their home a day early!  During the entire construction process, I could not help but notice the positive energy and attitude Team Land of the Free has brought to Central America. Even though the sun was beaming down in the afternoon and we all were tired from swinging our hammers, I never heard a single negative comment. Having such encouraging teammates made the construction process fun and enjoyable!

My favorite part of the day was when the children of our home returned from school. The looks of excitement on their faces were priceless! I loved talking to each of them and seeing how thrilled they were picking out their rooms in the house. I also loved learning about their interests and personalities.

Not only have we built homes, but we have also developed relationships with the families. I will forever cherish the friends I have made in the community.

Making friends!

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A note from Team Shell Shock!

Hi all,

We received word that some parents had called Outward Bound asking for updates about our trip. Everyone is safe and healthy (although maybe a little sunburned after a day at the beach). We landed in San Jose and made our way to base camp about an hour outside of the city. It was near the University of Costa Rica. The following morning we drove to the village, a town known for Olive Ridley turtle nests. Our days have included painting a community center and local church and learning about conservation efforts, including the obstacles turtles face trying to survive. Tonight we had the opportunity to watch turtles being released into the ocean. Tomorrow morning we will head back to base. We will spend our last day in Costa Rica ziplining and exploring the local culture. We have three Outward Bound guides and two faculty members with us at all times.

Everyone is having a fabulous time and we have formed many friendships throughout the week. We miss you and thank you immensely for allowing us to have this experience. Looking forward to seeing you all soon!

Pura Vida,

Team Shell Shock

P.S. We will not have Internet access after tonight

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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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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.