Hey everyone!
So we had a very busy day yesterday, and were unable to write up a blog post, so I’ll fill you in on some of the highlights of our day. We started off our morning at a site called Food and Friends, where meals/groceries are delivered to people with medical issues, such as HIV/AIDS. Half of our team worked in the kitchen and prepared meals and the other half delivered the meals. I was a part of the delivery team, which basically meant driving around D.C and going to the person’s house and knocking on their door and handing them their food. The people receiving the food were so appreciative of our services, and always said ‘thank you’ and ‘have a nice day.’ We finished our deliveries about an hour early, so while the other half of the team was still in the kitchen, the volunteer coordinator found another job for us (myself, Monica, Giang, Jason) to do…We made condom kits! That was a party….basically these little boxes that contained the items necessary to facilitate safe sex practices. Food and Friends distributes these kits at different events that they hold. We left Food and Friends around noon, and then it was time for lunch. We decided to eat our lunches outside on the steps of the Basilica of the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception because it was absolutely gorgeous outside! After lunch we headed over to the Fishing School to learn about the program that we would be volunteering with for the rest of the week. The Fishing School, as the website states, is “a nationally recognized youth development program…that provides children and families with academic and parental support through two community based centers in Wards 6 and 7 of D.C. The school got its name through the motto that “if you give a man a fish, you will feed him for a day…teach him how to fish, and he will feed himself for a lifetime.” It is basically an after school program that helps promote further learning and provides a safe environment for kids. It was actually recently featured on Extreme Makeover Home Edition if you want to check it out: www.fishingschool.org. So, after getting oriented at the Fishing School we headed over to an elementary school where the program was actually taking place. We worked with 3rd and 4th grade students, and helped with homework, or any problems that they needed assistance with. After the Fishing School, we were all pretty exhausted…kids are very energetic, as many of you know! So, we then headed over to the Old City Cafe for a delicious Middle Eastern dinner. After that we decided to drive back to the CSM site and have our reflection/dinner, where everyone seemed to have a lot to say in regards to our participation in the after-school program, in regards to social inequities in the education system. Overall, I would say it was a very enlightening/successful day!
-Steph