Thursday, May 17, 2007
Rewarding work
If there's something I've learned in the past few weeks, it's this: Grassroots work is rewarding.
Arguably, I've done grassroots work in the past. My role as an international student representative could arguably be 'grassroots' - but in reality, it was highly bureaucratic. It was a highly ineffective effort to try to reach out to a 'grassroot' that, in all honesty, really didn't give a shit what NLC or MUISS was doing. Case in point: We practically had to bribe people to attend any forums we were organising. "Reaching out" was more of a theoretical problem that had to somehow be solved.
Volunteering in SAIL (Sudanese Australian Integrated Learning) for eight weeks now, and in 'The Homework Club' (run for kids who live in public housing in Collingwood), has been immensely rewarding. The attendees want to attend (there's even a waiting list for The Homework Club!), and are appreciative of the efforts of all the tutors involved.
At SAIL, I'm working with this gorgeous 14 year old girl who's migrated to Australia about 4 months ago. She's so keen to learn, and I'm teaching her to touch-type at the moment. It's a shame that she's now moved to a different suburb. I'm not sure if she'll be there this Saturday. I want to keep working with her, but she didn't know the phone number of the place that she was moving to. I gave her my e-mail and phone number, but she doesn't know how to use e-mail (I was going to teach her this Saturday), and she said to me "I'll call you if I have money". That made me so sad. These people are really struggling when they arrive in Australia. I want her to contact me, but I know it's probably not going to happen. She seemed so uncertain of what her future would hold. But she's a bright girl. I'd like to believe that she'll make the best of any opportunities that come her way.
Last night, at the Homework Club, I was working with this little boy of Vietnamese background - an absolute lovable rascal in third grade, who kept trying to present arguments as to why I should be the one doing the reading, and not him! He wanted me to read a book of 101 magic tricks to him... I told him he had to do the reading, and once he could read it himself, we'd do as many magic tricks as he wanted! So we settled on a book about Walter, a dog who farted all the time, instead. Well, at least he found it very funny, even though the content was slightly dubious...
So really, I'm very happy to trade off Wednesday evenings and Saturday mornings for such a rewarding experience. The kids are beautiful, and all of them are on their way to finding their own struggles in this life. I can only wish them the best. Everyone deserves a chance, and everyone deserves to be empowered to realise that they can achieve whatever it is they want in life. It's unfair that the many of us that have been given a head start in life have the gall to look down on these people that need a helping hand to catch up. It's not a race. It's a life. I think we shouldn't be competing with the rest of the world - I think we should be helping everyone along as best we can.
So why is it, that when we see others fall, we have a tendency to walk past? These people are sometimes the beggars on the road, the habitual alcoholics, the poor, the uneducated, the drug-addicted, the 'handicapped'... the people that don't have the access to the services that you and I are using now in the participation in this web-community. For example.
How can anyone justify turning a blind eye to others who are suffering? And worse yet, in many cases, people blame those that are suffering themselves, as if they chose to be worse off! Case in point: "Those girls like sex, that's why they are prostitutes!"
People! Find out the truth before you make sweeping generalizations like that!
My student at SAIL: "My father was killed."
Not died. Killed.
The little boy at the Homework Club: "My mother and father hate each other so they both got new husbands [sic]. That's why he doesn't help her. Her new boyfriend doesn't help either."
He's 8 years old.
And we go on blaming people because they are poor?
If you are reading this page, my friend, you are amongst the lucky minority of the world.
fon @ 7:32 PM link to post * *