- What are your hopes for the service-learning project?
- As a sophomore Psychology student at St. Ambrose University, I can only hope that my time as a volunteer at World Relief will impact the lives of the people I spend time with in a positive way. I hope to use this amazing opportunity to give back even a small fraction of what I have been fortunate enough to have been given in my life so far. I am thrilled to be able to meet and just engage in life with refugees from a culture so different from my own, and to be able to lend a helping hand. I hope that out of this journey as a World Relief volunteer I will gain new friendships and a new first-hand perspective on intercultural communication.
- What are your assumptions about your service-learning site?
- I assume that the home of the refugee family I will be working with through World Relief will be a peaceful environment, calming and serene as to make the family feel welcome into their new home. I also assume that everyone I meet will share the same enthusiasm as I do about the volunteer work they are doing; that they will be sincerely compassionate about the families in the program.
- What do you already know/or assume about the work they do?
- I already know that World Relief takes in refugee families from various countries/cultures and provides them with the shelter and materials they need to begin a peaceful life here in the Quad Cities. As I volunteer I know I will be helping the family with whatever they need to get accustomed to life here. I will be doing things such as help the family learn English, helping them move into their new home and learn the lifestyle, and just spending time with them and bonding with them so they feel comfortable here.
- What do you know/or assume about the population they serve
- I know that the refugee families that arrive here have been forced to flee from their homes and some are coming from refugee camps as well. The family I work with may consist of parents and children, young adults or possibly the elderly. I know that many of the refugees that come to the Quad Cities are from Bhutan, Burma, The Democratic Republic of Congo and Iraq. I assume many of them know little English and will experience a major culture shock when they settle into their new homes. However I also assume that they will be eager to start their new life in the QC and will work hard to make the best of their situation.
- What connections/interests/passions do you have for this site or the population it serves?
- I have always been eager to learn about and connect with people from cultures other than my own and to hear their stories will be truly enthralling. I think World Relief is an amazing organization that is doing remarkable things for the refugees that have no where else to go. It is a very selfless thing that they do and I am very pleased to be able to be even a small part of it. People fascinate me in all the ways they can be similar and yet so unique, and the compassion they can show to each other regardless of these differences.
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