Another Educator's Reflection

First of all, I just want to say thank you to both Mr. Lee and Ms. Sydney for all the help and energy they put into this trip. Second of all, I need to say thank you to all you students who made this week better than I imagined when I planned it out. I don’t know if I have ever heard so much genuine laughter in a 5 day period, and that is a great sound to hear.

I still remember well the first Habitat for Humanity trip I took eight years ago. There are some people I met on that trip I still consider good friends. I also know that I felt so inspired by everyone I met, the work I did, and the experiences we shared that I took 3 more trips in college. I am not positive, but I think these experiences helped me realize that I would need to spend my life doing something where I would try to help other people. And so, in those two senses, we have a good example of how one week can change a person’s life: even if a little indirectly.

I hope you all were inspired and stay inspired by each other and what we shared this week. It may be difficult to adapt back to “regular” life and try to tell stories to people who won’t really get them, or won’t really think they were funny because “they had to be there.” But that’s why it is good that you still go to school with 16 other people who were there. Stay in touch with each other, continue to share stories and laugh with each other, and don’t forget the lessons we learned from all the extremely nice people we met and the hard work we did.

Slack Jaw! Daddy Ellis, aka Stinky

The Finished Product

An Educator's Reflection:

From the perspective of an educator, there are only so many things that can be done to emphasize the nature of volunteerism in a classroom. Sometimes the best lessons are not taught in a classroom, they are lived through first hand experience. It is impossible to teach how humbling it is to live a deprived life in hopes of enhancing another without actually doing so. For this reason, our Habitat for Humanity trip has served a greater purpose than it's intended mission of simply building a house. Ask the participants about their experience and they will tell you of the hard work and camaraderie that developed. We came together with a common goal in mind and through that goal we learned more about each other than we ever could from within the walls of Stevenson Campus.

To outside observers, let this be a warning of what you will encounter in school this week with the "slack-jaws," the "honey I love you but I will not smile for you," the faces of Vivian and Javain, the Jamaican-Virginian accents, the incessant story-telling, the "It's Akosua," or wearing the orange t-shirts we love so much. There is little that stands between a group of dedicated volunteers and their common goal so try to understand. :)

It is with great pride that we return to our spring semester with opened eyes and humbled hearts. I can only hope that this has changed the 17 participants to pursue their goals with the same ferocity we witnessed during our Habitat experience.

Thanks Habitat for Humanity and Trinity UMC, Uncle Lee School for Community Research and Learning

Notable Quotes of the Week:

Here are some notable quotes this week. If you have more to add, leave them as comments and they'll be added:

• "There's a gangsta's Bible? What would one of the Ten Commandments be? 'Thou shall not shank a brotha?'"
  - Lee
  
  
• "Yo, Mr. Lee and Ms. Sydney are mad nice outside of school."
  - Leesage
  
  
• "Measure a thirty and five-eighths of an inch wide sheet of dry-wall for me." "30.58 inches, OK!"
  - Glenn and Jessica
  

• "Oh my God, this is better than my life. I want to kill myself."
  - Jessica
  
  
• "It's okay, it's Akosua!"
  - Naty + everybody else
  
  
• "Every time I go on a Habitat trip, I always leave thinking, 'Wow, these were the nicest people I've ever met.' So thank you for being our next group of nicest people we've ever met."
  - Ellis
  
  
• "I'm here because I want to help people and get away from home. Also, my mom wants me out of the house."
  - Javain
  
  
• "Mista, this was the best spring break eva!"
  - Javain
  
  
• "Ellis is our dad, Sydney is our mom, Lee is our uncle..."
  - Estephanie
  
  
• "Ellis may be your father, but I am NOT your mother!" *Oooooh* "This is one dysfunctional family."
  - Sydney and Estephanie
  
  
• "Would you like to join us in making sand castles?" "No, I have a curfew." (Note: it's 5:30 PM)
  - Vivian to 3 girls on VA beach boardwalk
  
  
• "I am scarred for life, I'm never going back to the YMCA."
  - Vivian

Things We Often Take for Granted.

Throughout the trip, we reflected on various things we take for granted in life. Here's a list of several that we discussed over the past week (in no particular order).

1. Hot showers
2. Cell phone service
3. Internet access
4. Television/radio (good stations)
   
5. Toilets (indoor plumbing)
   
6. Bed/Mattress
7. Having a thermostat
   
8. Having cars, buses, and trains
9. Accessible sources of food (diners, restaurants, etc.)
10. Public schools
11. Privacy (ahem, YMCA)
12. Rechargeable devices
    
13. Proximity