Only a few minutes after arrival, we were given a tour by the husband in the dynamic duo that led the foundation, as they called the orphanage. (We learned that first day that the orphanage is less of a traditional orphanage, and more of a foster-type home for kids from nearby Karen tribe villages whose parents, for whatever reason, are out of the picture.). A tour of the area informed us a bit of the workings of the foundation and also informed us of the nature of the service we'd be doing.
All we'd been told before arriving was that we'd be "volunteering at an orphanage" and that "the ages of the kids ranged." Bu we all assumed that our volunteering would pretty much consist of playing with or hanging out with the kids. That's what you do at orphanages, right? So I'd prepared myself for a few days of exercising my camp counselor skills, my extroverted let's have fun self that's got to be hidden really, really, really deep inside of me.
Turns out, we'd be making bricks.
Actually, I had no problem with that. As fun as hanging out with a group of kids would have been, this way I'd actually be contributing something. Doing something that fills a need. Most of the service I've done in the past has been based on person to person interactions--going to day cares and playing with kids for an hour, usually. But I've always loved it when that personal interaction meets perfectly with filling a need, like my experience at BMHC.
Here, I'd be helping make bricks that would eventually go towards the construction of a new building. But as the kids would also be helping, I'd have plenty of chances to get to interact with them, and not just by trying to entertain them, but by working side by side with them towards something, an activity I find to be much more fulfilling.
One of my leaders informed me that service placement at an orphanage is really uncommon. It brings up a lot of problems. The kids, who often have a lot of attachment issues, don't need a whole bunch of new people coming in, trying to make their lives better, and the leaving again. Repeat, repeat, repeat. (Not to mention the culture difference. Not o mention the socio-economic difference between the way I grew up and they way they've grown up.)
But at least we didn't step in, acting like we were the gift of god, come there to entertain them for a bit and then sweep back out of their lives. We walked in, picked up the bags of dirt, picked up the shovels and sifts and got out feet dirty. We sweated and laughed beside them.
But we did have to leave eventually, and it was hard. We were only there for four or so days but already some of the kids were pretty attached to us and sad to see us go.
The idea of service took me a long time to buy into. My school always pushed it, so I always knew that it was a good thing to do if people wanted to be good people. That was certainly not enough motivation for me.That is, until sometime, as a junior or senior in high school, some little shift happened and I became very invested in the service that I was doing at BMHC, but that was still not enough for me to really get it. I was intensely invested in my service site, but that spirit of service I found there did not spread out into other places,
But this last month in Thailand has changed that. One of my leaders has been invested in service and service learned for a looong time and her stories of her service based study abroad experience have been more than a little enlightening. My time at the orphanage and seeing all that they are trying to do, alerted me to the needs of people and organizations all around the world. Throughout my stay here, I've heard of of the work of many NGOs around Thailand ans suddenly the possibility of working for one of them seems...very real.
In the last month, I'm not sure how or why, but my understanding of the role I can play in this world has drastically changed. In New Zealand I was reminded of why I love the things I already loved. In Thailand, I've come to love another possibility, another pursuit well within my power. I can't articulate the hows and why's well enough without throwing out terms like service and service learning in the way that has always seemed very pretentious and rather meaningless to me.
All that I can say is that it is wonderfully empowering to realize that it is possible to do so much more than gripe about the situation of the world. It is wonderful to finally realize that helping is well withing you power.
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