Volunteering with RYP

Although “Year of the City” is about getting to know Baltimore and the people living here, I have realized a different way in which Baltimore contributes to our nation through volunteering with the Baltimore City Youth Refugee Program. About three weeks ago I attended a presentation encouraging students to become volunteers for the RYP (Refugee Youth Program). I was immediately interested being a global studies major and thought this was a great way to learn about other cultures, learn about the city of Baltimore, and most importantly, to discover the difficulties refugees face when being relocated in a foreign country, not to mention in a city such as Baltimore. Twice a week I volunteer at Patterson Park Charter School, one of the several locations where the program takes place. The majority of the children are between the ages of five and twelve and are refugees from Africa or the Middle East from countries such as Turkey. I participate in the after school program which means I help the children with there homework and/or engage them in other activities such as bored games or puzzles. Last week I had the pleasure of working with Shamso, a young, extremely enthusiastic and happy girl, who is also very intelligent. I must say for a girl who has only been in this country for a few years, she is better at reading, writing and math than my own sister who’s of the same age! One thought that has dawned on me about that fact that these kids are so enthusiastic about school is that they’ve experienced life without it, and are therefore more appreciative. I must admit myself that through my whole life I have never considered school to be a blessing, only a hassle. So perhaps maybe the goal of my volunteering should not be only to help the refugees learn, but to also gain a new perspective of myself and everything that I am blessed with.
Similar to the poem, “Ode to American English” by Barbara Hamby, the speaker needed to leave America before they realized what he or she was truly missing. The speaker realized that he or she couldn’t appreciate what they had, “doowop, donuts, Dick Tracy, Tricky Dicky”, until they were without. Contrary to this is Tony Hoagland’s poem, “America”, which considers all the things he perceives as negative about his country, “RadioShacks and Burger Kings, and MTV episodes/ Where you can’t tell the show from the commercials”. So perhaps the lesson is that seeing is in the eye of the beholder. To Shamso, America is full of wonderful things and people, to a native however, America is full of materialism and is controlled by capitalism with everyone looking out for the one and only, themselves. The question must also be asked then, what else do we take for granted, and how do other cultures exist in comparison to ours?
I think perhaps this a question that remains unanswered for many people until they can have an experience that takes them out of their surroundings, and is able to allow them to see through different lenses. Coincidentally, I think this is one of the goals of the “Year of the City”. Since most Loyola students come from well-to-do backgrounds and don’t know what its like to live in a city that has may homeless people, I hope we as a student body can take advantage of this opportune year and venture out of our safety zone and experience new surroundings so that we can better gauge our own. So many times I can remember finding myself in a situation that I was really not comfortable with, but after returning to my comfort zone, I found that it was different too. I realized that after having this experience, I could no longer look and perceive my surroundings the same way because I was now a different person. To me, this is one of my goals in life, to always be willing to try and experience news things without being scared. I think one of the biggest mistakes that anyone can make is not trying to live a day in someone else’s shoes. This is why I stand so strongly behind the “Year of the City” initiative, because this is what I think it will accomplish; to create a student body free of ignorance and stereotypes, and more importantly a community open to new ideas and against narrow-mindedness. I am myself trying to help contribute to this goal and I hope that Shamso will teach me about her world just as much as I hope to teach her about mine.