Reflection on Social/Public Praxis work – excerpt from Journal Samantha Tobia I was an active volunteer throughout my childhood and high school career. After Hurricane Katrina struck the south, I went on a week‐long mission trip to Mississippi. I worked in a poor area of Mexico this past summer, as well. I was the co‐president of the community service club, at my high school. Yet, throughout all these service experiences I never asked the crucial question “why?” Why is the average wage in Anapra, Mexico, a dollar a day? Why has this woman lived without a roof for a year and a half after the hurricane struck? Once you ask, you begin to observe and study the situation more, and possibly create an answer to the problem. I feel like I was rarely asking questions and trying to find the answers. Instead, I was simply working and accepting things as they were. …… When I volunteered in the past, I always felt I was so distant from those I was helping. I never felt directly connected with them. They were the ones being helped. I was the helper. There was a line between us. We were separated. I am a middle‐class white teenage girl from the suburbs of Massachusetts. What do I have in common with a Sudanese refugee, a hurricane victim, or a child in rural Mexico? How can I understand them and their dignity and worth, if they are so different from me? Because of my service trips and involvement in the praxis group, I have steadily been learning that I am directly connected with those I am helping. We are not separated by a line, but equally linked together. I should not only serve or volunteer, but place myself at the same level as those I help, and by doing so, respecting their dignity and worth. Human relationships, similar to understanding the dignity and worth of a person, are important because they help to remove the line that separates the giver from the receiver. Throughout my life I always had supportive and loving relationships with family and friends. Yet, I never considered forming powerful relationships with those I was helping, until recently. This class, my praxis class, and my own self observation have made me realize the importance of creating relationships in order to change situations for the better. In high school, I often failed to recognize the importance of forming relationships with those I was helping. For two years, I organized a Battle of the Bands, and all the proceeds were donated to a non‐
profit organization that supported Sudanese refugees in our area. I remember sitting at the front table, about to open the auditorium and start selling tickets. I was introduced to Charlie, a Sudanese refugee whom the charity supported. Here it was – an amazing opportunity to listen, learn, or at least make a new friend. Yet, I had a to‐do list. I needed to make sure the bands were prepared, the t‐shirt table was stocked, the volunteers had their programs to pass out, and the microphones were working….I was more focused on raising money and producing a successful event, than actually connecting, understanding, and creating relationships with the people we were supporting. Today, I am trying to focus more on forming relationships with those I help. I am volunteering every week at an after‐school program. I realize how excited the students get when they realize I remember their names, or when I give them special attention. I realize I need to start measuring my effectiveness not by how many students were able to complete their homework at the after‐school program, or how much money was raised from a fundraiser, or how many students joined the community service club. I need to measure myself, instead, by looking at how well I am relating with others. By forming deep relationships with those I am helping, I can break the barriers that separate us.