Service Learning Journal III

Roots in the City
Third Visit

• I arrived for the third time to my service learning place around 9:10 AM. But this time it was different. My father dropped us and I took my sister along. She told me she was interested in knowing what were the useful activities that we were doing in Overtown. I immediately thought it would be an awesome idea, if she would come along. At the beginning and as usual our professor and others were discussing what activities we were in charge of today and how useful it would be if we would finish with everything today. After that we got ready and decided to take action on the garden.
• Since this was going to be my last visit (of the semester) in the garden, I took my camera so I could have some memories of this wonderful experience. This time, I was encountered with many of my friends from high school and this made me feel comfortable. We worked awesomely together and I was also in charge of the camera. I took a lot of pictures and I also video-recorded many valuable parts of my last service learning day. At the end, like usual, we discussed important themes that related to the community service that we were working on.
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• When we were working on the garden, I was glad to see people coming with their families to ask for the food. This happens every time we work on the garden and i's an indescribable feeling to see people eating and enjoying the fruits of our hard work. I saw the smile in their faces as a way of saying "thanks for this" and that made me feel great.
  
• At the end of the day we gathered in a circle and made me feel great as well. I could see the satisfaction in Dr. Dunn's face after what we had done. When were leaving I was thinking, whether or not I was going to keep on coming to the garden. This experience was the reason of why I stepped for the first time into the streets of Overtown. It was good to really prove if all the stereotyped of Overtown were true. Of course, there was some truth, but not everything was real. Proving this by myself made me feel disgusted at the t people that follow stereotypes, who are just ignorant.
• As I mentioned before it was great to experience how the people in Overtown are, and in the conditions that they live. It was the perfect way for us, the students participating in the project to connect all the things that we have talked about in class to what is really happening in this community. As in my case, as a proud resident of Little Havana, I felt a little offended to the fact and sometimes lies that were said about my community. I'm more than sure that these people that populate Overtown feel offended when ignorant people have conversations such as " Don't you ever step to Overtown, because you will not be alive the next day". These people are following stereotypes, and that is what causes a bad reputation there, and in other communities as well.
• Finally, I really hope that the citizens of Overtown motivate themselves to construct of their neighborhood a better one. With the help of many outside resources, they can definably improve the conditions in where they live. I would definably participate in any campaign provided to help the people in Overtown. Why? because some of these citizens have nothing to do, in how they live now. Because of irresponsible parents, children suffer in this community and that is a fact. Nevertheless, it is never too late to be good and act over something that is unfair.