Jumping In- Head First, Eyes Open. World Relief 2013

I was so nervous to start my Service Learning Project with World Relief but not because I have never done this before. I am not one of those people that can say that I have lived my entire life in a secure bubble, because I haven't. I have seen suffering and desperation first hand. I have worked, and slept beside the poorest of the poor. I have spent a lot of time in Haiti working with the people there and helping to rebuild a country and a community plagued with disaster and corruption. Compassion isn't something you are born knowing how to give, it is something that you learn.

I know going in to this that it will not be easy. It will challenge everything that I know about people and my perceptions, and all the ideas that I have about communication. The number one reason why I am so nervous is because I have never really been put in a situation where language might not be my primary means of communication. In Haiti, I spoke some of the language, and many of the Natives spoke English. I am hard of hearing, and unless people are speaking clear and loud, I am usually lost. I don't know what this is going to be like. Working with people who I know I have compassion for, but will not easily communicate with.

I know that the family we will be working with is from Berma, although I know nothing of the country, its language, its culture, or its people. I am excited for this new experience, but I have a lot of work and research ahead of me. I want to know where these people come from, and what they have been through, I want to be able to understand them better.

I have nothing to base any assumptions off of, because I know nothing about Berma other than things must have been pretty bad there for people to need out. Maybe that is an assumption. Maybe it isn't true, but I think it might be.

I know I am starting late to the game, this is the first time in my whole college career that I have been so overwhelmed and busy that I could hardly breathe. But I am ready to jump in head first with my eyes wide open and learn as much as I can and help wherever I am needed. Communication, turns out, is so much more than just a liberal arts college requirement, it is one of the most important parts of life.