The Learning Part of Service - An Entire Semester

The program I am participating is not a semester of service. I am participating in a service learning program. As such, I am expected to learn through experience and class work. The program itself consists of 12 hours of class, with each of us taking one or two other classes on campus. The classes that we are required to take are our Service Learning class, Community Building and Urban Change, The African-American Struggle for Equality, and Contemporary Ethics.

The Service Learning class is Tuesdays and Thursdays at 8:30 a.m. in the Women's Center on campus. Dr. Jennifer Wies, the director of the women's center and an anthropologist, is teaching that class. The packet of reading materials that we have for the class has been called a tome. To give you an idea, it's a book of readings that Jennifer compiled and cost $67 each at Kinkos. In addition, this is the class in which we look at our service more closely.

Community Building and Urban Change counts for credit for Sociology, Social Work, or Political Science. The class consists of the 7 of us and at least 30 other students from many different majors. It is a Monday night class in the Emmanuel Center, which is on the other end of our block.

The African-American Struggle for Equality is a history class taught by our trip leader Dr. Christine Anderson. We meet at Choices Cafe, a local coffee shop that closes in the mid afternoon and has generously agreed to let us use the space. The class includes about 5 others who are not in the program. We will look primarily at primary sources from the beginning of slavery to the present day. This class meets Wednesday nights.

Contemporary Ethics is taught by Sr. Alice Gerdeman, the director of the Intercommunity Justice and Peace Center (IJPC). We meet in the Peaslee Center, a former school that the community saved and turned into a community center. The IJPC office is also located in Peaslee. This class looks primarily at social justice, which approaches the issues often from a structural perspective. We are primarily using the Gospel of Matthew and the USCCB's booklet for faithful citizenship as well as supplemental materials that she will provide for us.

A part of this learning is that it takes 4 classes, 15 hours of service a week, and an entire semester to get through a lot of this stuff. So my plan is to attempt to write either basic things simply stating what I've done recently or write one column-type entry with a specific focus. Maybe that'll include posting some of my papers when I write them for classes.

The one article that we had to read for Service Learning that I want to discuss is called "Discipleship in the Eighties, Nineties & Beyond: Charity vs. Justuce." The article was written from a Christian perspective in 1980. The author describes charity vs. justice as "voluntary acts vs. institutional change." He explores the Bible's view of the issue, and he starts by exploring the Hebrew word used in the Bible to mean justice. The word "sedek" means "to fulfill the demands of a relationship," "to care for your brother, sister, spouse, neighbor, stranger just as God has cared for you." The biblical sedek has a bias for the weak. In the Old Testament, widows, orphans, and the poor were allowed to take grain from someone's field because of the concept of justice.

Yet we like the idea of charity better. It's easier, that's for sure. When we are charitable, it makes us feel good because we are giving of our surplus, something we aren't required to do. Justice, however, is harder to swallow. To accept that we need to practice justice, to a large degree, means that we have to realize that the system is a system of oppression. Those with power take advantage of those without power (or those who don't know that they have power or how to use that power). Justice talks about oppression. One example story that the author gives is "Marcos in the Philippines has consistently pushed his own people off their ancestral lands to make room for multinational corporations." He concludes, "They are not 'less fortunate,' they are oppressed."

The question is in the system. How does the system work for some and against others? Just a note, in my discussion with Jennifer to help me find my service site, Jennifer helped me to realize that I'm interested a lot in "the system." I find it fascinating to look at things on a macro level. To a large degree, that flavors the discussion I bring forth here. It is something that our group will learn a lot about between our classes and our experiences this semester. So don't be surprised if it comes up again.

While both charity and justice are essential in today's society, the author of the article states, "Charity is to American religion what ritual sacrifice was to Israel." In fact, that shows that charity is important as well as justice. For the analogy states that charity is the going-through-the-motions, while justice is having the right heart. We have to follow the motions, but our hearts must be behind what we do. We have to provide immediate help for those who need it, but we also have to work to help them improve and see a better future.

Classes Have Started

After our week-long orientation, our classes have started. We headed to campus last night for "Community Building and Social Change," which our instructor says should be called "Community Building and Urban Change." The rest of the semester it will be at a local service agency on the other end of our block, but they did it on campus this first week primarily to help the members of the class who are not a part of this program arrange rides and figure out how to get here. The class sounds like it will be very interesting. On the day before the election, we even get to have the entire class discuss the election. I'm excited about that.

Today we were back on campus for an 8:30 class, our service learning class. We left the apartment at 7:30 to catch the bus and get to the Women's Center. Dr. Jennifer Wies, the director of the Women's Center, is our teacher. We have an enormous packet (over $60 at Kinko's) with readings for that class. That's also the class that our service sites are tied directly to. After the class we stayed on campus for whatever classes we are taking individually. I'm taking Jesuit Theology and Spirituality, which I think will complement this semester well, at least during certain sections of the class.

Also, before my afternoon class, I met with Jennifer to work through a process to determine my service site. She asked me questions and let me talk, guiding me with further questions along the way. She said that there were some clear themes running through what I talked about, such as the theoretical aspects and economic political ideas (how the establishment affects poverty). So I have some homework to do in searching out possible service sites and theorizing the work they do and imagining myself there. Then I might meet with Jennifer again Thursday to discuss what I've found out. She told me that there was something that was very clearly popping out to her but she wouldn't tell me what it was. She wants this to be something we discover for ourselves.

One idea I had was the idea of community planning. In an earlier blog I mentioned how Liz Blume came and gave us a tour from a different perspective. I though that looking into trying to work in a very realistic setting along the lines of community planning would be an interesting idea. I know I've been called the crazy liberal, and I don't want to be labeled like that, not because I don't like what people are saying but because I want to be moderate in that I don't want to get too caught up in one side that I agree with everything that side has to say. I want to be a person with well-informed opinions based on nonpartisan ideas. I want to be my own person. Thus, I think it's fair that I work while I'm down here to have a balanced view. Now if I don't follow up with the community planning, I will still try to open my eyes to see both sides of the issue.

I've also been rethinking the purpose of this blog. This came out a little in the discussion I had with Jennifer and a discussion that I had with my friend Chris. I have a confession: I like to think that I'm right. In fact, I have a huge issue with that. As much as I try to be open-minded, I often remain convinced that I'm right. But I know that I'm not always right because discussions (respectful discussions, primarily with questions rather than attacking) have shown me flaws in my logic. So, thinking about that, I was thinking about my purpose for this blog. What do I want people to get from this? Well, I wanted people to see things the way I see them by seeing a new perspective through my experiences. I should probably be up front about that. But thinking about that, what I really want more than that is discussion. I want to look at the world and see what I see. And I want to share that. And then I want people to challenge that. I would love to have a discussion. I want to get something from this blog too. What I want is a challenging of my ideas. I think Jennifer really saw that desire to discuss issues in our meeting today. So I'd love this to be a discussion board, although it has to remain a polite and intelligent discussion board or I will take it down. (I see too many discussion boards that resort to name-calling and ignorant comments. No referring to Obama as Barry Hussein or McCain as McInsane, which are a few I have seen on other sites.) So this is my invitation (or begging) for you to take a part in a discussion that I hope will emerge here. I hope that some things I write about will be able to stir discussion, but also please let me know if I fail at that.

***Addition: I forgot this earlier, but was getting stuff out of my backpack and found this note of something I wanted to share. Yesterday we went to Crossroad Health Center, a health center in OTR that is faith-based and private. They accept patients with private insurance and without. It's a primary-care facility, and they have a sliding scale for payment based on income (because they are legally not allowed not to charge). Anyway, when Brook (a nurse practitioner) was talking to us, she mentioned that they've had high levels of lead because of the reconstruction in the area that has ground the old lead-based paint into the dirt. High lead levels can lead to mental retardation. Another issue they've come across fairly often is low iron anemia in children. This often comes from the lack of high-iron foods in the diets of low-income families. Often they'll buy the cheapest things they can at Kroger, such as Ramen Noodles. A regular diet of Ramen Noodles doesn't provide the necessary nutrients. Low-iron anemia can lower the IQ. These two things, I think, have a profound impact on the ability of students in these neighborhoods to complete school. It definitely put a new perspective on the issue of education in low-income urban areas.

This-and-That Update

We had the most fun at the grocery store today. Graham, Erin, Tara, and I went to the store for the week. We got so much stuff that we had to call the boys to come and bring bags with them so that we could carry the stuff back to the apartment. And we did it on a budget - an entire cart full of stuff for a couple dollars over $100. And we planned out meals. We're still way under budget, and a lot of what we got for the week will last more than the week. We each (excpet for My'eka because she's on a doctor-ordered strict diet) put in $40 out of our stipend check for the first two weeks. We still have plenty left for our run to Findlay Market for fruits and such tomorrow.

We've been getting so much information and doing so much that it's gotten a little tiring. I fell asleep during a movie about Buddy Gray, who is generally known as the father of Over-the-Rhine Community housing (a combination of two groups that help to provide affordable housing). I watched the entirety of the second video, and Graham said they were both really good. There's just so much stuff that I can't simply summarize it. Hopefully the important stuff will come out in conjunction with other stuff further on in the semester.

We have to start working toward finding our service sites. There are so many good options that would be awesome opportunities. I just really need to define my interests. Jennifer Weis (who is the director of the Xavier Women's Center and our teacher for the Service Learning class) is going to do one-on-one sessions with whomever needs them to help us define our interests.

The Miami students moved in yesterday, I think. I guess I haven't mentioned this before - Miami University has an urban design program in which the students live in OTR and do service while learning about urban design. I don't know the specifics of the program. Their program has students in the rest of our apartment building and another building nearby. So we'll probably get to know them a little bit this semester.

One of the things we did today was visit the Drop-In Center, a homeless shelter that acts as the safety net for those who have no other place to go. They don't ask questions, they just provide shelter and meals. It's not a great place to live, but it's something. Most of the people there are fairly transitory. The longer someone is there, the more likely he is to be paired up with a case manager. This case manager helps the person to have certain needs met, get a job, and get into transitional housing. The Drop also has a drug treatment program for the homeless (they live in the center and work to help with some of the services the center provides) that has a pretty high success rate of over 75%. The Drop provides a lot of services to people who have nowhere else to go. 1/3 of their funding is from private individual donations and 2/3 comes from grants. Buddy Gray was also very instrumental in beginning the Drop-In Center.

That's a brief run-through of some stuff we've been doing. It's been a little overwhelming without time to process and getting tired enough to just need a break. But throughout the semester we'll work through some of this stuff. Stay tuned for that.

Orientation, Full day 2

I want to start by saying something. I do not intend to make this blog political. Inevitably, though, there will be some things that will be handled politically or are typically politically polarizing issues. Also, it is an election year. That will also make politics especially hard to avoid. I've heard that this is a pretty politically active neighborhood and that everyone has an opinion. I've already seen a little bit of that. That being said, I don't intend to write this blog to tell you outright who you should vote for. I don't even necessarily intend to influence your vote, although I do hope to provide new perspectives that you may not have considered before. So I do hope you take the things I will experience seriously, for they are serious issues to many people in our country.

So, on to today:

Today we had two pretty separate but equally intriguing experiences. (We had a third that wasn't quite as interesting - maybe because we were all a little tired and full of knowledge so it's harder to impress us now.) We started today talking to Liz Blume, who used to work as a city planner for Dayton and then Cincinnati. She was very instrumental in the plan for the revitalization of Over-the-Rhine. In regards to the revitalization efforts, she said the greatest accomplishment of that plan was getting the people who advocated for the poor to cooperate with those who wanted to revitalize the neighborhood. The main point I took away from this is that, although keeping in mind the need for affordable housing is very important, the need for a good community that provides a good tax base for the city and social services is also very important. It's about finding a balance between the two. Liz said that basically both sides could stop the other side from doing anything though the city council; meanwhile, the drug dealers just did what they wanted. That's the thought that eventually motivated the cooperation. It was never that people didn't want a mixed-income community with mixed-income housing; it was just that they were afraid that mixed-income would too soon become upper-income and displace the people already living in the community. There are many empty housing units that they can use to revitalize the area without displacing anyone. Vacant housing units do nobody any good. It's an interesting project that has to be pursued with caution, taking both sides into consideration. Last year, we talked a little bit about this with the assistant to the deputy mayor of Cincinnati on one of our ConneXions social justice excursions, but it was interesting to do it in the context of a walking tour and actually seeing the areas that have been gentrified and the areas that have been made into affordable housing.

Just a little background information: Price Hill is yet another neighborhood of Cincinnati. Lower Price Hill is historically a neighborhood of Appalachian people, although recently more Hispanics and African-Americans have moved into the area. It is, like OTR, generally known as a poorer area of the city.

The third person we met with today, Jenn Walters, is quite probably the most important of the three. She is the executive director of the Lower Price Hill Community School. It's right across the street from the Oyler school, which is K-12. LPHCS offers GED classes and transitional college classes taught by professors from local colleges. They work with the students to move to the main college campuses and continue through graduation to help their students to succeed. They have a day care center to take care of the children when the parents are in classes. Unfortunately, though, they can only operate during the day, which limits the ability to work around the work schedules of their students. Many students work third shift and take the bus directly to the school, that's how bad they want their GEDs or to learn English. Jenn works really hard to make herself a part of the community and to help fill all the needs in the community. She went to law school after working for LPHCS with AmeriCorps and became an attorney, but felt much more fulfilled working with LPHCS. So she returned. Part of that is that she and some of the attorneys she worked with can now offer a free legal clinic once a week. This is also a great service to the community. Jenn says that she loves coming to work; that she doesn't think of it as a job that she has to do but something she is privileged to be a part of. Furthermore, she is helping to really fill a need in a community. Traditional schooling doesn't work for everyone (although they do everything they can at LPHCS to work with Oyler to get school-age students back into regular high school), and many people work really hard to complete educational degrees. I think it's amazing how much work these students put into a GED or learning English. Yet it's so much easier for society to dismiss those without high school diplomas or college degrees as people who just dropped out. We don't recognize their circumstances or the work they are putting into their education now. LPHCS has an average of a three-month term in which the people are able to complete their GED work. That's supposedly better than the average GED program. Part of that may be that LPHCS knows that people have circumstances to work around. The bus may be running late or they may have to work or take their kids to school or day-care. Rather than turn away a student for the day if he or she arrives late, LPHCS lets him or her come in to continue work. While all GED programs are good things, I think LPHCS has a great approach with flexibility. These people work hard and have extenuating circumstances. I think they deserve a little bit of flexibility.

I know there are at least three people in our group (including me) who thought of LPHCS as a great place to do our service work. We're still considering, but this is definitely a place that has a great appeal.

That's a lot of stuff, and I'm sure I didn't summarize it very well. I hope, though, that you understand a part of what I was trying to say. Thanks for keeping up with this. I promise I won't have as much information in future blogs; orientation is simply stuffing our head with more knowledge. Later on, it will be more experience-based.

OTR Orientation

Yesterday we moved in to the apartment in Over-the-Rhine. We live near Washington Park and across from City Music Hall. This morning we spent some time getting to know the neighborhood, cashing our stipend checks, and then a group of us went to Kroger and a group went to a produce stand to buy fruits and vegetables for the week. We also stopped by the public library to get information about library cards.

After lunch, we went with Dr. Hedeen, a former ecology professor at Xavier, to Mill Creek Valley for a tour. (I'm going to try to recall a little bit of what we learned.) Mill Creek is the river that made Cincinnati the area along the Ohio that people decided to settle. When the Ohio River floods, it backs up into Mill Creek Valley, which made a lot of the land uninhabitable until they built a levee to contain the floods into only a part of the Mill Creek Valley. It's a design similar to that of the levees in New Orleans, although the levee is not operational full-time, only when the Ohio River floods. Then we went a little way up the Mill Creek and learned about the sewer system. The first sewer systems were created before Dr. Crapper (yes, that's true) invented the flush toilet, so they were solely storm drains. (This is true for all major cities, by the way.) When the flush toilet came around, people still didn't know what to do with the water and waste from their toilets, so they just hooked them into the city sewer systems. Then not only rainwater, but sanitary waste, went into the local rivers, in the case of Cincinnati, Mill Creek. Once people realized this was creating a problem, they put pipes in that intercepted all of the stuff that goes through the combined sewer system and take it to the water treatment plant. But when it storms, the pipe that transfers this waste to the treatment plant fills up and can't handle any more water, so it overflows into the river anyway. Which makes the river basically a cesspool, although not as bad as before they learned to take the water to the treatment plant. So after around 1920, cities realized that this was a problem and began to make different sewer systems for sanitary waste and storm water.

While these separate sewer systems help, there are still many problems. Runoff from streets includes gas and oil from leaks as well as other things. Since regular asphalt doesn't let the water penetrate, these things just run off the top into the storm sewers and into the rivers. It would be better for the water to percolate through the soil and stuff. There are many organisms that love to feed of the carbon-based products, specifically algae and bacteria, that harm other ecosystems. So it's much better for water to run into the grass than into a storm sewer (or to use bricks or penetrable asphalt rather than regular asphalt). It's amazing how much our habits affect nature in ways other than simply the whole global warming issue. Even air quality is an issue outside of global warming. I don't care if you believe in global warming or not, we are still destroying some pretty amazing things in nature. If we all made a little change to our every-day activities, we could make a huge difference.

I've gotten some great encouragement from people at home, and it means a lot. I also have had several people tell me they are praying for me. That's another great source of comfort. So thanks to those awesome people who are offering up prayers. I would love for anyone who's interested to continue reading my blogs. And please respond with any criticisms or ideas as well. I think discussion of these issues can really motivate us to help improve these issues.