Please reflect either on the information you learned today about the non-profit sector and our speaker Dr. Kala Stroup or the Ivan Illich article.
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ReplyDeleteUpon the first reading of Ivan Illich's article, I was highly offended. I couldn't seem to get past his negative assertions about volunteering and his powerful judgments about volunteers' missions. But, after discussing with my group I realized he's attacking ignorance more so than the volunteers themselves. I began leveling with him, because in order to achieve the most benefit for the cause, a person needs to first understand the culture, need, and experiences of the community he/she is helping. This turns a volunteer experience into a learning experience. When volunteering we have to remember that both parties are receiving benefits; we all learn from one another. We each get a chance to play the role of teacher and student, which levels the field and prevents feelings of superiority. This article inspires me to not just volunteer, but to actively process my volunteer experience. I think Alternative Breaks does an awesome job of educating their members before hand to prevent passive volunteering. The support of group members will help everyone dig a little deeper into the issues associated with their sites and hopefully stir up some thought-provoking questions. Last night's meeting made me even more excited to help out at Give Kids the World, because by applying what is talked about in class to my break, my overall experience will be so much more valuable! I can’t wait to get started!
ReplyDeleteWhen Ivan Illich’s article “To Hell with Good Intentions” was introduced as controversial, I resolved to keep an open mind as I read it. By keeping an open mind, I was able to avoid the first reaction of anger or offense that many had expressed. I found that I did not have an immediate emotional response; my response was first to simply pause and ponder. As I continued thinking about the article, I was overcome with sadness—sadness over the fact that many volunteers with “good intentions” are so ignorant, sadness over the possibility that in this world in which I have so much, I may be useless. But then I realized that we are not bound to a world of hopelessness where we just accept each other’s sufferings as inevitable and unchangeable. I agree with Illich that there is great ignorance among volunteers and that this ignorance can cause damage. However, I also think that this ignorance can be addressed so that volunteers will be invaluable to communities around the world. Before entering into any community with the mindset of volunteerism, we must first understand that community—the culture, the people, their successes, and their needs. We can’t be “salesmen” of our own beliefs, values, and culture. We need to understand the community and immerse ourselves in the culture. Only through training, preparation, and open-mindedness can we begin to understand what people really need from volunteers. Likely, what people need the most is other people who understand them, care about them, and simply see them as human beings. Once this connection has been established, then we can begin to think about the other needs of the community. This article has made me really consider what it means to be a volunteer, and instead of being angry or discouraged, I feel challenged. I am challenged to be humble, to be relatable, and to be real. I am challenged to see people for who they really are: human beings like me.
ReplyDeleteWhen I first started reading Ivan Illich’s article, “To Hell With Good Intentions,” I thought he was being harsh about the purpose of volunteering. The more I read, however, the more I realized that there was some truth behind his assertions. Once our group began discussing the article, we talked about how the Alternative Breaks program is tailored to educate the volunteers about why issues matter and how they came about before we go out and work with others. It gives us a much better understanding of the world around us, and it’s also interesting to learn about other groups’ issues that they will be working with on their trips. I think the class component is one way that Alternative Breaks produces such passionate volunteers.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was in high school, I went on Mission Trips around the country each summer. I loved the experience of volunteering, and we always seemed to make a connection with the people we worked with. The only problem is that our group never went back to the same city more than once, with the exception of post-Katrina New Orleans. This made it difficult to build lasting, strong relationships with the people we met along the way, and I don’t think I gained quite as much as I could have from these experiences. Yes, I still have pictures with the refugee children I played with in Atlanta, and I still have my shirt from a summer program we worked at in a highly impoverished neighborhood in San Antonio. The sad part of these experiences, personally, is that I don’t have continuity or history with these organizations. When I read Illich’s article and really took the time to think about my past with volunteering, it made me realize that my first experiences with volunteering while I was in high school were “do-gooder” experiences. However, since I became involved with Alternative Breaks as a freshman at KU, I have gained an increased interest in the learning aspect of global issues while also fulfilling my passion for the service aspect of volunteering. I feel much less like a “do-gooder” and understand the issues that are impacting those outside of the world I see on a daily basis.
Dr. Kala Stroup's talk on the non-profit sector was really helpful for me. I had already heard her talk once in a previous alternative breaks class, but it was nice to remind myself of the opportunities and realize that there are classes I can take to learn more. I am interested in medical school and becoming a family physician but I have never been interested in medicine because of the money. I hope to use my medical degree to contribute the best I can to teaching about health and implementing change. I am really interested in talking more with Dr. Stroup about how doctors can be used in the non-profit sector, I know she'll have a lot of great insight.
ReplyDeleteIvan Illich's speech is equally as powerful. I agree with a lot of the foundations for his argument--I have seen many pretentious people throughout my volunteering. But I also have seen many people very devoted to their specific cause. These people have been very selfless and caring. Because of these passionate people, I cannot completely agree with Illich. I do, however, agree that we must keep our work in perspective and accept the fact that we may not be able to create much change in a week. But instead of being discouraged by this, we must find ways that we can grow from the experience and appreciate the experience for our own development and understanding of certain issues. If we approach it this way, we will leave with a deeper insight that will create a new passion for an area, therefore creating life-long volunteers and life-long learners. This experience can begin to change the outlook for the rest of our lives.