A flight attendant's service learning experience in Haiti

Service Learning

My Experience: Volunteering and Community Service

I was not able to volunteer at the Houston or NYC Food Bank, so I'm writing about my other experiences for Service Learning, Volunteering and Community. I have volunteered to assist my colleagues whom are from the nation of Haiti. We have collected toiletries from hotels stays (I'm a flight Attendant all F/A's contribute), school supplies, clothing as well as food. I have also had the honor of flying to Haiti to delivery these donations.

On one occasion, I had the opportunity to visit an orphanage and a home that housed mothers and their children. This was the saddest most emotional part of the trip, seeing the mothers of these precious babies. As I interacted with the families and got to hold this one particular baby, he was so cute. The mother said, "You can have him, you can keep him." It brought tears to my eyes. All mothers want a better life for their children and was willing to let me have their child to try to achieve this end.

Definitions

Volunteering

Any activity that involves spending time, unpaid, doing something that aims to benefit the environment or someone (individuals or groups) other than, or in addition to, close relatives. Central to this definition is the fact that volunteering must be a choice freely made by each individual. This can include formal activity undertaken through public, private and voluntary organizations as well as informal community participation.

i. Teamwork

I felt there was a great deal of teamwork that was present in Haiti. The volunteers were all pretty motivated people that were all there to offer the maximum contribution that they could. I think the high levels of dedication that was present definitely contributed to the level of teamwork.

ii. Communication was often a problem because there were many people there from different cultures who spoke different languages. There were communication barriers that were frequent and often required the use of a translator.

iii. Networking There were several networking opportunities that were available. The organization that I was involved with came into contact with several other aid groups on a regular basis. Facebook was a common method of exchange to keep in touch with the different individuals I encountered and also the ability to follow them throughout their careers.

• In closing (conclusion), your final paragraph should reflect and describe how this experience has influenced your world view (e.g. enhanced sense of personal values and civic responsibility)

Viewing the level of inequality in Haiti as well as the levels of blatant poverty has definitely affected my worldview. Despite all the problems that these individuals faced, they seemed happy and full of strength and courage. However, the challenges that this community face are pretty overwhelming. They were so grateful for any help that was given to them. It taught me so much about how helping people can make a big difference in their lives as well as provide an opportunity for service learning.

B. Show at least one (peer-reviewed) article you read online, related to Service Learning, Volunteering, and/or Community Service, from UHD Library. In your own words, summarize and cite the article. Reference the article on a separate page, including its URL link address (or doi:), so that the reader can access the article.

Establishing a training programme for rehabilitation aides in Haiti: Successes, challenges, and dilemmas

One study introduces Haiti as the poorest country in the western hemisphere and the most impoverished county in Latin America with a disabled population estimated between the seven and ten percent rage (Bigelow, 2010). Healing Hands for Haiti (HHH) International Foundation has established a rehabilitation aide programme as a means of providing rehabilitation services. In 2001, HHHI began a training programme to teach Haitians the basics of rehabilitation services and the clinic is now staffed by local Haitians full-time, and is supplemented by medical missions from the U.S.A. And Canada (Bigelow, 2010).

This clinic has had the opportunity through its service work training to determine many of the best practices that they have learned. The study conducted a series of interviews over a three-week period with graduate students that were involved with different levels of the training. There were an array of different complaints among the group that included low pay, some wanted full-time positions, among others. About twenty-eight percent of the students learned more than they expected to in the clinic training and the most common suggest for improvement was to length the duration of the training program (Bigelow, 2010).