Immersed in Service Learning

The narrative that I chose to relate to my service learning partner was the narrative of Greece. I found a theme of flexibility in this narrative. Canal Alliance is not a perfect organization, I have yet to come across a non-profit organization that is perfect. They do not have adequate resources nor enough funding, but each individual is dedicated to helping the people of the Canal community. They have to be flexible with the fact that there may be hardship with the individuals seeking help and I saw similarities with the narrative taken place in Greece. "Because what we needed to "get done" was to weave the fabric of our friendship deeper and tighter so that learning could flow more easily through our network." p. 162. 

You are about to be taken on a journey in an area affected by poverty and many pre-judgements. In this area there are a number of organizations that provide aid in the areas of job security, health care, food, home security and more. This area is a small section of a city in San Rafael, CA known as the Canal. One of the main non-profit organizations, Canal Alliance, provides all of the services that an undocumented or documented individual would need. The part of Canal Alliance that you will be immersed in is the learning center, located in a side alley on a rural street in the middle of the neighborhood. Walking in to this alley there are buildings on each side. On the right, there is the back entrance to the business and legal aid center for Canal Alliance. On the left, there is the entrance to the learning center at Canal Alliance. Entering this learning center, you are immediately approached by a set of stairs. Up the stairs there are offices and hallway that leads to classrooms. In the middle of these classrooms there is a meeting room with a projector meant for video showing and sometimes isolated tutor time. In one of the classrooms there are a group of 15 high school students chatting and working on homework, supervised by a mentor. There are 3 more classrooms that have middle school students in them, working on homework, also monitored by a mentor, however there are a number of tutors who are helping these individuals with their work. This part of the organization is in operation from 3 to 6, Monday through Friday. 

The narrative that I chose to relate to my interview with that of India. My interview was with an individual from the WIC center in the Canal. I related this narrative to the interview as soon as I read the reflection from Deborah. She mentioned that she had pre conceived notions of what Shikshantar, and when she visited the area she saw that all the activity that was going on was driven primarily by the values and morals of the individuals in the community. I related this to the way my interviewee talked about her experience with the Canal. "It may be unsettling to discover how little is required to help, however there are many organizations who still don't have enough resources to provide  for those who need it".