Getting it Together

“Adapt or perish, now as ever, is nature’s inexorable imperative.” H.G. Wells

I like to be in control of my world. I like to write in planners and cross things off of to do lists. As spontaneous and non-linear as I am, there is a type-A personality slumbering within me who does not like my routine to be disturbed. But then, it takes me three weeks to craft an email to potential community partners instead of the one day I had allotted. A few days later, after researching NGOs in Madrid for weeks, carefully narrowing my selections, I discover that the offices are in a transitional period and do not exist in physical locations that I can visit as planned. Then, the file holding my brainstorming and table of contents for the Service-Learning Abroad student manual just decides to disappear from its folder. 

All of a sudden my orderly, controlling, honors student tendencies that have always helped me in my academic career now an unrealistic burden. When I should be adapting, I’m pouting because I want agendas, functional plans. Not this “cross each bridge as you get to it” sort of life. But time and time again the world proves that it is actually chaotic and no amount of imposed order will make everything go smoothly and according to plan. 

So I have two choices: adapt or perish. Rather than make a decision, I wallow for a while. I spend an entire month telling myself I’ll get organized “tomorrow.” I’m not sure what pulled me out of this dejected, apathetic slump. I think a four day weekend of sleeping way more than any human being ever should helped immensely. Or maybe the realization that it is almost spring break and I desperately need to get my act together.

Whatever the reason, here I am again.

Coming soon:

• Details about Service-Learning class itself and why the classroom component is important 
• Profiles of students/volunteer ESL teachers
• TENTATIVELY more information on community partners 

Morocco Exchange Trip

Although my study abroad experience is in Alcalá de Henares, Spain, I recently had the opportunity to travel to several cities in Morocco on a four day trip with the Morocco Exchange Program. I wanted to take some time to discuss one of the Moroccan community partners we visited on the first day in Tangier. The organization called Darna (“our house” in arabic) and it is a center dedicated to the empowerment of women and children. Founded in 1995, it operates five social programs: (the following information is quoted directly from the guidebook)

Le Refuge–supports children ages 8 to 17 who have escaped abusive situations in their homes.

Maison Bleue–hosts special needs children and offers them professional training in sewing, woodworking, baking and metalworking.

La Maison Communautaire de Jeunes–offers shelter for at-risk youth and provides them with professional training.

La Ferme Pedagogique–a 5 hectare farm on state land near Tangier which hosts at risk youth ages 12-18 from rural areas where they learn to make cheese, herd animals and cook

La Maison Communautaire des Femmes–welcomes marginalized women and teaches them literacy, self-sufficiency, self-advocacy and professional training. The program also includes a boutique in which goods are sold and a restaurant for professional training.

Le Nouvelles de Jeunes–aimed at youth ages 9 to 18, this program offers a place for collective expression through a variety of avenues including a newspaper and theater activities.

Darna was incredible. I could not get over how completely they were dedicated to the needs of the community. I wish that we could have spent more time there. After our initial tour we had a conversation with three Moroccan students who spoke with us about gendered discrepancies in Moroccan societies.

 

Our fearless leader, Jess, gives us a little background about the organization.

Traditional Weaving Equipment

Sewing machines used in professional sewing courses.

There are times…

There are times when studying abroad can be incredibly frustrating. Things don’t happen on a timeline you’re comfortable with. The structure of everything, down to class discussions, changes and you have the option to adapt or perish. 

The other day, after a full day of classes and yet another in a string of frustrating encounters with the woman who sells stamps in the Plaza de Cervantes and genuinely despises me and my inability to to remember the word for said stamps in spanish, I went to the house where I help a mother, Ana, take care of her three year old daughter and practice my Spanish skills. When I asked how I was doing I just lost it. I went on and on about how I can’t even buy a couple of stamps and the most frustrating part of my day was trying to find information on non-profit organizations in Spain and not even knowing where to begin. She told me not to worry, the language part would come. 

Then, she began telling me about her own experiences with civic engagement. During college, Ana worked with a library and information center that distributed books and raised awareness of the living conditions of citizens of third world countries. She said she was very sad to leave them several years later, but their politics had diverged on several social issues and she felt it was time. She told me she is now involved in several micro-financing endeavors and showed me several pictures of the woman-run seamstress business in India that benefits from her loans. 

She then began telling me about ONCE (Organización Nacional de Ciegos Españoles), a non-profit organization that runs a very popular lottery that provides employment for and proceeds that go to improve the quality of life within the blind community. She also directed me to this website, Haz lo Posible, which is kind of the DoSomething.org of Spain and has a list of NGOs in the country. 

Through this conversation I was reminded of the beauty and importance of civic engagement. It’s not just about interviewing directors of non-profit agencies and asking what they do for the surrounding community. It’s about people like Ana, who have incorporated civic engagement into the fabric of their lives, and stay informed so that they can instruct others to do the same. 

Service-Learning Abroad: Setting the Scene

Before I begin posting about the way that the semester is developing and all of the different Spanish community partners I am learning about, I think it’s important for me to set a framework for what I am working on this semester.

As a Civic Action Leader (a scholarship program for student leaders interested in service) studying abroad, I have the unique opportunity to assist in the development of a Service-Learning course offered to BGSU students in Alcalá de Henares as well as spend time independently researching and eventually visiting organizations committed to community development (I will refer to these as community partners from here on out).

Currently, the Service-Learning course is working with an organization called Comisiones Obreras (CCOO). Technically speaking, this organization is a union, but it is very different from the American conceptualization of  labor unions. Comisiones Obreras, which receives some monetary support from the government is open to many different kinds of laborers for a very small annual fee. They offer a host of services to their members ranging from professional development courses to legal aid. The advertisement below can be found on the CCOO website. It conveys the message that they are dedicated to defending public services and guaranteeing social cohesion and equality through their continued support of education, transportation, social services, sanitation, environmental programs, security and communications despite economic pressure to cut these programs

The students from Bowling Green enrolled in this course are providing an invaluable service to Comisiones Obreras and its constituents. They are teaching free english classes at basic, intermediate and advanced levels for adults who are in need of english proficiency to obtain employment. For one hour every week, members of Comisiones Obreros have an opportunity to attend classes taught by a BGSU student, free of charge with a very small student-to-teacher ratio.

This is an incredible opportunity for the students from Bowling Green State University to engage with the community of Alcalá de Henares and gain a deeper understanding of the citizens and culture. It is also a beneficial service to Spanish citizens who need english skills to find work in a very competitive job market.