It’s
a little unsettling to know that today was our last day of service. I've gained
such a great amount of knowledge about New York, the citizens of New York, the
homeless, my peers, and most importantly, myself. The hostel we stayed at was
way beyond my expectations. It gave me a great first impression of what a
hostel is. Because it was my first time in one I was unsure of whether or not
I’d enjoy it. After this weekend, I definitely do plan on visiting more hostels
in the future. The people here were lovely and I was enlightened by the stories
they brought with them.
Today’s
service was the most touching because of the mere fact that we had to go out
and find the homeless. At the soup kitchen, they would have to come and find
us. We saw them in their raw state. We communicated with them one-on-one. We
entered their territory. The barrier that often times delineated them as
homeless and us as the rest of society vanished. Instead of this experience
being human-to-homeless, it was human-to-human. At around 10am, our group
gathered around the kitchen and packed homemade sandwiches. To "step
up" our acts of kindness, words of wisdom were written on the outside of
each bag. The quotes ranged form being as simple as smile, today is a
new day to more in-depth ones like change your thoughts and
change your world. I thought that idea made all the difference; it gave the
receiver a sense of hope and something to smile about and be thankful for.
Around the afternoon, we all hopped on the train and went on our own excursions
to find those we thought we were in-need of these packed sandwiches.
This
one man, who was right in front of me at the crosswalk intersection, appeared
ill and wore ragged clothing. However, something about him said that he wasn’t
homeless and it became a challenge deciphering whether or not I should hand him
the bag of lunch. My intuition said that he was, so after we had crossed the
street and the crowded group of New Yorkers dispersed, I approached him and
told him that this bag was for him and wished him a good rest of his day. He
looked at me confused, but replied with a simple thank you and walked away. As
he was walking ahead, he kept on looking back. I was unsure why, but we
continued to walk in the same direction. He waited for us to catch up and said, “The
reason I said thank you was because I’m not from here. I’m on my way to renew
my passport. I’m from Kenya. I’m here for cancer treatment. That’s why I look
like this.” The man pointed to his face and then to the rest of his body. He then
lowered his shirt and showed us his scar. “I’m almost done with treatment, so
thank you for this.” He walked away. I was happy that this man took the time to
wait up and share this story with us. It made me realize that though he was not
homeless, this little act of kindness may have served as his beacon of hope
–whether it was for a better tomorrow, better health, or better society. A
little act of kindness, either to the obviously needy or not-so-obvious, can
change someone’s world. It can give people that little boost that they need to
continue their day, to keep on going. This service taught me to stop thinking
that only homeless need help; there are plenty of people who live their lives
so marginally close to the homeless, but probably receive less attention
because they just aren't quite homeless.
I am personally
more than grateful for this experience. It was life-changing, and I wouldn't
change a single thing about it. A big thank you to everyone who made this
experience possible.
MONDAY, 16 MARCH 2015 || SUENING, BARBARA 19
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