Reflection+Essay-FR



==== Why take service learning? Why add on another obligation on to your demanding duties of the school year? Service learning is not an obligation or a duty. Service learning is a method of teaching, learning and reflecting. Not only do students engage in structured service activities that benefit the public, but we are also given the opportunity to reflect upon ourselves as we grow as a result of increased academic learning and personal development. To be honest, when I signed up for service learning it was more for the community service aspect; I was unaware of just how much I would really come to learn. People often told me that I would learn the most important things outside of the classroom, but I never really understood what they meant until I took service learning. As an individual to create my own project to benefit the community, I have learned new skills and come about new ways to solve problems; I have become a better decision maker, have gained higher levels of thinking, not only about the subject of service but about life and everyday propositions. Because of this class I have witnessed my capabilities as an individual and have developed a sense of my strengths and weaknesses. ====

==== As a freshman, I requested to take the Service class because I was planning on doing it for all four years of my high school career. Because of scheduling conflicts, I could not take the class, which was a great disappointment to me. As it was my first year in high school, I was unaware of Independent Study and my counselor did not inform me about this option. Although I was not in the class, I volunteered to help at every service learning organized event by Ms. Mazhar, such as the Janitors Iftar, the Cancer Iftar, the Egypt Festival and more. Although I thoroughly enjoyed these chances of giving back to the community, I was not fully satisfied; I wanted to do more. Entering my second year of high-school, I signed up for the Service Learning class. Once again, because of a schedule conflict, I could not take Service Learning. This time my counselor introduced me to Independent Study and I agreed automatically. I attended the school organized trips but eventually realized that I had to dedicate myself to my own project. I did not want to do something like volunteer at an orphanage, because I feel like that is something that everybody does; and I feel like playing with young kids for a few hours will not really benefit the larger community. I decided on a project involving volunteering at a free clinic in maadi. Abir Freiji and I would volunteer there almost every Saturday for five hours and we would do supply work until we eventually worked up the skill and capabilities to work with the nurses. I am so glad that I dedicated myself to this cause because I feel like the continuous progress made at the site benefited not only the targeted group, but also my own personal growth as a person. ====

==== As a result of my volunteer work at the clinic, I was given opportunity to provide direct experience by applying content and ideas and issues discussed in class. I also learned things that I would not learn in a classroom; I learned and applied valuable life lessons often taught. For example, I spent five hours every weekend doing the same monotonous task and because of this I learned patience. Whenever I was doing this service, I did not wish for it to be over and not once was I bored, for what I was doing had a higher purpose. I finally understood the subject of service. It is not about doing large scale actions for opportunities for sweeping gestures rarely arise; rather, we must do what we can to help the community through the small opportunities that surround us every day. I also realized that service learning is not all about raising money and s not only about charity; as Khalil Gibran once said, “you give but little when you give your possession. It is when you give yourself that you truly give.” Along with these valuable lessons, I have learned new basic skills and developed my problem solving and decision making skills. Some skills I have learned are simple first aid procedures, such as how to clean a wound properly and to eye and ear check-ups. I have also developed my skill of handwork; each time I went to the clinic, our time for the tasks they gave us decreased because we each got better at doing the manual labor. I learned about different types of treatments and procedures from when the sisters talked to us. My problem solving skills have improved because I was continuously finding ways to do the work given in an efficient manner in the time allotted. I also had to learn how to handle situations in which I had to talk to patients and had to decide and what was the right way to behave and act around each different person. I feel that because of these learning experiences provided by my volunteer work at the clinic, I have grown as a person. During the quiet working time, I have become more and more aware of my character and the changes that have taken place in me because of this eye opening experience. I am aware of my increased patience. I have discovered that giving and helping those in need is really something that I cherish and want to continue doing in the future; I have even considered dedicating my life to a cause. I thought about becoming like one of these people who travel around the world to less developed countries and aid them in any way possible. I owe this change in myself to my developed sense of community. I have become more aware of the various social classes in Egypt; more aware of the poverty situation. As I see my friends working on several different projects and many of them are very passionate about what they volunteer for, I have realized that we are composed of a community of who enjoy supporting each other and their country. I would like to challenge myself to continue taking advantage of small service opportunities until I can one day make a big difference in the world. ====

==== Reflecting back on the hours spent at the Free German Clinic on Saturdays, I can honestly say the quality of service at the site has improved over time. Each time I have gone, we have increased our efficiency, decreased our average time taken to complete the task, and increased production and result rate. The more time we spent at the site, the more the sisters trusted us when performing the given tasks; they began to give us harder and more challenging tasks. Rather than simply unwrapping gauze, they began to trust us the cut the gauze into sheets and organize them correctly, and once they even gave us the task of cutting eye patches through a certain technical method. I really feel like we made a lot of progress at the site; I think that the work we did while volunteering there really made a difference to them. This is because we spent several hours doing tasks that they would have had to have done themselves. These duties would have taken up much time from their day. By volunteering, we do several days work in a few hours, freeing the nurses to take care of more patients and focus on their medical obligations. I plan to continue volunteering at the clinic in my spare time, and so I hope to continue making steady progress. In terms of progress on our goals, I have told many people about the work I do at the clinic and offered for them to join me. Several times this semester, Abir and I have taken an extra volunteer or two with us. Some people that we have taken requested to come again and so I believe that soon I will be able to have a set number of volunteers who can alter weeks and create a solid help schedule for the clinic. However, I do not feel like I have made much progress with the goal of assisting them with medical practices. Seeing the patients still makes me uneasy and for now I am focusing on learning the basic first aid. I hope that next year I can conquer my fear and make even more significance progress. ====

==== Living standards in Egypt are low by any international standard and have consistently decline since the1990s. From gathered statistics, more than 30% of the population in Egypt lives below the poverty line; however, this figure is most likely a lot higher. Due to the large gaps between social classes in Egypt most of the wealthier population is unaware or even completely oblivious to the living conditions of the poorer majority. Most of the people living in poverty in Cairo do not have access to sufficient medical care; most of them do not have access to any medical care in Egypt. I believe that providing free medical care to everybody in the country is a step that must be taken, not only in Egypt, but across the world. Those who cannot afford food should have access to free medical care. I really respect this clinic and these nurses for what they do and I think that this issue should be addressed more prominently in the state. More free clinics should be available across the country, or a running program should be developed in which free medical attention and routine check-ups are given to the poorer communities. This problem is one I hope is solved soon and I would love to do anything I can to raise awareness and promote solutions. ====