1-+Dalia's+Reflection+Essay

Since 6th grade I have always wanted to do community service because I think it crucial to self-discovery. Without community service in our society many people would not know the meaning, usefulness, or importance of charity. Serving in your community addresses many grass root problems that fall through the cracks of government and social agencies. Doing community service does more than enable you to give back to those who gave to you. In the process, community service shows the good side of people, and it can change the way you behave towards other people. My first year in community service, I wanted to learn about the children's disabilities so I helped out at 'Branches of the Vine'. For the past two years, my service-learning project was working with 8 girls that were abandoned at birth and are now living in 'Amalna Orphanage'. I also wanted to explore other sites so I also helped out at Awladi, Resala, and many other service trips to the cancer hospitals. During my service learning experience, I developed a sense of self and a sense of community. This was a much-needed experience for me as I learnt more about myself, and other communities. By supporting the girls, I learned a lot about leadership and how to take responsibility for others. I also learned how to teach, communicate with children and be more organized. I admired the girls for their continuous optimism even though they had every right to break down. Nourhan, one of two Sudanese girls touched my heart the most because there was not once that she was not smiling or making jokes. One day she told me about how a girl at school had made a racial comment. She told me that at first she was very hurt, but then all her sisters came around and supported her. In the most respected institutes of the world, some racism takes place. I couldn't even imagine how it felt to be dark skinned in a public school in Egypt. Every time the 8 girls arrived at school, they would be so happy and excited to see us. So I was motivated to make the visits more enjoyable for them, and we would come up with fun games and creative ideas for the girls. I did have some problems but knew how to solve them with time and patience. It is normal for a kid to not want anything except what is on his or her mind, even if it is better for them. I knew that in order to gain a child’s respect, I had to be patient and strong. I struggled many times, but I was eventually able to achieve the respect and love from the kids I was looking for. Now I know how to deal with stubborn kids. I cannot explain what this experience meant to be. It taught me life skills and made me feel grateful for all I have. Moreover, it gave me a great sense of the world around me. Through volunteering I started to gain more confidence. Instead of being nervous or scared, I saw this as an experience to meet new people and learn new things. Many people said to me, "How can you enjoy it so much if you receive no money at the end of the week? Where is the gratification"" But the truth of the matter is the feeling of helping someone do what needs to be accomplished is gratification in itself. Although I did not receive any material objects in return, I gained the wonderful feeling of knowing someone's day would be brighter and better because of me.   After two years of working with the girls, I not only got a better sense of community, I gained a glimpse of the bigger picture. Being an orphan or someone who was abandoned is often a taboo subject in many countries. People are not sure how to act or what to say when they find out someone is an orphan or was abandoned. Quite often people just ignore the issue and avoid talking about it. It is not the person's fault that they are an orphan. This was meant to be their destiny and they shouldn’t be shunned in our society. People don’t realize the hardships that orphans go through and by shunning them, it only makes matters worse. These orphans often find themselves unable to fully This is not only an outrage but as well breaks many human rights jurisdictions. I believe that every disabled person should be treated equally and countries should accept them more. I appreciate the time I spent working with the girls as it gave me great outlooks on life, made me more aware, and made me a better person. Through this experience I learned what volunteering can do for my own life. I feel good helping others and knowing their life is a little bit better due to my help. Even if it is just by smiling and having them smile back. Before I always thought volunteering was something to do to get into college, or to do to look good by others. However, it really is not. It is an act for me to help my community. I live in this town, and I live among a great diversity of people. These people are a part of my life, so I want them to have the same chances and happiness that I have.