To Serve or Not to Serve?

WHAT: Typically, the term “help” is defined as the act of providing assistance or aid to an individual or group. Although it can be interpreted as fixing something that is broken. To the people being helped, the perception of being helped has the potential of being negative. As Illich stated, “I am here to challenge you to recognize your inability, your powerlessness and incapacity to do the ‘good’ which you intended to do” (Illich 5). He makes the argument that people should not go to Mexico to volunteer because it unwanted. He does not believe that people can go to a different country with a vastly different culture and understand what they are going through and thinking. Remen partially agrees with Illich, yet presents the idea that we must differentiate between helping and serving. Remen mentioned, “In helping we may find satisfaction; in serving we find a sense of gratitude” (Remen 1). To make a difference and feel satisfied with our actions, we must do our service selflessly. According to Remen, we cannot set out to help others to feel better about ourselves. Giving back and volunteering our time has the potential to help many if we are doing it for the right reasons. Calderon pointed out, “Certain individuals or groups have the power to define dominant culture, and therefore the power to oppress and liberate others” (Calderon 1). We have the power to change the world for a better and I believe that should be the main focus of our purpose to serve. I agree with Remen that we have to go about donating and volunteering to make others feel better and make a change, not on our own benefits. I also disagree with Illich because I believe that everyone can use some help, even if we don’t want to admit it. The intention of helping others does not always mean that we see who we are helping as broken or less than us. It is an opportunity to better the state of an individual or group of people and it is unfortunate for Illich to disregard that completely.

SO WHAT: The role I have at the Ritter House is a position that helps, in my opinion. The purpose of my time at the Ritter House is to bag up food for people with little to no income, therefore I am not doing anything to ‘fix’ the issue of homelessness or poverty. The role that the coordinator of the Ritter House, though, plays both parts of helping and fixing. He provides the food to homeless and low income families, which helps. On the other hand, he also spreads awareness of the issue of poverty and homelessness in San Rafael. During my time volunteering, I have noticed that he gives information of how to combat the issue whenever groups, such as schools, come to donate large portions of food from their food drives. In my opinion, this is partially fixing the issue because he is educating and bringing light to the issue. The Ritter House also provides housing and long term resources for people as well. Calderon mentioned, “When he became an organizer and placed himself in others’ worlds, he deepened this commitment, empowering himself to empower others” (Calderon 2). The power of education is very strong, and the Ritter House educates people daily of the issues that we face in San Rafael. Since they allow volunteers to come into the facility to help out, they are allowing people to be in a situation where they can realize this is prominent issue in the community. My perception has not changed much because I have always been taught to accept people no matter our differences.

NOW WHAT: At the semester right now, I have not had the chance to dig deep into conversation with the people that receive services from the Ritter House. Our interactions last around 3 to 5 minutes at the most when we are talking and it is limited to me asking what food they would like to take home. In contrast, I listen to the conversations happening outside of the food pantry to get a feeling for what they talk about and how they feel about various things. As Calderon mentioned, “Through perspective-taking, we can better comprehend and appreciate each other’s differences in order to find out commonalities” (Calderon 2). I appreciate the opportunity of working at the Ritter House to open my mind to the perspective of the people that I am working with. I hope to learn more about their stories and conversations to understand them in a more personal way. Like Remen stated, “We cannot serve at a distance. We can only serve that to which we are profoundly connected, that which we are willing to touch” (Remen 2). People that are unfamiliar with volunteer work and the benefits are going to have differing perspectives than those who are willing to volunteer their time. In the media, there has always been a negative stereotype of low income or homeless people that they are dangerous, lazy, or deceitful people. Fortunately, I have not let those perspectives influence my own thoughts and opinions. Although, I cannot say the same for the people that are subjected to these stereotypes. When someone is constantly told they are dangerous or lazy, they begin to believe it or have a lower self esteem. These are the least of their problems considering they have to, almost constantly, search for shelter and do not know where their next meal is coming from.