And who am I? I'm Cleo, Cleo Ku. I wanted to go on this service trip to Detroit because service trips, and trips in general, I've found, are surprisingly good for my mental health. Maybe it's because I'm busy doing work, leading conversations, and eating really good food. It could also be because I'm helping a "greater cause", or because I'm learning about important things that will benefit me in the "real world", or maybe it's because I'm with some really cool people. Now before this blog post sounds more like an advertisement for service trips, perhaps I should tell about our happenings for this day, Day 2.
I was personally almost hit by five things today. This list includes a bunch of celebratory balloons, a basketball, Carlos (well, he almost stepped backwards, where I was standing), 3 long-handed shovels (at once), and clapping hands. However, I made it through the day without a scratch on me! This is what I call a successful day.
We all woke up, or perhaps were awoken, somewhere between 5 o' clock (me), and 7:00 (I suspect). We had breakfast, which of course included much stumbling around, as it was early and not one of us was completely rested. We got through, as we always do, with the help of our pure will to help others, and perhaps some coffee.
We arrived at our workplace for the day, a K-8 school that little to none of us can actually pronounce. It is called Nsoroma, and has a really cool-sounding pronunciation. We each have our own unique way of saying it. Nsoroma is a very interesting place, to say the least. The curriculum is based on African culture. They learn about historical events from the points of view of their culture, which is very different than what I learned as an elementary/middle school student. They also integrate agriculture into their curriculum, including aquaponics and gardening. They have an outdoor classroom where classes can learn while listening to birds sing. They have a "Meditation Garden" which homes fresh herbs, and about a dozen raised beds for vegetables and fruit. We weeded the gardens, pulled scallions, and cut collard greens and broccoli. We gave the majority of the veggies to families of children who go to the summer programs. It was a hot, humid day with a lot of sun and little shade. We worked, although not as hard as we are used to, for multiple hours. However, our work was all completely worth it, at least for me, when we gave the food that we had harvested to families of children who went to the school. The looks on their faces made it worth it. We don't know their individual situations, but giving vegetables that the families can eat and know are good for them is a gift in itself. Having a meal to put on the table, even just part of a meal, is so important. Some people don't have that luxury, and I do, so making sure that even one family does have that for a day really makes me feel great. It may seem like just words to you, but it really is an important thing to think about. Just today we were discussing this. Luxuries, from vegetables to cotton sheets on your bed, are great things that some people are just not used to. This is what I personally would like to work on. Just a little change creates a cycle that can go on forever.
After finishing our workday, we went on a Art/Mural tour to see youth murals and street artwork. The main thing that stuck out to me is the hope that the city has, and how they display this in their artwork. Detroit is perceived as a broken city, but the people's hope and determination is so strong and evident. A lot of the graffiti was about the general restoration of the city, including one that said, "Save the city, kill the crackheads". This is obviously not the best general message, but it does show how people want to "save the city". Maybe we shouldn't "kill the crackheads", but instead assist them in what they need to personally accomplish, but the point of the message is that the people of Detroit want this restoration. We went to eat at the Cass Commons, where people from Detroit 2012 held an "orientation". Although we were reluctant, we attended. I personally thought it was great. People who have been in Detroit for the past week spoke about what they had experienced. Some people had even ridden their bicycles from Maryland and Florida to Detroit. This struck me as an amazing thing to do.
The food was catered from a vegan/vegetarian catering business. Almost every food item was directly from a vegetable or fruit. There was even "live" spaghetti, which did not involve worms, as I suspected, but zucchini. The salad was completely from a garden (instead of a supermarket), and tasted like "the ground", as I described. I also liked the spaghetti sauce which was made from tomatoes, vegetables, and turkey. It was very good and tasted both homegrown and homemade. I enjoyed the meal, as did most of the group. We didn't even have to make our scheduled meal: fried rice.
We had a successful day. We are all settled in, and currently there is laughter, snoring, sleepy mumbling and general contentment in the house. I've greatly enjoyed my blog-writing time, and look forward to everyone reading my post. I will probably write again, if I have something to say, which I know I will.
But for now, this is Cleo Ku, signing off.
(That was really cool to write.)
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