My project ended on Saturday with a VTGS class with a focus on addiction and recovery. The class was actually one of the most effective meetings of VTGS that I’ve been to up to this point. We had a panel with about 6 recovering addicts, did an art project, and then had a discussion/reflection in small groups. It was interesting to be the only Westtown student in attendance, since the underclassmen left for spring break on Friday.

This class was effective because of the delicacy of the topic. The personal testimonies we heard during the panel were really moving, because of the pure strength of the person sharing. To be so open with a bunch of teenage kids from privileged backgrounds about addiction and recovery, of all things, that takes guts. But the topic was also cause for a gap between the students and the people on the panel. It was hard for a lot of the kids to make sense of some of the stories, because it still feels so distant to them. This gap didn’t completely go away, but it was interesting to watch as kids started to grasp what addiction means on a personal level through the group discussions.

I think that it was good for me to be the only Westtown student at this class because of the nature of my work at BSM for the preceding two weeks. I was worried how it would feel to return to being a student in the class after having been an “intern,” and having people from Westtown with me would have made that difference larger. Instead I feel like I was able to hold my place well, and also take in what addiction/recovery means to me personally and be rather vulnerable in discussion. It’s always easier to be vulnerable when you aren’t surrounded by the people who you see every day.

Anyway, post-project life for me includes a vacation to Saint Martin. It’s been a culture shock, going from my Senior Project to this. If you’ve read my blog from the start, you might remember how I chose to stay in Philadelphia to avoid the feel of a luxe vacation. Here I am, on an extremely luxe vacation, and it’s made it difficult to keep myself in the mindset I kept during my Senior Project. Having been taken out of Philadelphia the day after my project ended has really blurred some of my initial reflections, and I wish it hadn’t been like that.

During the length of my project, Liam had me read 3 different books. I finished one before starting at BSM, read one during, and then lost steam and still haven’t finished the third. This third book, The Fidelity of Betrayal by Peter Rollins, is a theologically-based argument for the deconstruction of the church in favor of a church essentially turned on its head. Taken from the back of the book:

“It may be necessary to betray your faith in order to keep it.
What if one of the core demands of a radical Christianity lay in a call for its betrayal, while the ultimate act of affirming God required the forsaking of God? And what if fidelity to the Judeo-Christian Scriptures demanded their renunciation? In short, what would it mean if the only way of finding real faith involved betraying it with a kiss?
Employing the insights of mysticism and deconstructive theory, The Fidelity of Betrayal delves into the subversive and revolutionary nature of a Christianity that dwells within the church while simultaneously undermining it.”

So, I’ve been plowing through this, trying to make sense of a VERY different religious perspective than I’ve ever seen. I came into this project with a view of the church as a one-dimensional, negative thing. I whole-heartedly believed in individual faith, but I strongly felt that organized religion was just doing it all wrong. I’ve discovered that the power of faith does not lie in individuality, but really in the community’s celebration of each person and their own faith unto whatever it is they are faithful. Through this, people are able to simultaneously find strength in themselves and a support network, a family, in the people around them. I think that this is exemplary of one of the biggest things I’ve taken away from this project: it’s blasted multiple stereotypes that I would identify things by. Homelessness, addiction, religious faith. The world beyond Westtown is complex, definitely not one-dimensional, and filled with really fascinating people and ideas in places you wouldn’t always expect to find them.

One of the things I’ve taken away from this project is that in the world of social justice, it doesn’t matter so much in mission whether an organization is faith-based or not. However, BSM would not be the same place it is today if it was not. In essence, by being who they are and accepting all who come, by celebrating people, art, community, and culture, and by whole-heartedly engaging in not only the beauty but also the brokenness of Philadelphia, they are Christianity personified. And whether you are religious or not, this is something that is easily appreciated.

So, that’s the end! Thank you for reading my blog 🙂 And sorry I never got those pictures that I promised a while back.

Advice to next year’s seniors:

– Don’t even THINK about location before you understand what you want to do
– Try to find an organization, project, internship, etc in which you can really make a place for yourself, and have an impact
– Make sure you feel a little bit uneasy! Stretch your comfort zone and consider tackling something on an intellectual level as well as an emotional/physical level
– Don’t be afraid to ask an organization if you would be able to do something there if they don’t have a pre-made “internship” or something. Sometimes projects that have been self-defined and sort of made up as you go can be the most rewarding
– Don’t pay attention to the pressure that a project has to be mind-blowing or life altering. The larger picture doesn’t REALLY matter; it’s all in the details.
– Great projects can be free!

Caylin

Bonjour! Greetings from Paris!

Since my arrival here in Paris last Saturday, I have been fully immersed into French culture. Even though I do not speak French and was at first very concerned about communicating with my host family in their native language, my experiences in Paris thus far have been so meaningful that a language barrier seems to be no longer an issue.

Living with a French family is an integral part of my experience here in France. Romain Denuit is my French host brother, and his family are the ones I am staying with during my Senior Project. He is a senior at Notre Dame Des Missions High School this year. He loves Classical music and plays the piano very well as both of his parents are professional musicians playing viola and cello. Practicing the piano and going to a music academy after school every day, Romain works very hard and aspire to study piano in college and as his profession. I find his love of music and talent in piano especially appealing to me as our common interest in music has helped us to bond and be open-minded to each other. Though my reaching out to him and his family has helped us to get to know more about one another, our spending time together talking about music has definitely inspired me to form a new relationship with a friend from another country. And I am grateful for that.  

For the past three days, I have attended Romain’s classes at Notre Dame Des Missions High School. All of his classes were very interesting to me, but I thought they could be boring at the same time for many students as teachers in French high schools often lecture in the classroom as opposed to discussion-based classes at Westtown School. In Romain’s philosophy class, for example, the teacher was lecturing about some profound questions regarding happiness (if I understood French correctly). This class has drawn my attention in particular because philosophy is not a common subject taught in American high schools; I was amazed that French high school students take philosophy classes, and it is a graduation requirement. Undoubtedly, my favorite class so far has been English class, where I actually understood what teachers were talking about. French Students were debating about the Second Amendment of the Bill of Rights and reading Shakespeare’s Midsummer Night’s Dream. In French literature class, students were reading the first president of France, Charles de Gaulle’s memoir as his book is a required reading for all high school students in France. By visiting these classes with Romain, I came to my own conclusion that unlike schools in the United States, French high schools are very similar to those in my home country. Students in South Korea take many lecture-based classes, and teachers come into classrooms rather than students moving to different classrooms. Due to this similarity, I felt more adapted and comfortable being at the French high school. Furthermore, I once again realized how unique and valuable Westtown education has been for my life in the United States. Schools in France or in South Korea seem to be the places where students go in the morning for the purpose of studying, yet education at Westtown School  has been a true combination of academics, a variety of outdoor and extracurricular activities, and community service. I am very glad that the classes I have attended not only has helped me to understand French educational system but also raised my understanding of cultural and educational differences among many different countries.

 My Senior Project here in France has been truly amazing and meaningful. People I have met and places I have visited explain to me why Paris is a unique European city. For my next blog, I will be writing about the places I have visited in Paris so far such as les Champs Elysees, l’Arc de Triomphe, Notre Dame, and l’Hotel de Ville. Westtown students who have come to Paris with me are also enjoying their time here. As I have learned and discovered so much about Paris for the last few days, I look forward to even better days for the rest of my staying here with Romain and his family and friends.

A plus! (“See you” in Francais)

Dennis (Chan Min) ‘ 11

Hola, Sophie here en Espania. I haven’t had much luck with Internet access here, so if you all are wondering why none of us on the Spanish exchange have posted anything, that is why. We arrived in Madrid Saturday morning after a long and restless airplane ride for the most of us. We all got freaked out when Profe Jorge told us that he didn’t know where we were staying the night. It was a joke. We didn’t get it. When we arrived, we met up with a teacher from the school in Barcelona and after some luggage problems, we made our way to the hotel that we stayed at for the next two nights. Of course though, we only dropped off our bags and then, against many of our wills, headed out to the streets again. By this point, many of us hadn’t slept in about 24 hours, but we couldn’t waste precious time in Madrid. So we went to an art museum, and tried to walk around and appreciate the art without collapsing. After the museum, the teachers thought it would be a good idea for us to get to know the way around the city, so they handed each of us a map and told us to find our way to Plaza Mayor. It took about an hour, but we all found our way and were rewarded with dinner! Being a vegetarian is sometimes very hard here, so I was able to find some good pizza.
The next day, we went to an out-door market, where you could buy anything that you wanted. It was very crowded but was a lot of fun. After that, we went to another art museum. This one was a little better and I actually saw a painting that I knew of Georgia O’Keefe. The streets are filled with beautiful buildings, beautiful sculptures, and beautiful people, oh and tons of Vespas and motorcycles.
On our third and last day in Madrid, we went to a gorgeous and romantic park. We took many photos and walked a lot. Then we went to the Riena Sofia museum which was my favorite. There was lots of work done by Pablo Piccasso and Salvador Dalí. The building was four stories high and made of glass, with glass elevators (a tad bit scary, I must say).
That sums up our days in Madrid. We had some great group bonding in two small groups. We ate good food and got very good at asking for directions en Spanish.
Now, we are in Barcelona. We took a very fast train, about 300 kilometers per hour, and was welcomed by signs from our hosts. We are taking it easy here because our students are on vacation. We are able to sleep in, which is a treat as we try to catch up from what we lost before. It is very hard to understand the people when they talk because they speak so fast and sometimes in Catalan. We are trying and learning new words that are commonly used.
Adios until next time!

 

Sophie

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I know that I have started to fall behind as a blogger but this rainy day gives me a chance to catch up. Even though I have officially left the Trumbullplex as a house guest I haven’t really left yet. After every day at the farm I’ve headed back to the Trumbullplex to hang out with the collective. The other night we went bowling as a collective and never stopped putting on punk songs on the juke box. It ended up being a dance party with bowling on the side. It also happened to be a really slow night at the bowling alley so the owner let us keep going for 3 hours for the price of one game. There was also a really bad show at the theater the on Monday night. The bands were all really lame except for one of our friends’ bands. The real problem with the show was the people who showed up were all really big jerks. Most of the collective headed inside and hung out inside around the wood stove and came back periodically to check up on the show.

Even though the show stunk, the Trumbullplex got some bigger donations for their magazine library.

The Farm, on the other hand, has been really great as well. Greg is a really inspiring person to be working with. He started the Trumbullplex back in 1992 and embodies the entrepreneurial lifestyle I want to pursue. It has been really nice to talk to Greg about his past with movements and how they can really disillusion you.

Greg is also a former teacher, fired after he supported some students with their idea to hold a sit-in to change the school cafeteria. We have been collaborating on a new project to build a compost screener that can be moved over the beds as a direct application. It’s really nice to work with Greg and see a teaching style that is a perfect balance of freedom and instruction.

Today, however, has been rainy and there hasn’t been much that we can do on a day like today. Tonight I’m going to head back to Back Alley Bikes to volunteer.

Peace,

Henry

This will be my last entry as a blogger whose on Senior Projects. As 9 other students are falling asleep before our 5 AM flight, I am sitting with my laptop, trying to sink in the fact that I will be leaving Bangkok in a few hours.

The last few days at the Elephant Nature Park have been an mind-boggling experience. When we went up to the Elephant Haven, an hour hike up the mountain in the dead heat made the hike seem worth it. There was nothing but nature. Even though the hike was pretty bad, “step step break.” After two or three steps, the elephants would stop and eat the nearby grass and they never seemed to be full. But their hunger made the hike more relaxing and gave us more time to enjoy the living nature of the mountain. When it got dark, Pum told us bunch of stories of the elephants, of Lek and the beginning times of the ENP. Lek seemed to have gone through so much to have built all this. Sometime close to 9, we went on a mini-hike around the mountain with flash lights, following the mahouts to find the elephants. The prickles and bushes did not make the hike fun but painful. But it was amazing how mahouts could easily find their elephants in pitch dark without hearing any noises from them.

The next morning, we had even bigger agenda for the day. WE WERE RESCUING AN ELEPHANT. I must say, we are a hell of a lucky group, because we experienced events that wouldn’t have experienced if we weren’t there at that special week. With the forest fire, and rescuing an elephant? The park has rescued 35 elephants over the course of 20 years. What are the chances that we work during the week that they save another one? Anyway, this new elephant was abused by being ridden by tourists for money near by the ENP. It’s back leg was broken for 30 years. The nature park people were the elephant’s 17th and hopefully last owner. The elephant did not go into the truck, so it had to walk back. Most of the volunteers went to rescue the elephants and some decided to walk back to the park with the new elephant.

By the time it was Sunday when all the volunteers were leaving, I realized how much bonding we had with the rest of the volunteers during this week. I met some really interesting people, such as people who quit their jobs to travel, bikers, etc.

Right now, I don’t think I can fully describe how this experience will change my life right now or in the future. I haven’t seen the changes yet, but I am excited to see them in my life and see changes in other people too. The aftermath might not be visible at the moment, because we just left Thailand and the service was physical labor but it will be visible in our actions soon enough. I can’t wait to see everyone and begin talking about our Senior Projects.

Thanks for reading my blogs, and I hope they were helpful in keeping you updated!

Lynn
March 8, 2011

We’re back! We have arrived home safely with everyone intact.

On Monday, the day after I posted my previous entry, we drove to Heritage for the last time. Most of us were decked out in our new Ghanaian fabric. I wore my shorts and a t-shirt I had gotten at Kakum National Park. We arrived and began the painful process of saying goodbye. There were many exchanges of letters and gifts. I doled out some candy. We all took “snaps” of the kids we taught and had gotten to know. Before we knew it, we had a formal assembly to say goodbye, and then we took our group picture and said goodbye for the last time.
We drove back to JIMMYCOM, took pictures with Alaska, Heritage’s pro driver. He was very gracious, and worked for a lot of extra time on the weekends to shuttle us to all of the places we visited. On the weekdays, he works longer hours than just about anyone at Heritage, since he had to pick up and drop off all of the students before and after school.
We packed the last residual clothing into our suitcases, packed them into the bus, and set out for Accra. We were staying in a hotel, which according to Kwesi was “within spitting distance” from the airport. The place was amazing: it had air-conditioning, running water, and even mirrors and soap. We all felt very out-of-place.
We ate a massive chinese food dinner that night as a celebration of the work we had done and as an appreciation for our group and the time we spent together. We all tried to avoid seafood dishes, because Ghanaians have odd ways of preparing seafood.
This morning, we had a 6:00AM wake-up call, a twelve-hour flight, and a four hour drive from JFK to Westtown. It felt great to be home, but we were all freezing when we got back. Most of us had acclimatized to the 95-degree and humid weather of Ghana, and now we were thrust back into the frozen tundra of North America. Teachers Melissa and Linda were there to greet us, as well as Emmanuel and Isaac. We exchanged news and stories of our journey, and tried out some of the Fante we had picked up.

Fortunately, I left Ghana with few regrets. I wish that I had bought more when we had the opportunity, because it is uncertain whether I will ever be able to go back. I want about three more shirts and three more pairs of pants and shorts, as well as wooden statues and other crafts.
We did not get any grass cutter. We heard from a bunch of Heritage students that it is amazing, but we only ever saw them for sale when we were driving to Ajumako when we arrived and as we were driving to Accra on the last day. People sell them on the sides of large roads, but we couldn’t ever stop. We will all be dreaming wonderful Malarone-induced dreams of grass cutter steaks.
Also, as Bella and Kevin would agree, I wish that we had managed to bring back some Passion Fruit Alvaro. Mere words can describe neither the taste nor the essence of this drink. One of the first things I did when I got here was to look it up on the Internet, but I can’t seem to find a way to get it shipped here.

If anyone has any questions about where we went and what we did, anyone on the trip would be more than happy to recount our adventures. We would all recommend this trip to future seniors without hesitation. Teaching at Heritage was a powerful experience, one I hope never to forget.

Good luck to Seniors next year,
Daniel