Day 4- Our student’s perspective
(Allison Hoffman, the author of this post, is a junior education major at Towson University and this is her 2nd year serving as a student leader in our ministry.)
So far on our spring break trip we have been learning about the Civil Rights Movement; and about the activists and the effects the movement had on their lives. But today our group was able have a change of pace. We went to Emmaus House which is a organization placed in an economically disadvantaged community. This organization was intentional about its placement in Peoplestown- a neighborhood in Atlanta. They are in community with their neighbors and shine God's love through their actions, whether it is handing out sandwiches or helping people apply for food stamps.
Elizabeth, who is the director for Emmaus House, led our group on a tour of the house and of the surrounding neighborhood. It was great to have the opportunity to walk around the neighborhood and get a sense of the community. Elizabeth was also able to tell us a lot about the history of the neighborhood.
Once we arrived back at the house after our walk we ate a quick lunch and were assigned tasks. Elizabeth had three jobs for us to do. The kitchen had to be cleaned, sandwiches had to be crafted, and sticks and leaves needed to be picked and raked up. I felt called to work outside in the garden. I was thankful to have the opportunity to be outside and do hands on service today. It was amazing how quickly our group cleaned up the garden and how much fun we had serving together.
Like I mentioned earlier, it was great to have a change in pace and do some hands on service. But Elizabeth helped us tie what we have learned about with the Civil Rights Movement and the issues people still face today that are centered around race. Elizabeth facilitated a game called "Life". We were all given a cup with either golf pegs, m&ms, or neither. The color of our cup depended our education level: no high school diploma, only a high school diploma, and or college grad. The golf pegs symbolized our the skills we possessed and could be traded in for m&ms. There were 8 rounds of the game and at the end of every round you had to have at least one m&m to eat. If you did not have an m&m you were put in the homeless shelter.
The game was a very powerful simulation of everyday life. People are born into their lives, some are blessed with a loving, middle-class family. And others are born into families who struggle with poverty or families whose relationships are strained. This game was a reminder of the vicious cycles people can become trapped in and struggle with escaping. In our debriefing of the game we discussed specific issues which fall more heavily on minority communities. With all of this said we are ready to head to the King Center tomorrow!