As a preface to next week’s reflection on volunteering, I am going to talk about my experiences with service-learning. My introduction to service-learning was on a spring break trip with The SEEDS Project (Students Engaging and Enacting a Dialogue on Service) to southern Louisiana. During the trip I enjoyed engaging in discussions with other members and locals on various intertwined social justice issues. I met a former chief of the United Houma Nation, a Native American tribe fighting for federal recognition after hundreds of years of systematic oppression. I talked to a doctor who treated patients afflicted with health issues associated with the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. I worked with leaders of Our School at Blair Grocery (http://schoolatblairgrocery.blogspot.com/), an alternative school and urban farm in the lower ninth ward of New Orleans that aims to help struggling youth while combating local food shortages.
It was hard not to feel overwhelmed and helpless after being immersed in such complicated issues. I was left with a sense of longing for greater purpose and searching for the meaning of service-learning. I realized that service-learning goes beyond helping people in need. It involves an openness of heart and mind that allows us to form a relationship with and be changed by those we serve. There are several aspects to service learning. Building relationships with the communities we serve is just as important as building a new house or weeding a garden. A service-learning perspective will help us navigate our continued quest for knowledge about the physical and human geography of the James River watershed. If we see the environment as a community in need, we can better see how forming a relationship with the land around us will allow us to serve it better.
I recently learned some startling facts about water and energy: It takes 150 gallons of water to produce one newspaper; 1,000 gallons for one quart of orange juice, 2,500 gallons for one pound of beef, and 40,000 gallons of water to produce 1 new car. It has been estimated that current annual world energy consumption is equal to what it took about 1 million years to produce naturally. Yikes! I am motivated by both these facts and by the simple beauty around me to be a steward to my community and the environment through service-learning.