Introduction
My name is Rachel Sehn and I am currently
in my second year here at Brock University. I am undergraduate student
presently majoring in Child and Youth Studies and minoring in Sociology. These
academic interests will hopefully bring me to reach my goal in the near future
of becoming a primary school teacher. At the start, I had a great amount of
interest in this particular course. After reading the course description and
objectives regarding SOCI 2F60 it enlightened me to further my decision in
taking this course. The reason why I chose this course was that it was so unique
compared to other courses. This course had a different model of education,
which is the service-learning component. While reading about this course it was
not just a regular credit here at Brock. This course was said to take on a more
experimental approach to teaching and learning that integrated classroom
academics with community engagement. Before starting this course I knew it
would allow for me to explore and learn about the communities and challenges of
both the Niagara Region as well as Canadian Society at large. This not only
benefits me with community building here in the Niagara Region, it also allows
for me to view social justice issues along with inequalities that the Canadian
society deals with, which I can use for my future profession as a school
teacher. In this portfolio I have included two revised OOCLO reflections: The
St. Catharine’s Market and Stand with Malala: End the Education Emergency along
with a small report based on of the group interviews I had with my peers. The
groups I chose to interview were: Lincoln County and Big Brothers Big Sisters
programs that I conducted at he presentation showcase session on April 1st.
Lastly, a critical reflection and conclusion of my overall learning and
experiences in this course.
Two
Revised OOCLO Reflections
St Catharine’s Market
On
Saturday January 18th I took part in experiencing some of Niagara’s
best food sources. The St. Catharines’ Market, which is held downtown on the
core streets of St. Catharines’ every Thursday’s and Saturdays, allows
individuals such as myself to explore meats, vegetables, cheese, baked goods
and many other different kinds of fresh foods. The St. Catharine’s Farmers'
Market is a great way to experience community engagement and plenty of
diversity. At the market you can get fruits and vegetables direct from local
farmers, so customers are helping the farming community by getting food
straight from the source. Outside sources such as a visitor can experience a
bit more of the local culture, heritage, and the farmers of the Niagara Region.
The market has many factors
that positively contribute to Niagara’s agriculture. The St. Catharine’s
farmers market contributes to sustainability because it promotes local goods
and services for community members. The St. Catharine’s Market lets local
community members to buy locally. Buying local is a great benefit because you
are supporting your own community since you are not buying from outside
sources. Customers such as myself get to see where the food they are eating is
coming from and can even talk to the farmers directly. The food is fresh because
it comes straight from the farm, and it has not travelled
hundreds of miles while allowing pollutants into the environment. While walking
around the market, many vendors sell organic goods such as honey,
bread, and fruits and vegetables, which means that no pesticides were
involved. This is good for the environment because it means no artificial
chemicals are seeping into the soil and waterways from their farming, and this
way, consumers do not have to ingest chemicals into their bodies. While local
farmers explained to me the importance of fresh livestock, and the process in
which fresh foods are produced, allows for better understanding of Niagara’s
farming industry. The market has many benefits for the local community and the
regions important farmers. It also provides the customer with direct
contact with their food sources so you know where your food is coming from. It
directly supports farmers financially. Eating local is important for building a
sustainable community.
With
previously living in a suburb, being a 19-year-old Caucasian undergraduate
Brock student, attending the St. Catharine’s Market allowed for me to gain
knowledge and experience. There were many families surrounding the downtown
area that day, allowing for a positive inclusive environment throughout my
first experience at the St. Catharine’s market. While walking through the
market, we were able to talk to the farmers who grow and care for food. Also
being 19-year-old Caucasian with very minimal food experiences, the market allowed
for me to familiarize myself with different cultural foods. It provided an
educational kind of atmosphere, which allowed for individuals such as myself to
learn about different varieties of food and how it is produced. Being an
undergraduate student with frequent budget I found the food to be out of my
price range. The costs at the market were relatively high because the food was
coming directly from its grower. I am from Burlington Ontario, and when I was a
kid I use to attend a farmers market every Sunday with my parents. The
experience here at the St. Catharine’s Market was relatively the same. They
visual display of the different farmers was similar along with the cost of
foods. The only difference was the size. Compared to Burlington’s Market the St.
Catharine’s Market was reasonably small.
In a
previous lecture Professor Gosine stated that different functions of a
community protect members of that community and enhance social action and
solidarity. One major function of a community is their production and
distribution. Production is when a product is made and distribution is when a
factory or group of people distribute or send it for people to use. This links
to the St. Catharine’s market because when a farmer is growing crops they are
composing fresh foods for the community. Finally, when the growing process is
done the farmers then distribute the fresh foods to the market for community
members to enjoy. The process of production and distribution is a key
characteristic that every community should have to gain the working functions
of a successful community. In reference to the reading for this week by Tarasuk
(2008), it talks about food charity and how community members donate to local
food banks to provide for the less fortunate. Everyday the St Catharine’s
market brings in fresh produce, meaning that at the end of a day of work they
must have plenty of leftovers. Donating such foods as fresh bread or cheese to
a local soup kitchen or food bank would be beneficial rather than throwing the
food away.
In
conclusion, the St. Catharine’s market has been an important element of the
city’s social and economic landscape. Niagara’s agriculture industry plays a
role providing locally grown crops and livestock to the public. The St.
Catharine’s Market provides members of the community or even visitors with
fresh produce and cultural diversity. The means of production and distribution
is crucial when wanting to gain working functions for a successful community.
With Niagara’s agriculture being such a success community members give back by
buying locally.
Stand with Malala: End the Education
Emergency
Being an
activist allows for an individual to take part in campaigning to bring about a
political or social change. While browsing the change.org website I read a political
issue that I wanted to change. On June 15th 2013 fourteen girls
were murdered in Pakistan simply because they wanted an education. Malala
Yousafzai is a Pakistan schoolgirl, who was shot in the head by the Taliban for
seeking an education. On July 12, less than a year after Malala was shot by the
Taliban for her strong voice in this fight for education, Malala Yousafzai will
mark her 16th birthday by delivering the highest leadership of the UN a set of
education demands written by youth, for youth, to United Nations
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. Malala is more determined than ever to bring
"the basic right to education" to the millions of children around the
world who are missing out on school. Malala has started a petition on
Change.org, entitled 'Stand with Malala: End the Education Emergency', calling
for the United Nations "to fund new teachers, schools and books and
recommit to getting every girl and boy in school by December 2015.” Malala
became a victim of terrorism after she spoke out in favour of education of
girls. The innocent girls killed in Pakistan have nothing to do with politics
they only wanted to empower themselves through education. In terms of gender
marginalization in today’s society men and women are still not considered equal
in terms of jobs and hierarchal status but in regard to education males and
females can experience the same level of education. In respect to this petition
Pakistan needs to allow for equal rights in the education system. In today’s
world there are stories every day of children fighting for an
education. The basic right to education is under attack around the world.
Taking part in online activism for the first time allowed for me to participate
in digital campaigning. I felt that online activism was a lot easier for me to
promote the issue of female education on social media sites such as twitter or
facebook. I was just about to copy the link and promote the awareness by
pasting the link and allowing for friends, family and community members to sign
the petition. Personally, I think online activism is more effective then
regular in person activism. Our generation is constantly using technology.
Social media sites are a great way to promote issues and let community members
get involved.
In the
article by Noureen and Awan (2011), the major theme was to understand the importance
of education for women in
Pakistani society and examine the barriers and obstacles to higher education for women in Pakistan. The article refers
particularity to rural and sub-urban areas, and how women are situated largely
at the bottom end of the educational system in comparison to their male
counterparts. Traditionally, it is assumed that women are limited to their
homes and men are the breadwinners of the family. In this situation, education can play a vital role in
enhancing the status of women and placing them on an equal footing with their
male counterparts and it also increases women's ability to secure employment in
the formal sector. This supports the notion of Malalas petition to fight for
education especially female education in Pakistan.
I will
help Malala fight for the right for education in Pakistan. I personally believe
that education helps develop the person, broadens the mind, creates
opportunities and should be a basic human right for all people. Everyone
deserves the chance to get educated regardless of his or her gender or economic
standing. With the future profession of being a teacher and volunteering in a
grade one classroom, it is evident how receptive children are to education. We
must make sure they get the education in order to leave behind a well-informed
generation capable of managing the planet for the good of everyone, not just
elites.
In conclusion, with my
strong passion for children and their right to learn and have access to
education regardless of their gender or social status allowed for me to want to
sign this petition. If we want to bring change, if we want progress, if we want
development, if we want the education of girls, we should be united. We should
not wait. We should do it now. At this moment there are 57 million children
without access to education and millions more who are not learning in school.
Working together, we can lower that number to zero. I strongly believe that
everyone needs to be an advocate for this political issue. These countries need
people like myself who have adequate education to help change this issue around
the world.
Watch This!
Lincoln County Humane Society
The first group I interviewed at the
presentation showcase session that was conducted on April 1st was
the presented on the Lincoln Humane Society. First I asked for the group
members to explain a brief summary of the organization, as I did not have any
future knowledge on this particular association. To briefly recap the Lincoln County Humane Society has been
protecting animals since 1881. This organization deals with a diverse animal
population that is faced with a number of different situations. The
organization oftentimes deals with situations in severe climate conditions.
The
first question I conducted to group members was to describe how the
organization is funded. A couple of the key points that were addressed was how
some of their funding is based off of government funds for animal control
therefore getting animals off the streets. A second major way this organization
is funded is through adoption fees. Group members were saying that it is $25
for cats and it varies for dogs and other animals depending on how much money
was put into the animals to start. In sum, most of these organizations
donations come from supporters and the general public. This association
specifically provides the public with events such as walk-a-thon,
tax-deductible donations, the happy birthday club along with a wish list. These
events allow for the Lincoln County Humane Society to be supported with public
funds. I also did some of my own research regarding this question and a
significant amount of online sources had stated that this organization is faced
with funding problems and encourages a number of community members to support their
work with a tax-deductible donation.
The
second question I posed to group members was to go about explaining the
missions and goals of the organization. They explained how the Lincoln Country
Humane Society is a charitable non profit organization dedicated to the human
treatment of all animals; to alleviate their suffering and neglect, support the
human-animal bond and foster an environment in which people respect all living
creatures. Their goal is to provide safe refuge and compassionate care for animals,
and they will pursue workable solutions to the most urgent animal welfare
issues of their community, which are animal overpopulation and homelessness.
Finally they will provide rescue and control as a lifeline to animals in need
as well as encourage and provide for pet adoption, animal assisted therapy, pet
care, education, spay and neuter program and investigations of cruelty and
neglect. This organizations mission statement includes the humane treatment to
all animals.
Big
Brothers Big Sisters
The
second group I chose to interview took part in interviewing the non-profit
organization called Big Brothers Big Sisters. At first the group introduced us
to the mission and goals of Big Brothers Big Sisters organization. It attempts
to empower youth through mentorship and its visions are that every child who
needs a mentor has one. I started off with some basic question regarding the
organization. Some of these building questions included: What population of
community does Big Brothers Big Sisters strive to empower? The group member
further addressed that this organization strives to empower at risk youth
within the area that they sever- St. Catharines, Niagara on the Lake and
Thorold. I found this organization to be quite interesting in what services are
provided by the Big Brothers Big Sisters program. There are two different types
of services one being school days program and second being the community. There
are three different types of school day programs. The first program is an in
school mentoring program (one on one) and targets students in grades 2-8.
Basically volunteers are match up with a boy or a girl, once a week for one
hour. It is normally outside off the classroom, any open space, affective for
keeping children in schools. The second program ‘go girls,’ is a seven-week
program, once in the fall and spring. It is a group mentoring program targeting
7 and 8th grade students’ physical activity, eating, self-esteem.
This program takes place for one hour each week and it has a focus of making positive
decisions. Groups are comprised of ten girls and two mentors. The last program
is an after school program for students. Groups of students go to the library
once a week for an hour to complete homework. Three mentors instruct this
program and how ever many students want to participate. When looking at the
community aspect of the Big Brother Big Sisters program community is seen as
outside of school hours. The traditional program Big Brother Big Sisters is a
one on one program where children are matched with a positive role model in the
community. They go out and do activities together and the big brother or big
sister provides support and company for their partner. I had background knowledge of this
organization but one thing I learned from this interview was the number of
employees each location has. The group members explained that it differs
depending on the area. Also the amount of children they serve dictates how many
staff members are needed for the number of clients. A major issue is the struggle
with hiring a large staff because they do not receive from the government;
their funding is to pay the staff. The standard amount of employees with the
Big Brother Big Sisters organization are 13 staff members and 7 program case
workers, 3 individuals who are with fundraising and 3 CEO’s who are the
director of service along with 1 volunteer coordinator.
After
interviewing both groups the information gathered allowed for me to extend my
views on different non-profit organizations. These interviews not only raised
awareness for us as students but also allowed for more information to be given
rather than just a quick visit to their website.
Conclusion
This course allowed for me to use social
media sites such as twitter as a vehicle for raising awareness and activist
mobilization. Opening a twitter account and following organizations such as the St. Catharine’s standard
or the globe and mail for instance allowed for me to engage in their thoughts
or issues without reading the paper or listening to the news. With today’s
generation being highly popularized by social media sites it’s a great way to
connect to organizations through way in which student’s find more useful. This
twitter experience was not only a more convenient way to engage in these issues
but it also made it more interesting. With tweets consisting of 160 characters,
it allowed for me to get straight to my point in what I was trying to address.
This not only has benefited me in this course it has helped me with a couple of
my child and youth courses as well. Implementing twitter was a great way to raise
awareness and connect with different organizations.
In this course activism was a key
learning aspect. We had to participate in two activism OOCLO’S. Coming in to
this course I knew nothing about activism, I never could understand what types
of community items were considered ‘activism.’ Participating in Malala’s online
petition: End the Education Emergency genuinely enhanced my sociological
imagination. While taking part in online
activism for the first time allowed for me to participate in digital
campaigning. This not only was a new form of activism it broadened my
perspectives on the given topic and allowed for me to use my sociological
imagination to promote education for girls. I felt that online activism was a
lot easier for me to promote the issue of female education on social media
sites such as twitter or facebook, this new form of promoting awareness allowed
for me to be creative and use my imagination while posting on media sites. Allowing
for us to participate in online activism was completely new for me. Today’s
generation was never exposed to digital campaigning which allowed for our
‘sociological’ mind to explore.
Majority of the OOCLO’S I participated in
over the course of this past year not only raised my awareness of local
community venues but it also allowed for me to raise awareness for their
organizations. For example, at the beginning of the year I participated in The
Niagara Grape and Wine Festival. Community events like this taught me a lot of
important lessons regarding community pride. Not being a full time Niagara
resident and having minimal insight on the success of their wine industry it
allowed for me to share the success over their industry and promote it
throughout my family, friends and my own community back home. With Niagara
being such a small, and impoverished area, this awareness will help bring
residents from out of the Niagara Region to help celebrate their success.
I participated in an OOCLO that portrayed
my personal qualities in specific empathy. With my future goal of becoming a
teacher my love for children especially disabled youth is vast. For the past two years I have been involved
with Special Olympics Ontario. As
you may know, Special Olympics Ontario (SOO) is a community-based program that
provides sport competition opportunities for individuals with intellectual
disabilities. Being a volunteer with SOO
allows for me to enrich the lives of individuals with an intellectual
disability with our shared passion for the sport of swimming. To conclude,
programs like Special Olympics Ontario succeed in changing lives, building
advocacy networks and creating a lasting, positive impact. Volunteering at Special
Olympics Ontario is a great way to connect with disabled youth in our region.
The atmosphere is always so uplifting allowing for my experiences to be so
memorable. This OOCLO experience demonstrated such personal qualities and
reflected my community involvement with something I enjoy.
As a
student, participating in my OOCLO experiences, contributing to activist
organizations along with my social media experiences as well as the talks given
by guest speakers throughout the course allowed for me to reach the ultimate
goal to foster symbiotic relationships between academic course context and
community engagement experiences. This course allowed for me to reflect on what
it means to be a citizen and my role I can play in community building and what
I can do to promote social justice. As a future educator this course has
allowed for me to gain knowledge about certain organizations I can promote to
my future students. Participating in community engagement activities this past
year made me aware of the current social and political issue here within out
region. It also allowed for me to have a critical understanding of how
marginality and inequality are produced and sustained within liberal,
democratic capitalists societies like Canada.
Knowing this information, through family, school and future careers I’m
hoping to raise awareness and promote positive social change within the Niagara
Region. To summarize this course sharpened my personal perspective as to what
constitutes positive ethically sound community engagement as cultivated through
the integration of academic work and civic participation. This course was able
to teach me how to integrate the knowledge and experience I gained from
scholarly work and community involvement and effectively communicate this learning
through various means.
References
Noureen, G., & Awan, R. (2011). Women's Education in
Pakistan: Hidden Fences on Open
Frontiers. Asian Social Science, 7(2), 79-87.
Tarasuk, Valerie.
2009. “Food Charity: When Doing our Best is not Enough.” Esurio: Journal of Hunger and Poverty 1(2):
1-3.
