As an exchange student, I was required to do some public services
during my study in the US. My CCI fellows and I did our volunteer in various
opportunity in different places. Of all services that I have done, volunteering
at the Welcome to America Project was one of my favorite. The Welcome to
America Project is an organization that help refugees in Arizona to resettle.
It provides facilities such furniture, bike, daily needs, and kitchen utensils
to be delivered to the refugees. At the time, many families
of refugees were placed in the third shift positions far from their homes and
public transportation also seldom support route to work. Therefore, bike were an
essential tool for them to reach their work sites and The Welcome to America Project initiated to provide bikes for them.
Our program coordinator voluntarily facilitated and helped us in
doing this voluntary work. He kindly picked us
up and did the activity hand in hand with us started from 9 am until 4 pm. Before delivering bikes, My five fellows(Betty Ibo, Fitri Imelda Yulianti, Fajar Kristianto, Mohammed Arman and Pretty Connie Khumalo) and I were informed pertaining bike safety, helmets, locks and how
to ride the bike safely in order to be able to share some important information to the refugees.
My friends and I were having a quick training on helmet safety and
how to bike safely.
(taken from The Welcome to America Project Facebook Page)
After obtaining the information, we were divided into two groups. Each
group consisted of three persons, so one person would
explain regarding how to ride safely, one would tell how to adjust the helmet
and another one would tell the information about locks and the importance of using light band at night riding. Then, we were ready to deliver bikes to about ten adult refugees needing a ride to work. Not only did we deliver
bike, but we also distributed helmets, light
band and locks
as well as showed them how to properly fit bike helmets.
It was such a meaningful activity in which I could share happiness to
the refugees while they were struggling to have a better life in a new
environment. Seeing the smile on their faces after getting the bikes made me so
glad to be a volunteer at this delivery project. This kind of activity
extremely helped me to deepen my understanding about culture differences as
well as strengthen my sense of empathy and make me become more grateful for the
life that I live.
One of the refugees were trying out the bikes that we delivered
(taken from The Welcome to America Project Facebook Page)
No comments:
Post a Comment