Reflective Blurb, Camille

            When asked to define service at the beginning of the summer, I remember producing a slightly cheesy response such as “helping a community for the good of others.” But throughout the course of the fellowship, my view of service has shifted to include a more active, intentional component—listening to needs and filling them. I’ve learned this through my own work as well as through the story of Agape itself. After Agape Child and Family Services began as an adoption agency in the 1960’s, they noticed many gaps in resources for their clients. Consequently, they expanded their services to include counseling, aiding pregnant women out of homelessness, starting after-school camps in under-resourced neighborhoods, and most recently, partnering with elementary schools in the Achievement School District. I’ve loved being a part of this organization, and their wide range of programs tangibly represents my new definition of service.

            For three days each week, I’ve been working alongside the Agape staff at Georgian Hills Elementary, a school in the Achievement School District. In addition to observing classes, interacting with the students, and assisting teachers throughout the Freedom School program, I’ve gotten to see the relationship between Agape and the school in action. The Agape staff at the schools, called connectors, address barriers to student learning such as behavioral issues, lack of parental engagement, and low attendance. I knew before beginning the fellowship that children face many barriers to educational success, but I had no idea how pervasive they were. Lack of parental involvement is one of the largest issues the connectors face; when parents are not enforcing the importance of school, children often do not take it seriously as a result. It’s been interesting witnessing the teamwork between the school and Agape. When Agape succeeds at dissolving the barriers between children and academic success, the school can focus on teaching.

            I spend the remaining hours of the week at the Agape office developing a reading curriculum for a summer program at three apartment sites, collecting data from the volunteers at Georgian Hills, and researching the effects of sleep-deprivation on school-age children in order to present this issue to the connectors. My work at the office has allowed me to see the inner workings of a non-profit for the first time and observe how each staff member contributes to its operation.

Due to both my experiences at Agape and our activities as a group through Summer Service Fellowship, my view of Memphis has broadened. I’ve gotten a glimpse of the Frayser community, most notably through the perspective of elementary school kids, and learned about the issues that children and families face. Additionally, our Summer Service gatherings have introduced all of us to a wide range of topics from sustainability to education to healthcare. This is certainly a city in need but also a city with so many service-minded people dedicated to providing solutions. I now understand all the hard work and spirit that goes into “helping” professions and I hope that in whatever career I choose, I will have that same motivation to search for needs and give back.