Service Learning Log 1/3

This week I helped my community partner by tabling, attending the biweekly meeting, preparing flyers, and doing public relations work by reaching out to several community businesses.  I had a lot of success in getting the desired businesses to display a flyer in their store window.  My only slight disappointment came in tabling when some people refused a flyer; however, I would guess that more than 95% of people took them so I don’t really consider this a pitfall.  Next week is the event and I plan on massive last-minute promotions on Monday and the Tuesday, so the event stays fresh in people’s minds.

My best correlation to class material is Megan Seely’s Fight Like a Girl article where she lists all the various types of ways to politicize one’s life, some of which I did include “talk[ing] to friends, family, students, and/or co-workers about political or social issues… write a letter to the editor of your local newspaper in response to… and issue that interests you, … set up a table to give out information in your community or on your campus” (17).  From watching the uncut first documentary given to me by my community partner president, Vanessa, I learned that Invisible Children was started by three men in college in San Diego, California and has grown to getting a bill passed in Congress and meeting President Obama.  The Seely reading connects me even more to Invisible Children as seeing a real social grassroots movement in actuality has inspired me beyond words to never forget that I cannot change the world alone.  More importantly, I do not have to change the world alone because, as Seely states “whether small and individual or large and in a group, the steps we take to change the world connect us with others” (15).

We began our new chapter in Women's Lives: Multicultural Perspectives with a discussion on the definition of work and why some work is considered nonproductive.  I challenge the notion that humanitarian work, especially for a non-profit organization, like Invisible Children, is nonproductive when the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) has left Uganda, there is opportunity for children again, and a new bill has been signed into law.  As a feminist, I would consider what I do for Invisible Children to be worthwhile and deserving of a wage, regardless of the fact that the government tells me it is less than worthy.  One of the Ugandas on tour with Invisible Children, Agnes, is an example of what it means and why people say they want to  “emphasize education as a passport to greater opportunity” (Kirk and Okazawa-Rey 310) because for so many women, education is their only way out of their situation.

Works Cited

Kirk, Gwyn, and Margo Okazawa-Rey. "Women's Bodies, Women's Health." Women's Lives: Multicultural Perspectives. 5th ed. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill, 2010.

Seely, Megan. Fight Like a Girl: How to Be a Fearless Feminist. New York, N.Y: New York University Press, 2007. 15-25. Print. 

Word Count: 495