Project Lighthouse

Gabriela Zafra

For my service-learning project, I volunteered at an elementary school in the South Bronx, PS/MS 5. The goal of this project was to help their elementary school’s library. Project Lighthouse was the name of the library in PS/MS 5.

The interactions I made were mainly with the administrator at the school and other volunteers there. I was able to interact with one student, but it wasn’t because it was meant to happen. The student was wandering the halls and ended up talking to myself and others and was interested in what exactly we were doing. I did notice that many of us were there because it was a requirement for a class, and they too, had to write a reflection. There was one volunteer which I spoke to and she had a different reason for being there unlike the rest of us. She was older than most of us there, around thirty-five years old. Her reasoning was that there was so much negative energy and bad news in the city which made her feel that she could and should do something. There’s always something negative going on in the news whether it’d be locally or globally. At this point, there were the midterm elections going on the day right before, and tensions were high, weather was getting colder, and the holidays were approaching. In this instance, she felt that as an able bodied, young white woman, she could give back to the community. This was not her first time doing something similar. During the 2016 and 2020 election periods she had also volunteered through New York Cares and made an effort to support the community then. When she explained this to me I found it interesting because it seemed to me that she was almost trying to redeem herself or give herself her own kind of validation. The following quote explains this same concept in a great way, “As people must find who and what they are through dialogue with others, the need for connectedness increases, supporting emerging identities on the basis of the struggle against particular modes of oppression that target race, sexual preference, gender, and the like” (Keith, 11).

The tasks that the other volunteers and I were given were things like cleaning all the supplies in the library for the kids to use. By cleaning these supplies for the students, it allows them to safely work together and not have to worry about spreading or catching any illnesses. While this may seem miniscule, it is essential to the safety of students and their families.      

The goal of this project is to start a library for students in the school so they have access to books which would actually interest them. They had books for all reading levels of the students they serve. By actually having a library in their school building with intriguing books they are more inclined to visit their library and pick up books more often. In turn this would lessen disparities in the levels of reading these students attain by the time they finish school. I feel that this library is a huge step in an effort to improve the lives of younger children in an underrepresented community in such a big city. There are so many disparities even within the boroughs and even this small step can change a child’s life further down the line and possibly alter the outcome of their lives. “Community here becomes linked with the process of identity formation. Tied to the imaginary and to choice, it is constructed to suit one’s chosen identities, or subjectivities, and varies in ways that are not visible but require understanding of people’s inner horizon” (Keith (10). This quote shows us clearly that there are factors such as your neighborhood and upbringing which can shape your life and you wouldn’t even notice.

In all, this volunteer session was enlightening, and it was actually not because of the students who were receiving the help, but the other volunteers. People like myself made me see things differently as well as people unlike me.

References

Keith, N. Z. (2005). Community Service Learning in the Face of Globalization: Rethinking Theory and Practice. Michigan Journal of Community Service Learning, 11(2), 5-24.