February 29, 2012

Today, when I went to MEND, they were having a special event going on; it was a baby shower for all the pregnant women that come to their facility. It was pretty exciting, but Mary, my supervisor, told me that they already had enough hands to help out with the event. Also, she explained to me that most of the women were upstairs, in the health center, getting information on prenatal care from health professionals that had come from Kaiser. Since that was the case, I ended up helping out in the clothing center by separating clothes that had come in, hanging them up in the racks and covering the stuff outside so they wouldn't get wet. While I was doing this, I got to bond some more with the volunteers that were at the facility. I found out a lot about some of the hardships that they had gone through in their lives and why they were there. One of the stories that really moved me was from this older lady that works at the facility. When we met, she was quite rude by hollering at me about messing up her work, but she came around once she saw that I wanted to help. As she explained to me how certain things worked, she ended up telling me about her life and how she has several grandchildren (I believe she said she has 21) and about how her husband passed away. As she told me this, I realized that she was carrying quite a heavy load on her, considering that she is by herself now and no one is taking care of her. I kind of wondered why nobody was taking care of her and why she was still working (she looked like she was in her 70s). If she has such a big family, why can't they come take the burden she has off her back? Indeed, she has gone through quite a hardship and so have the other ladies in the facilities. As a whole, it made me value my lifestyle and my things more than I did before. I didn't realize how much I have been taking for granted. No doubt, I look forward to learning some more from my new friends, as it will better my perception of life and guide me towards a brighter path.