Lydia Home: Week 1

This week, I had my first two volunteer sessions at Lydia Home on Tuesday, September, 18th and Thursday, September, 20th.



Marquis playing after he finished his homework

On Tuesday, I went to Lydia Home around 3:30 in the afternoon. Once there, I watched the children play for the first twenty minutes or so. After they played for a little bit, they all went to the bathroom to wash their hands and clean up. Then, they were all given a small snack of fruit snacks, juice, and a small cookie. After they were all finished with their snacks, it was time for homework.

I spent most of my time there helping three little boys with their homework. First, I helped a little boy named Davante with his reading and English homework. After he finished his homework, I helped another little boy named William with his spelling homework. I helped him write the letter P and then helped him find pictures of things that started with the letter P. Finally, I helped a little boy named Logan learn how to write the number 2. He struggled with learning the number at first, but after practicing writing the number a dew times, he seemed to really get the hang of it!

After the kids all finished their homework, they were able to play again until it was time to go home. I played with a little girl named Amaya, who loved playing with my hair.  While playing with my hair, she told me stories about her mother and her two brothers, who were also at Lydia Home that day!

Before I knew it, it was 5:30 and time for everyone to go home. My first two hours working at Lydia Home flew by and I had a great time!


Marquis, Timeka, and Mickey before it was time to leave.

On Thursday, I started my day at Lydia Home the same way I started Tuesday. I arrived around 3:30 and watched all the kids play for the first twenty minutes. After playtime, the kids all washed their hands and were given a snack of watermelon, peaches, and apple juice.

After snack time, it was homework time. Most of the kids did not have any homework so instead, the kids were all given specific activities .  These activities were used to reinforce the information they learned in school. I helped a 5th grader named Zay with English, Math, Spelling, and Comprehension work. I worked with her on eight different pages in a workbook to help reinforce ideas such as antonyms, subtraction, and finding key words in comprehensive reading.

Again, once homework was finished, it was time for the kids to play again to burn off some more energy. This time, the children all got to go play outside. There was a small playground outside by the back of the building where the kids all played for about a half hour until it was time to go home!

My first week working at Lydia Home was complete and I enjoyed every minute of it!

After volunteering at Lydia Home a couple times, I have taken the time to sit back, look at my original assumptions and reassess them if needed. For example, in my first blog, I mentioned how I assumed Lydia Home was a place filled with kind, genuine people who cared solely about the well-being of the children that turn to Lydia Home for help. I feel this is most definitely true! The moment I walked into Lydia Home I could feel the positive vibes coming from all those involved in the Lydia Home community. Joyce, Jessica, Pat, and Mr. Lacey, all workers at Lydia Home, greeted me and each of the children with a warm, kind welcome. They treated all the kids with care, love, and respect, making sure they received all the attention they needed. They worked hard to make sure the children had time to play, time to eat, and time to study and do homework so they can succeed in school! The people who worked at Lydia Home were the real deal!

Another concept I addressed in my first blog was the idea of stereotypes.  For example, a common sterotype is that most children who come from low-income families are not very intelligent.  Since most of the children that go to Lydia Home are from low-income families, I assumed, based off of a stereotype, that most of the children would not be very well educated for their age. For many of the children, this was the case. Many of the children were reading at least two or three grade levels below their own. They had hard times understanding basic concepts that many children much younger than them could understand. They also had a hard time staying focused and required one-on-one attention to make sure they got all of their work done. This being said, however, they were not dumb.  They were kids who, when given support and guidance, really could understand the concepts taught to them.  They all had the potential to be brilliant students! They just lacked the help and support system that every child needs to succeed.

A third concept I addressed the children's perception of me coming to Lydia Home to help them.  I assumed many of them would not want me to help them because they would perceive me to be a snobby know-it-all.  However, this was not the case.  On my first day volunteering, the little boy Davante seemed a little weary to having me help him at first. However, after a little while, he warmed up to me and was happy that I was helping him finish and understand all of his school work. Many of the other children seemed to warm up to me pretty quickly. Amaya, for example immediately came up to me and was hugging me, playing with my hair, telling me stories, and asking me all sorts of questions the moment she met me. Logan, William, Zay, and Timeka were very similar. They seemed excited to have me help them with their homework and play with them outside and with the toys inside.  They perceived me to be just another person coming to Lydia Home to help make their days a little better by playing with them and helping them with their work.

Zay giving Julie a hug after playtime on Thursday!

Of all my original assumptions, I realized that the most important one is that I need to keep an open mind. These kids did surprise me, even in the two days I was there! They surprised me with their amount of energy and love of life that they had.  And, while they might not always understand their homework, and, unfortunately, were extremely undereducated, they did work hard and showed that they did care about their schoolwork.  Also, while I originally believed many of the children would be somewhat cynical towards me and not want my help, it turned out they were more than happy to have me help them and play with them! They seemed to really enjoy interacting with all those who volunteered at Lydia Home to make their lives a little bit better each and every day!

My first week at Lydia Home taught me a lot. I will use what I have learned in the future to be of better help to these children. For example, I will have more patience with the kids I work with when they are having troubles concentrating on their homework because I know that these kids are intelligent, even though they need a little extra support in understanding their work.  I will also try my best to explain their homework in the simplest ways possible to make sure they fully understand it. Since I am now aware of how far behind they are in school in comparison to other kids in their class, I will work harder to make sure they can excel in their work, and not be so far behind everyone else in their class, even if it takes longer than usual.  Finally, I will work hard to show the love and care towards the children that everyone at Lydia Home does each and every day!  Lydia Home is an important aspect in the lives of so many different people, and, while I volunteer there, I will do my best to make sure the mission of Lydia Home is fulfilled!

I will conclude this excerpt by saying that I am truly blessed to have been given the opportunity to volunteer at Lydia Home. These children are great kids who just need a little extra help and attention to get them by. They all have the potential to be someone great and they are more than willing to share their stories and talents with others, including volunteers such as myself. I have thoroughly enjoyed my first week at Lydia Home and I am hoping this will continue in my next weeks as a volunteer!

Blog 1: Service Expectations

     When starting a new service project, I always consider my hopes of what I can learn about myself and others and what talents I can share with others.  I also tend to make assumptions about the project and those I will serve based off of what I already know and what I feel I will learn.  Since Lydia Home is a new service project that I am participating in this semester, I continue to consider these elements. 

     The first thing I consider is my hopes of what I can get out of the service project.  In regards to Lydia Home, I hope that I can learn many new things about myself and others who are not as fortunate as I am.  I hope that I can pick up new skills on how to communicate and interact with underprivileged children who have not had the chance to have as wonderful of a life as I have.  I also hope I can look at my life in a new perspective and see how great my life really is and always be grateful for and appreciate what I have!  Finally, I hope that I can really make a difference in the lives of these children, even if it is just spending a couple hours with them every week.  I hope that by sharing my talents, I can help make the children's lives a little better.

     Along with considering my hopes for the service project and those involved, I also contemplate my assumptions about the place I am volunteering for.  Most of the time, my assumptions are based off of knowledge I already have on particular project.  In this case, I am volunteering for Lydia Home. Based off of my knowledge of Lydia Home so far, I am assuming that it is a wonderful and safe environment filled with people who genuinely care for underprivileged children!  I am also assuming that those volunteering for Lydia Home really do strive to create a place for these children to interact with others, be educated, and learn the true meaning of family and friends. And while I do not know very much about Lydia Home, I do like what I have heard and read so far! I look forward to working with Lydia Home and volunteering my time to share my talents and see how Lydia Home can really make a difference for underprivileged children.

     A third aspect I think about when volunteering to help others is the people I will be working with.  Based on the information I have researched so far about Lydia Home, I can assume that the children I will be interacting with will have come from a much different life experience than I have.  I am assuming that they will have had fewer privileges and will not have had the ability to go to Catholic schools, go out with friends and family to dinner, or even go to the movies.  I am also assuming that these children may not be very well educated and, depending on their age, might even be a bit cynical towards me at first.  However, these assumptions can easily be proved otherwise, meaning that I have to keep an open mind!  This is especially true because based on my past experiences, children have continuously shown me how grateful and appreciative they are to those who are willing to spend time with them!  Because of this, I am going to do my best to put aside any negative assumptions and let my experience working with the children determine what I think about Lydia Home and the people it serves! 

    Finally, I ask myself why I chose to serve a particular place.  Some service projects have simple reasons while others have more complex reasons.  For me, Lydia Home has one simple reason:  I love children!  I have always loved children and I thoroughly enjoy devoting my time to helping them and taking care of them!  During the summer, I spend much of my time babysitting kids or volunteering at various camps and schools!  I really like donating my time to children, which makes volunteering at Lydia Home very appealing!  I feel I can really give back to these children because I have done so before in other ways! I feel that by volunteering my time and sharing my talents to help these children, I can effectively and efficiently do something I love and know I am good at!

     After considering my hopes, assumptions, and reasons for choosing to serve, I realize that Lydia Home really is the place for me! It deals with helping children, which I love, and it also involves giving back to those less fortunate that I am.  I will keep an open mind and let my experience at Lydia Home determine how I feel about the service project as a whole!  I look forward to serving those at Lydia Home and I hope this experience can really help me become an even better person for myself, my family, and my community!