Service-Learning Essay There are many small ways one can serve their community. Even if all a person does is volunteer at an event, one could still be inspired to begin an organization or simply raise awareness of an issue that they believe needs to be resolved. Recently while volunteering at an event I regularly volunteer at, I took notice of an issue concerning the deaf community that had recently been made aware to me prior to that night. My two-hour volunteer service – one that does not seem to highly impact the community - had brought to light an issue that I may be able to help resolve, and could one day greatly impact our community. Overland Park Church of Christ is a congregation of the Christian faith that is involved in the community
…show more content…
However, because I usually volunteer at consecutive events, I am accustomed to seeing certain kids in my classroom. That night was a different one. It is rare for the church to congregate in such are large mass as they did that night. Therefore, there were many kids that I had often seen, but rarely got the chance to look after in my classroom. One of these kids was the youngest son of our deaf minister who is deaf similar to his parents. Everyone in his family uses sign language. Justin is young and still learning to speak his own language like every other two year old in the room is. I saw that it was still noticeably harder for all the volunteers to communicate with him than it was with the other children. I realized that despite having a large deaf community at our church, most of the church is uneducated about Deaf Culture. As someone who is currently learning about this wonderful culture and community, I feel it should be of a higher importance to become more knowledgeable in this culture that many hearing people shy away from. The lack of deaf culture awareness is seen everywhere. There is an especially large deaf community in Kansas, yet many people do not seem to know much about their culture or how to act around them. The deaf community is growing in number and in recognition. Most of them do what is necessary to incorporate themselves
However, because I usually volunteer at consecutive events, I am accustomed to seeing certain kids in my classroom. That night was a different one. It is rare for the church to congregate in such are large mass as they did that night. Therefore, there were many kids that I had often seen, but rarely got the chance to look after in my classroom. One of these kids was the youngest son of our deaf minister who is deaf similar to his parents. Everyone in his family uses sign language. Justin is young and still learning to speak his own language like every other two year old in the room is. I saw that it was still noticeably harder for all the volunteers to communicate with him than it was with the other children. I realized that despite having a large deaf community at our church, most of the church is uneducated about Deaf Culture. As someone who is currently learning about this wonderful culture and community, I feel it should be of a higher importance to become more knowledgeable in this culture that many hearing people shy away from. The lack of deaf culture awareness is seen everywhere. There is an especially large deaf community in Kansas, yet many people do not seem to know much about their culture or how to act around them. The deaf community is growing in number and in recognition. Most of them do what is necessary to incorporate themselves