AnneEndres

Anne Endres

Tuesday 3/10/09

Today we spent the day at Music City Mission in Nashville. So far, today has been my favorite work day, and there are a few reasons why. Music City Mission is located in the Spanish district of Nashville, or at least it seems to be. When we drove to and from lunch (we got to go to CiCi’s Pizza!) we passed many buildings with Spanish titles – these included restaurants, Laundromats, and clothing shops. The Mission is right next door to a Nazarene church, where a retired pastor ministered; his son now ministers. They opened up this shelter next door in a building that used to be a church. This facility is the cleanest and best kept one that we have volunteered in all week. I think the cleaner environment created a more positive atmosphere for many people in the group, myself included. I spent the morning in an upstairs room with Ginny folding and sorting sheets, pillows, pillowcases, etc. Many of the sheets were in good condition and we threw out any that were not in acceptable condition and that were stained. After we finished upstairs, we shifted downstairs and helped various people with their duties. Little did I know that one of the most rewarding moments of my life was soon to take place.

Upon greeting a few of the women and children who came to the shelter in need of food or clothing, I immediately noticed how much Spanish was being spoken, and this observation tickled me pink. I began speaking to the mothers in Spanish, and then with their permission started talking to the small children in their native language. Soon after playing with and speaking to two small girls, one of the mothers asked me if I could help her. She led me over to a table where one of the Caucasian gentlemen who were in charge of the facility was stationed. He spoke no Spanish, and the Spanish woman understood little English. The problem at hand was that one of the Spanish women’s friends, who stood almost hesitantly behind her, wanted some diapers for her baby boy. It was confusing because the more outgoing Spanish woman kept saying “Numero uno, numero uno!” and the man in charge falsely understood that they wanted one diaper. Instead, the woman was requesting size one diapers for her shyer friend’s son. The man kept asking in English things like, “Where’s the boy? How old is he? Do you have any other children?” My Spanish knowledge helped me facilitate this transaction by interpreting and translating from English to Spanish and vice versa. This was the first of several translating encounters that took place today.

After the diaper situation was figured out, I explored the facility and discovered two more Spanish mothers and their children browsing through the clothing sections. This was where another rewarding experience would take place. One mother acknowledged me and we began chatting in Spanish. After realizing I spoke fairly fluently, she introduced me to her two-year-old daughter, Adellin (Spanish version of Adeline). Adellin and I began interacting and picking out what clothes and accessories she liked. Her mother realized what we were doing and asked if I could help them find a pair of shoes for her daughter, since tomorrow is her third birthday. I gladly accepted the invitation to help these people and apply my Spanish-speaking skills and began sorting through shoes. Grace noticed what I was doing and began looking for ‘Talla siete,’ or size seven. We found a pair of bright red rain boots with ladybug faces. Boy, was Adellin impressed! I helped her take her sandals off and put these boots on, all the while trying to talk to her in Spanish. Her mother was ever so pleased that we had found these ‘botas’ in the correct ‘talla’ and graciously thanked us. She and he friend then asked me details about the volunteer group such as where we are from, if many others speak Spanish, and if we were paid for our work. I later found out that she was born in Mexico, and the first woman was from El Salvador. I told both of them my plans to study abroad in the future.

It was so rewarding that I could help these women and children obtain necessities like diapers and the birthday present for Adellin. I do not know any details of how these families are doing financially, but the fact that they came here to this church to get these things shows that they may be suffering in some way. Nevertheless, the look on Adellin’s face when she saw the boots and realized that they fit was priceless, and I really appreciated being a part of this success. Today I enjoyed applying my Spanish skills in order to help the less fortunate obtain things that sometimes I take for granted.

Today was great; I’m sure I’ve already made that clear. The best part of the day was being able to help the Spanish mothers and their children. Another nice thing about today was that we were treated to lunch at CiCi’s Pizza.

The majority of the day went extremely well and parts were really rewarding. I think many of the other CU volunteers felt the same way. However, throughout the day I noticed that some students were sitting, texting, and not really contributing to the group work effort. It was frustrating to know that while many students were putting in effort to help the less fortunate and took a reasonable amount of breaks, others joked around and took lots of breaks. The past few days I’ve kept these thoughts to myself, but they’re beginning to build up. Tomorrow’s our last day at work, and we’re returning to the Nashville Rescue Mission.