African cultures have always piqued my curiosity, although their struggles are often lost in the chatter of the world media. It is easy browse a magazine or the internet and find a few facts about the culture of different African nations, but this does no justice to the people who live there. This hit home for me when working with refugee families this semester at Loyola. I was paired with a family from Nepal, and going into the experience I had only a vague idea of what I would find. What is often lost in translation is that these individuals are people, they are not artifacts or objects to be discussed or analyzed: they are people. Personally speaking, helping this particular Nepali family reinforced my belief in the uniqueness of each individual, and that the culture they are raised in leaves an indelible impression on the person they become.
In future service and social justice projects during my time at Loyola I could improve my personal attitude for the expectations of others in similar classes. It is unfortunate but I have come to learn this semester that service does not have the same impact or meaning to everyone that it does to me. This has caused me to realize that my expectations of other’s dedication, motivation, or actions with regards to social justice classes are unrealistic. From this course, however, I have definitely been inspired to make service a much more personal experience. This has motivated me to make the experience much more focused on what I can do to make a difference as opposed to what others either will or “should” do. This course has also ignited my curiosity of refugees and I will definitely continue to be involved with the refugee community for two main reasons. The first is to try and learn as much as I can about the plight of refugees to better help make a difference. The second main reason is to continue to develop these relationships with individuals who more than deserve it.