Community Service - Report Example

Community Service What did you do for the organization? My organization was an Islamic mosque. One of the many activities that I did was painting thewalls within the mosque. In addition cleaning was a large part of my duty. This usually took place during and after most prayers, especially before the Friday prayers. The cleaning process included vacuuming the prayer areas of the mosque, cleaning windows and also cleaning the bathroom facilities within the mosque. Also whilst I was at the mosque I gave food and drink to the people who were less fortunate. In addition I presented a ‘Culture shock presentation’ to the younger generation at the mosque. This allowed me to show them how I was an international student who has adapted and overcome different cultural and religious environments. What did you learn throughout the service learning process? My community service provided me with the understanding of how a mosque functions and how people within that community live their individual lives. For example I realised that a mosque takes so much planning and organisation to keep it running. A vast amount of money is needed to keep a mosque open and this is sometimes not realised. Also I learnt how several members of the community keep the mosque running in perfect condition and how strongly they feel towards the mosque. It provides these people with a sense of pride which is shared by the rest of the community. Before my community service I believed that a mosque was a place where Muslims went to pray. However during my stay I realised that they provided free classes for young children to come and learn about Islam and the Quran. Also a mosque does a lot for its community, for example they allow people to fundraise on a Friday when the mosque is full. Whilst I was handing food out to the poor people it made me think about how fortunate I am in my life, that I have easy access to both food and water. Whereas these people do not even have basic resources. It provided me with a different perspective of life and made me realise how fortunate I am myself. However whilst I was helping people less fortunate than me it did provide me with a rewarding feeling that I would like to feel again. Also during my community service at the mosque I realised how disciplined and dedicated many Muslims are to their religion. For example they do not drink alcohol and smoke. Several members of the community came to the mosque every single day to pray, some even came up to five times a day. Furthermore some members of the community came to clean or help out in any other possible way. This helped me to realise that if you set your mind to something you can become disciplined enough to achieve it. Also whilst I was doing my presentation it showed me how difficult public speaking is, especially to people who were of a different background to me and who I do not know. How was the experience applicable to the class, business and presentational speaking? The presentation I gave provided the children with an insight into my background and showed them how different cultures live. Alongside the different cultures I provided information on how different the traditions, values and norms were applied. In the presentation I showed the young children even though I had a language barrier this did not interfere with learning and understanding as I found other ways to communicate. I discussed in the presentation how it was difficult being away from home and everything I took for granted. How will this assist you in your future professional endeavours? It can be strongly argued that my community service will hold me in good stead for most of my future endeavours. For example the rewarding feeling I felt when helping people less fortunate than myself will always make me want to go back and help. This will allow me to always stay grounded and be thankful for what I have. Also the way the mosque was controlled was extremely professional. Every person within that mosque had a certain duty, whether it was to vacuum the mosque or to clean the windows. This shows to me that when you are a part of a team your job is just as vital as anyone else. This is because if you do not do your job correctly, then the whole procedure will not be complete. This will help me to work in a team during my professional encounters. Also by communicating with the younger children and other members of the community it allowed me to understand a complete different culture. This will help me in my future endeavours as I will be able to work amongst people of different backgrounds and still feel comfortable. In addition sometimes their may have been a language barrier which at first I found very difficult to overcome. However as time passed I understood certain things through hand gestures. This will help me in the future, because in jobs or even in everyday life you may need to interact with people who speak a different language. Many Muslims repeatedly came to the mosque everyday day whilst I was there. They stayed at the mosque for several hours, praying and reading the Quran. This requires a lot of discipline as they are taking time out of their normal lives to come to the mosque. This helped me to understand that if you set your mind to something then you are able to achieve it. Any suggestions/advice for future students completing the service learning assignment? As a whole the experience was life changing and I would recommend it to most people. One piece of advice that I could pass on to future students is that they should take advantage of the people within the mosque who are always willing to help or pass on knowledge. They help you to settle in and allow you to become part of their tight community. Another piece of advice that I would pass on would be that the students should always try and get involved. There is no reason to hold back. Once you get involved you start to talk to other people and you begin a friendship. If you hold back you aren’t able to help and interact with people who are less fortunate and you don’t realise how lucky we really are. Also I advise to never go into this assignment believing that you are better than other people. This type of assignment is based upon having no stereotypes because you interact with many different people. If you stereotype people you do not get the whole experience out of it and you learn much less about people of different cultures. In addition I would advise people to do research and background knowledge on this particular assignment before coming. This will allow you to be better prepared and have an initial better understanding of the culture and religious views, providing you with an advantage. Furthermore I would suggest learning simple words in a language that you are going to encounter on your learning assignment because this will make your stay a lot easier and allow you to settle in quicker. Read More