And the Journey Continues...

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Written by: Ted Liu / UCI Alternative Break Intern
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There are certain events in your life that you know you will remember forever. My alternative winter break 2007-2008 is one of them. Although it only lasts for a week, it is a week full of service leaning, team bonding, exploring, inspiring, heart warming, reflecting, and joyful feeling.

As a trip coordinator, I was not only a participant but also a facilitator who makes sure things run smoothly so the trip experience gets better every day. As I watched each participant being transformed by the experience, I also observed myself grow as a person. It is exciting to see what we can accomplish as a group, and how we can shape the world as active citizens of the society. We have created a magic experience together, and I know each participant on the trip will go on with their life, no longer the same, and spread the magical experience they experienced.

For our Alternative Winter Break, we accomplished an estimated total of 38 volunteer hours each. We went to Tenderloin, one of the most poverty stricken areas in San Francisco, lived there for a week, and found out that it is not as nearly as corrupted as it is said to be. In fact, at times I even thought people there were friendlier than people elsewhere in the city. When you smile at them, they will smile back; when you say thank you to them, they will say thank you back. A little act of kindness and appreciation goes a long way. At Tenderloin, I was surrounded by so many warm wishes and blessings that sometimes I wondered who is the one that really to be helped. Perhaps we all need help – in different ways. By helping others, we are indirectly helping ourselves.

Besides exploring the area of Tenderloin, the other lesson I learned during the week is that there are many great people out there doing great things to help people with less. And it doesn’t have to be a specific thing because everything counts. It can be preparing/serving meals to the homeless; it can be creating a shelter of love for street kids to find a home away from home; it can be helping alcoholics to stand on their feet again; or it can be using digital arts to help kids in danger of illiteracy to narrate their stories and regain their passion in learning and writing.

From the surface, it seems that volunteering is about giving away our time to help people in need, but when I recall this week’s experience I find that service is a two way street. For every minute I give away, I get so much more back in different forms. The blessings I received; the knowledge I gained; and the friendship I established. This week’s experience gives me a better understating about the society, the people, and myself. And I am always amazed at what I can learn from different people.

Our lives are connected by a thousand invisible threads. As Sharon, director and founder at Youth Emergency Assistance Hostel, said “volunteering/helping others is like finishing a giant piece of puzzle.” The one who lays down the last puzzle may appear to be the most significant. But in reality, we are all equally important, and each of the pieces we lay down contributes to the final picture. We have lay down so many pieces this week that we know we have made a difference. And our journey will not stop here because we will continue the work in different ways and in the process influence others to do the same.

In a nutshell, this trip was "FANTASTIC!".

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Written by: Anna Kurihara / 2nd year / Int'l Studies & Accounting Minor
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A genuine "hello" and "goodbye", saying "thank you" and "you're welcome", but most importantly, treating everyone as you would to your friends & family with a smile on your face, was greatly appreciated and welcomed by the guests we served at the dining areas (Glide Memorial Church and St. Anthony's)-- something that the majority of the people who surround me, take for granted or do not appreciate.

I had received more smiles, appreciation, gratitude, and thanks from strangers in 1 week of volunteering, than ever in a week of my life.

Tomorrow, I am going to leave San Francisco with many invaluable insights and memories. I won't go into detail on everything because it'll take up pages and pages of writing. Instead, I want to highlight the things that will make this trip unforgettable:

- meeting AMAZING people including the friendships made within our team
- completely changing my perspective about the homeless, the hungry, and the people in need
- realizing the power of a community
- becoming an active citizen

The experiences my team and I have gone through will be tough to explain in a blog that is meant to be short, but it is something that I wish for everyone to try, to see, feel, and think.

You have to experience for yourself the positive impact of volunteering, of acting selfless in a community, that today's media has been successful in molding people into acting selfishly and being overly self conscious.


Fantastic right?

YEAH!!!!!!

Hello ALL; My name is Stephanie Olamendi, I am a second year major/minor bio sci and spanish. This is my first time doing alternative winter break. So far it has been an amazing learning experience. Last night we volunteered at an organization called YEAH (Youth Emergency Assistance Hostel), this is a non profit organization that provides food and shelter for youth. Unfortunately we did not get to meet the youth, instead we decorated the common room for the holidays. Sharon, one of the founders, gave us a visual and audio experience by showing us pictures and sharing direct quotes from the youth. For me, the quotes were very meaningful. One quote really caught my attention..."The only difference between you and me (speaking of a homeless youth and one of us) is that you have a home and I don't". This really hit home it is very true. We are so fortunate that we are quick to stereotype the youth. We assume they are druggies and dangerous. Yes, most homeless youth abuse drugs but only to ease the pain and forget about reality. Most are not dangerous but only want to get by and be helped. This experience was a huge eye opener for me. It really inspired me to work hard and give back to all these people. I hope one day people can unite and participate in community service to help make a difference. I really encourage everyone to participate in alternative break and make their own difference in the world!!!!!!

A Caffeinating Experience

Hi everyone! I'm Sarah Bana and I'm a 2nd year Econ major at UCI. This is my first time doing Alternative Break and I have really enjoyed the experience so far.

Yesterday, we left our hostel at 6:40am in the rain to serve! We went to the Glide Memorial Church a few blocks away from our hostel, still in the Tenderloin, to serve breakfast. Glide Memorial Church is the ONLY place in San Francisco that serves 3 meals a day, every day of the year. Everyone knows about the Glide tradition, and for breakfast that morning, we served around 400 people with a hot breakfast of oatmeal, cottage cheese, fruit, bread, pastries and coffee. Many of us were putting the food on the trays, which was an unique experience because of the regimented way we learned to serve. I put napkins on every tray and the Glide employee, Maurine piled on the oatmeal as my friend Delia loaded on the cottage cheese, Stephanie added a banana, and Anna complimented the meal with a pastry. We got a feel for the audience we were serving and helped clean up the area for the next meal.

Later in the day, we had the opportunity to serve meals again at Glide - this time with different jobs. Since there were a lot of volunteers for dinner (a college from Ohio was also on their alt break and was working with us), there wasn't as much to do for each individual. I got to work "on the floor" this time, and refilled the coffee pitchers for every table. It was really fun, serving all these people with something I certainly enjoy drinking. It was kinda funny because one man asked me for a few extra packets of sugar. I found some sugar that no one was using and gave it to him, saying "I like my coffee sweetened too!" He chuckled and asked me how much coffee I drink regularly. I told him that I usually got a cup every morning before school. We spoke for a few minutes and we shook hands - his name is Oscar. Oscar asked me where I went to school and I responded, UC Irvine. He pointed to his head, and asked me if I was smart. I chuckled, and he told me "you can do anything and you will succeed."

"You can do anything and you will succeed."

This confidence in my thoughts, my actions... confidence in me gave me a lot of confidence in him. Oscar had showed me that it doesn't take wealth to make someone's day. It takes a good heart and a good outlook on life despite extenuating circumstances.

Oscar is just like me. He likes his coffee sweetened and he drinks a lot of it. He taught me that homeless people are like everyone else... just people. And this week, we're learning to bring warmth to them- both personally and with coffee.

You Think You Know, But You Have No Idea

Bonjour, Connie here again! After catching some rest at the hostel, Monday was the first day out in the Tenderloin. The service site we were assigned to go to today was St. Anthony's Foundation, which was located about 10-15 minutes away. The brisk walk to St. Anthony was the beginning of a day full of shocking and unexpected situations. Walking toward the foundation, I had a better view of the situation than the night before. The ground was littered with trash; there were groups of people loitering, leering, smoking a bum here and there; the air was filled with the putrid smell of dank water and feces. I tried to not stare too much, but I couldn't help looking at what was happening to me - if someone stared at me directly, I immediately looked away.

Finally, after the longest time walking around the streets of the Tenderloin, we arrived at St. Anthony's. Immediately, I felt like the foundation had a special feeling to it. It was so inviting and open; when I walked in, many of the workers greeted me with a smile on their faces. The volunteer coordinator, Colleen, met us at the work room and began with an orientation/justice education describing the brief history of San Francisco as well as the mission and goals of the foundation. Hearing her speak, I was in awe of how many people the foundation served daily.

One of the things we learned about were Single Room Occupancies, otherwise known as SRO. Many of the people who lived in poverty or at the poverty line. The SROs were originally meant to be temporary housing after the big earthquake in SF but, after the rising amount of rates, they ended up being permanent housing for those people who could only afford low housing. As well, many of the people had the problem of having to budget expenses - most people who were living in the Tenderloin district collected social security only that amounted to $660 a month, $600 of which was used on Housing so they could only live on the next $60 to fulfill their basic needs.

Colleen also spoke of the five groups that the foundation served:
1) Recent immigrants
2) Seniors - 1 in 3
3) Mental illness
4) Addictive illness
5) Veterans - 1 in 4

What was shocking was that, even though Veterans had served our country, they were still not able to support themselves in a capacity that allowed them to live in a place with enough food and shelter.

The information I thought most interesting was the description of the borders of the Tenderloin. The Tenderloin is supposedly surrounded by areas of commerce:
1) To the west, it's surrounded by public commerce such as City Hall and other state or federal buildings
2) To the north, the area is surrounded by private wealth by Nob Hill, which has this literally physical boundary between the bad area and the good - Nob Hill is where all the fancy houses are, some of the real estate is some of the most expensive in the US
3) To the east, it's surrounded by commercial wealth - think huge, skyscrapers with wealthy bankers and 401k businesses
4) Lastly, to the south, it's a mix of all the above - big business, real estate, public commerce, and a bit of the Tenderloin mixed in

With these four borders surrounding the Tenderloin, the poverty of the city becomes entrapped and isolated. The things happening in the Tenderloin, such as sleeping out on the streets or panhandling, stay in this area; activities that are similar to those found in the Tenderloin are also pushed into this central area. As a result, many people don't see what happens in the Tenderloin (i.e. tourists) and, many times, it was a place that people overlooked. It was just heart-wrenching to hear about the situation these people were in and, as you can see, there was a lot of information to take in at the orientation.

The Night Before...

Hello! My name is Connie Ho and I'm a volunteer on the UCI Alternative Winter Break in San Francisco. I have always have had a soft spot for this city, but was never able to experience the poverty that's a part of it. Yesterday was the first day we embarked on this great journey. We arrived at the flags at 8:30am in the morning; it was the beginning of winter break and most people were probably still in their bed. Having loaded all the belongings, we took off on the 8 hour road trip. Though most people would probably squirm in their seats, it was a great experience - the time seriously went by so fast. I enjoyed meeting the people in my minivan - we played some cheesy car games, slept, snored, more sleeping... that was just my car though (the other minivan claimed they had thought-provoking discussions... of course). Midway, we stopped at a rest stop to eat our homemade lunches. It was nice to see the variety of lunches people prepared, from Macaroni Grill to a kudos bar, and it reinforced the fact that we were all different but working towards the same goal TOGETHER.

At around 6pm, we arrived in the city. It was amazing seeing the city for the first time - the bridges, the night lights, the hustle and bustle on the streets. Then, we went into the Tenderloin and it was almost completely different from the San Francisco we know or, at least, were accustomed to. Seeing the people and the living situations surrounding the Tenderloin, we didn't know what exactly to expect during this vacation. Though, the hostel turned out to be more pleasant than we had originally thought. Stepping into the lobby, the hostel had a cozy and warm feeling. Likewise, looking at the room arrangement, the hostel created an intimate sense of unity because there were four to a room and we were able to bond with our roommates; there were no boundaries preventing us from talking together.

The first night we were able to reflect a little on the trip so far and our expectations of the next day. It was clear that everyone was a little hesitant about the surroundings; there was a mix of feelings regarding the Tenderloin area. Personally, I had already seen something in this environment that I would not have normally seen at home in Irvine. Walking back to the hostel, I noticed a number of cars and police officers surrounding an office building. Apart from the siren ringing nonstop, a host of men were surrounded by police officers. Piecing the different factors together, I came up with the impression that these men were being arrested for the robbery. And, what was surprising to me was that I was walking through the midst of all. It was surely something I didn't expect to see my first night in SF.