Aug 2010 - Saybrook University

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GRADUATION con’t
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like him would not lose their mothers due to a poor healthcare
system as he and his two sisters had lost theirs. Marcelas
epitomizes the motto of “Service above Self.” Marcelas’ sisters
still attend First Place and Marcelas has moved on to a public
school close to his home—yet his strength and unselfish love
linger in our halls.
“Where Do We Go From Here?” was the title Dr. King chose
for the last book he wrote and the meaning of his question still
haunts me—even now. And I wonder, are we walking towards
chaos or towards community? The question remains: with all of
our skills and knowledge, how will we, as a community and as
individuals, answer Dr. King’s final question? For as Dr. King
himself said in 1963, we must first stand up whenever we are
able—whether we stand up locally, nationally, or globally.
I was given the opportunity to stand up on a global level to
work with a group of volunteers transforming communities
in Kenya and Ethiopia. In both countries, I worked to provide
technical assistance to the educators and administrators. I also
learned from them, and took the fruit of those lessons back to
First Place. In Ethiopia, for example, I learned to be even more
humble. Our group was working in a tiny rural community that
lacked the amenities Americans frequently take for granted,
such as running water and electricity. Here, using Marvin
Weisborg’s technique for finding common ground within a
community, our group worked in an African village in which
we were the only four English speakers. First, we worked to
learn what was important to the most disenfranchised group
there, the women, who married as early as eleven years old.
Then we provided a micro-loan to these African women. Upon
returning the following year, we learned that these astonishing
women had established a childcare center that now serves
eighty-two children, provides employment for six villagers,
including a man, and allows five other women to attend school.
Our long journey to the Bale Region of Ethiopia economically
transformed this poor village, and spiritually transformed those
of us who had the opportunity to be catalysts for this growth.
It is unnecessary, however, to travel so far to make a difference.
You can start with your own community regardless of its
socioeconomics or size; in reality, poverty is often found in
the middle of the most affluent communities, just hidden from
view. Reaching back to pull others through is how we can
actually experience the joy that “Service above Self” brings.
Transformation begins with you. The service you give to others
does not have to be a major or highly visible act. I have one
more story for you:
A young child who was very ill was taken by her family and put
into a hospital to receive care. Because of her illness she had
no choice but to live there in that hospital for two years. She
celebrated two birthdays in the hospital where she lived, and
when this child was finally released, she was five years old and
returned into a family she no longer really knew. The nurses
at the hospital would always say, “That’s your mother and
your father,” but after two years of her young life spent in the
hospital, these words held very little meaning. Then, once she was
home and in her new surroundings, the adults around her wanted
her to pretend that she had never left and punished her each time
she showed any institutional behavior. At the age of nine her
mother died just when this child was reestablishing a bond. Her
father did not want to see his four children go into foster care,
and so he sought help from the community. This search led him
to a family who was considered influential in the community.
The woman in that family became the legal guardian to the four
children who had lost their mother. There was only one problem
that the father was unaware of: the husband of the legal guardian
was a pedophile and was given a key to the little girl’s home
to watch over the four children while their father worked the
late shift. For eight years this man tortured the little girls in that
family. By the age of sixteen, the little girl ran away from home,
but continued attending school.
It was there that an English teacher who was unaware of her
situation reached out to her. He saw that she was doodling and
not paying attention, but instead of taking the paper from her and
destroying it, he made a deal with her. He said, “I will give you a
box of colored chalk and the blackboard in the back of the room
to draw anything you want in exchange for the assigned English
paper turned in to me by the end of the day.” She looked at him
with suspicion but decided to trust him anyway. He kept his word
and brought in the colored chalk, and after class let her draw on
the blackboard. What he did not know was that she really could
draw. After three days she had created a life-sized mural of three
basketball players: two looking out into the distance, and the third
sitting on the bench, his hands folded in anticipation of getting
back into the game. The teacher was surprised at the creativity of
the artwork and proud of his student. For two months the teacher
left the mural, just as it had been drawn, up on the chalkboard
and brought many people in to see it. Later, the student who had
drawn the mural returned home with the resolve to become like
the English teacher. She was so inspired that, six years later, she
became an art teacher working in the
inner city so that she could reach back
and pull others through. That little girl
was me!
Where we go from here is continuing
to make a difference in all of our
communities through servant
leadership. By acting as stewards and
change agents, whether in your family,
in your work environment, in nature, or
out in the global community, your new
skills and knowledge can bring about
transformation. Each of you has special
gifts to give others. “Service above
Self” is what creates an enlightened
community.
Thank you!
Doreen A. Harden-Cato, EdD
Executive Director, First Place School