Driving Better Together

   Wow! What a great week we all had together in this service trip, Better together” Not only were we able to do great community service together with Habitat for Humanity but we were able to learn about different community’s of faith.  That’s one thing that I was really excited about this service trip. I didn’t know actually bonding with our host families and fellow service members would have such an impact on how I view other religions and beliefs. It really makes a difference when you get a personal perspective from someone. It gives you a chance to understand the true beliefs instead of common stereotypes.  Each host we have went to this past week we learned about how family, tradition, faith, community services, hospitality, social justice is so important. This experience has been great! I have really learned that you can learn so much by discussing with your community. As a society we should all be open do this in our normal lives.  Being open minded to our community is what makes the world a better place. Will we ever have peace on earth? Probably not but we can make one step by connecting to our outside communities, that way we can learn and grow to make our world a better place.

----Amanda

Today was our second day at our habitat location, and all day I couldn’t stop thinking about my dad for several reasons, one being that I have watched him do the kind of manual labor we were doing for most of my life, and second because he has formed much of my opinion about interfaith and my place in it as an humanist atheist. As you might have noticed, most charities and community service organizations are faith based, and there seems, at least to me, to be a misconception about atheists when it comes to compassion and caring for others. If you know my dad, you know he’s one of the most generous people on the planet, and if you don’t know him, he’d still give you the shirt off his back. He’s an atheist and has been as long as I can remember, but that doesn’t seem to affect how much he cares about the human race. The work that is done at Habitat for Humanity would be amazing for him: he loves to teach, he’s amazing at building things, and he has more patience than he admits. My father taught me that being a good person is more important than anything, and no matter what he says, he loves the human race. Today, I thought about my father’s hands, and wished I could borrow them, because they are much stronger and generous than mind. I tried to channel his energy through my own hands and to become more generous.

I also want to shout out to Dan Clements, our site leader, for his overwhelming patience. It can’t be easy to work with amateurs all day, every day, but it never seems to faze him. He, too, reminded me of my fathers incredibly generosity.

Tonight’s dinner was better than we could have asked for. One of my favorite things we’ve learned from the Muslims we’ve broken bread with is their amazing tradition of hospitality. Tonight, Murad told us there is a Turkmen saying “Guests are more important than the father,” and his entire family showed us unequaled hospitality. The food was delicious and we enjoyed learning about Turkmen culture. Another thing that has really struck me about the Muslims we have met is how knowledgeable they are about their religion. That may seem like an obvious thing, but they know what they believe and are willing to tell anyone who asks. And they never tire of questions, nor do we tire of asking them. I think it was the perfect last dinner for us because we didn’t want to leave.

Tomorrow will be our last day, and I think we will all leave truly changed by our experiences, and I hope we have more like these in the future.

~ Madeline Steele Stockwell