FINAL REFLECTION
In the beginning of capstone I did not know what I wanted to do. After I spent some time brainstorming with my friend Selma we had a bunch of ideas in mind, none of the ideas related to us. Originally we wanted to help orphans in need or help the homeless. The idea of helping a refugee family settle into a brand new environment never came to mind. It was a slow night at TJMAXX where I was telling my associate Amela about my capstone and how I’m having difficulty coming up with a good idea. She mentioned how recently a group of Syrians came to a program at CCSU. Amela helped with the donations and told me she got into contact with a women by the name of Ghoufran through facebook. Ghoufran is a Syrian refugee who has learned English and is a Translator at Syrian events. She is very involved into helping her people get on their feet in America. I got her number from Amela and texted her about my idea and what capstone is about. We set up a day to meet with a family who was in desperate help. After visiting the Syrian family, it changed my whole capstone. I began to think about ideas of how to help this family live a better life. So many different ideas came to mind like collecting clothes, money, food for them and thats exactly what we did.
With the help of Gofundme and our friends and family who shared our link, Selma and I raised a little over $1,000 within three days! I reached out to my mosque, family, friends, and classmates telling them their situation and if they had any donations it would be greatly appreciated. Throughout our project we have collected over 30 bags of just clothes. In the beginning it was the little things that we did for them, like Selma and I would go over and play with the kids which gave the mom time to cook. We also tried our best to teach them English, especially to the kids because they lived in a camp for 5 years, they lack a lot of education. Helping the Marri’s became way bigger than just a project or a grade. We built a connection throughout these past couple months where I felt apart of their family. We were able to help provide the mom with transportation to the grocery store instead of her walking while she's pregnant. My family has gone through the same exact hardships this family is going through. This has given me a new perspective on what life is really about. It's about making sure you are thankful for what you have and happy, this family doesn’t have much and neither did mine, but we have came a long way. You can’t give up until you have tried everything!
I have learned so many things while working on my capstone, I realized that there is always a person living a “harder” life than you. I thought my life was hard and stressful until I came across this family who has nothing, who is unfamiliar with the language around them and who knows nothing about the environment they live in. This experience has made me realize that everyone has a story. You can’t judge someone based on their looks. I began to realize what is happening around the world with the political discussions and that there is good people all over the world who are ready to help people in need. The last thing I learned was, that you should always try to take the time to give back in your own way.
The results of my project were personally I grew as a person, I started to realize how hard life was for my parents and the more I realized that, the more I went out of my way to help the family and make a change in their lives even if it was little. Before the Marri's I never gave much thought about others and what they had it was more about me and what I wanted. I had always asked for things that I didn't need, in reality I had more than I needed. Helping the Marri's really changed me to become more appreciative to what I do have. I'm much more thankful after spending time with them and seeing their situation but they still aren't complaining. I never took the time to realize how good I had it. What impacted me the most was when Jackie came over with Ghoufran and showed us a video she put together after visiting Turkey and the camps that the Marri's had stayed. Once the family started to get emotional and cry it broke my heart. I never had seen this side of them before which made me feel bad. Physically seeing the Marri's struggle and being with them throughout the year has made me more appreciative because life could be worse. My goal was to help teach the kids English and be able to speak to them and understand one another. Slowly this was able to happen. I have been able to see the families growth since September, they are slowly adapting to the new lifestyle.
It felt different to serve the community, I never pictured myself to be able to accomplish such hard tasks. It was a different experience but it impacted me and changed me as a person, it has made me more appreciative towards what my parents have worked for and also towards my parents. I faced many difficulties during this project like communicating without Ghoufran and seeing them once a week because of my work schedule. Just because capstone's coming to an end doesn't mean my community service is. I want to and plan on continuing to help the Marri's in any way that I can.
With the help of Gofundme and our friends and family who shared our link, Selma and I raised a little over $1,000 within three days! I reached out to my mosque, family, friends, and classmates telling them their situation and if they had any donations it would be greatly appreciated. Throughout our project we have collected over 30 bags of just clothes. In the beginning it was the little things that we did for them, like Selma and I would go over and play with the kids which gave the mom time to cook. We also tried our best to teach them English, especially to the kids because they lived in a camp for 5 years, they lack a lot of education. Helping the Marri’s became way bigger than just a project or a grade. We built a connection throughout these past couple months where I felt apart of their family. We were able to help provide the mom with transportation to the grocery store instead of her walking while she's pregnant. My family has gone through the same exact hardships this family is going through. This has given me a new perspective on what life is really about. It's about making sure you are thankful for what you have and happy, this family doesn’t have much and neither did mine, but we have came a long way. You can’t give up until you have tried everything!
I have learned so many things while working on my capstone, I realized that there is always a person living a “harder” life than you. I thought my life was hard and stressful until I came across this family who has nothing, who is unfamiliar with the language around them and who knows nothing about the environment they live in. This experience has made me realize that everyone has a story. You can’t judge someone based on their looks. I began to realize what is happening around the world with the political discussions and that there is good people all over the world who are ready to help people in need. The last thing I learned was, that you should always try to take the time to give back in your own way.
The results of my project were personally I grew as a person, I started to realize how hard life was for my parents and the more I realized that, the more I went out of my way to help the family and make a change in their lives even if it was little. Before the Marri's I never gave much thought about others and what they had it was more about me and what I wanted. I had always asked for things that I didn't need, in reality I had more than I needed. Helping the Marri's really changed me to become more appreciative to what I do have. I'm much more thankful after spending time with them and seeing their situation but they still aren't complaining. I never took the time to realize how good I had it. What impacted me the most was when Jackie came over with Ghoufran and showed us a video she put together after visiting Turkey and the camps that the Marri's had stayed. Once the family started to get emotional and cry it broke my heart. I never had seen this side of them before which made me feel bad. Physically seeing the Marri's struggle and being with them throughout the year has made me more appreciative because life could be worse. My goal was to help teach the kids English and be able to speak to them and understand one another. Slowly this was able to happen. I have been able to see the families growth since September, they are slowly adapting to the new lifestyle.
It felt different to serve the community, I never pictured myself to be able to accomplish such hard tasks. It was a different experience but it impacted me and changed me as a person, it has made me more appreciative towards what my parents have worked for and also towards my parents. I faced many difficulties during this project like communicating without Ghoufran and seeing them once a week because of my work schedule. Just because capstone's coming to an end doesn't mean my community service is. I want to and plan on continuing to help the Marri's in any way that I can.