Serving & Learning about Poverty
Gladys Terichow recently reported about a program in Ontario, Canada. The program combines helping unfortunate people with educating the fortunate.. I include an excerpt:
TOOLS coordinator, Allan Reesor-McDowell, said the program is designed to offer challenging and faith-enriching experiences that change participants’ lives. It combines opportunities for service with learning, group discussions and personal reflections on realities of poverty, homelessness and people living on the margins of society.
“Serving is important but it’s all about learning,” he explained. “It’s about creating awareness of poverty and breaking down stereotypes of people so far removed from our reality.”
“When we hear the stories, all of sudden we realize there are reasons why people end up on the street and the reasons are not usually what we had assumed,” he said. “The majority of people leave this type of experience with a transformed view of poverty.”
In a unique way, that combination offers a mutually beneficial arrangement that can help relieve poverty and increase social unity. Despite some religious undertones, I support it.
