Indira Varma
After 6th visit
November 2015
Kira Edwards, KEdwards@bgcp.org

After my sixth session teaching lacrosse, I had established relationships with some of the kids who had grown to really enjoy the sport.  For most of my sessions, I spent time coaching the girls, and was able to teach them about a sport that I have played for over five years.  As I said in my last visit, it was difficult to get all of the kids involved, and hard to take control of them.  But as I continued to go, I found that the kids were gradually becoming easier to work with, and having a greater desire to play.  Before, the girls would usually huddle in the corner talking, but after a couple of sessions, they began to stop talking once our drills started, and also volunteered to participate in any game or activity.  It was really great seeing the girls become more involved in the session because it made it a lot more fun to be with them and coach as well.  Despite the group only being there for practice, it was fun seeing the kids get a chance to run around and play a sport.  As I visited Garfield, I realized that these kids don't have an opportunity to participate in sports without the BGCP's help.  This struck me because as a kid I was always playing outside, or participating in sports, and being able to allow these kids to have the chance to play a sport was something that was very important to me.  I think working with this group for my PACT was very rewarding since I saw tremedous improvement in the kids participation and spirit throughout the course of my numerous visits. Seeing the kids grow to love sports was very compelling for me, since I have always loved sports. 

Indira Varma
After 3 visits reflection
November, 2015
Kira Edwards, KEdwards@bgcp.org

Before becoming my PACT project, I had never worked with the Boys and Girls club before.  I was really excited to get to know all of the kids, and to teach them about a sport that means a lot to me. During my first three visits to Garfield Middle school, both myself and my two teammates were able to work with sixth and seventh graders.  Starting with the first session, we all got out to the field, and started by leading the kids in some stretching and warmups. During warmups the kids would always be talking about what their day had been like, usually with the girls gossiping to each other while the boys teased one another.  I thought it was really interesting watching these kids talk, since most of their conversations were similar to the ones I have with my friends.  After warmups, we split the group into boys and girls.  We then handed out all of the sticks and goggles and started on some drills.  Working with the girls most of the time, it was hard since they were constantly talking and not putting a lot of effort into the drill. I wasn't expecting the challenge of getting the girls attention, and having to take charge of the drill. Only having an hour to work with the kids made it difficult as well to get their attention since we were only left with around 45 minutes to do drills.  Often times I found myself making compromises with the girls in order for them to compete in the drill.  Usually it was a trade of off them having a water break once all of them participated, or allowing them to play a fun game at the end.  However, once we introduced competition with the boys, the girls became eager to participate.  It was after this that we were able to make progress with the kids and have them have fun while also learning a lot. For my first three visits, it was hard to have a meaningful session since most of the kids didn't pay attention or refused to most of the time.  It was also hard because despite my older age, I was not yet an adult, and therefore not seen as an authoritative figure towards them.  The sessions continually became more fun though as the kids became more involved and reading to play, making it possible for me to have a relationship with some of the kids. 

Eliza Crowder Forever Young Zone - Visit #6

Eliza Crowder
Forever Young Zone - Visit #6
Supervisors: Christine Lewman and Maryellen Hinderliter (clewman@stanfordchildrens.org) and  (MHinderliter@stanfordchildrens.org)
October 29, 2015

This visit to the FYZ was a special one because when I arrived, I was not alone! I saw a sign that read "Come play Bingo with the Stanford Baseball Team!" I was immediately very excited because one of my great family friends plays on the Stanford baseball team, and I was excited to see him. Since this visit was right around Halloween time, we played a halloween version of Bingo and we also decoratde pumpkins! 

On this visit, I spent a lot of time interacting with a young girl who clearly had the cognitive abilities of a 12 year old or so, but whose body was extremely udnerdeveloped - to the point where she still looked like a toddler. I also talked quite a bit with a young boy afflicted with an aggressive brain tumor. My heart broke as I left the FYZ that day because I couldn't help but think "why did this happen to them? Why not me? Why not any of my family members?" It just goes to show that life is so unfair to so many people around the world. Through my volunteering experience there, I have gained a huge appreciation for good health. 

During this particular visit, I loved seeing the baseball players interact with the children. It was refreshing to see how sweet and loving they were towards the kids. People often stereotype baseball players (and athletes in general) as being rigid, cocky, etc. But in reality, everyone has a soft spot deep down in which they can connect to others to make differences in their lives. 

Volunteering in the FYZ is something that I plan to continue doing because it makes me a better person and because I can brighten others' days. In these past six visits I have learned so much about how to interact with others, how to work hardd, how to be an example to those around me, and how to be grateful for everything that I have. 

Eliza Crowder Forever Young Zone - Visit #3

Eliza Crowder

Forever Young Zone Visit #3

October 8, 2015

Supervisors: Christine Lewman and Maryellen Hinderliter (clewman@stanfordchildrens.org) and (MHinderliter@stanfordchildrens.org)

Working at the Forever Young Zone in the Lucille Packard Children's Hospital is both similar and different from what I originally expected. I did anticipate that I would be emotionally moved by my interactions with the sick children with whom I played, but I wasn't expecting all of the behind-the-scenes work that goes into running this organization. The FYZ is a place for the young patients (and their families) to recreate, play board games, play video games, do puzzles, do crafts, and so much more. My tasks in the FYZ include helping set up and creating examples for the day's given craft project, making the rounds to the hospital beds to invite kids to come to the FYZ, playing and interacting with the children and families in the FYZ, helping to organize the backroom, and cleaning up when the FYZ closes.

On this particular visit, not many children came into the FYZ, so I spent the majority of my time organizing the plethora of donations that cluttered the back room. It was so crazy messy that it took nearly the whole shift (3 hours) to clean. I was in awe at how many donations were there, but how truly unneccesary and, for lack of a better word, how crappy some of the donated items were. It made me realize how when I donate something I want it to have a direct and helpful use for someone, rather than just a piece of junk that won't really make a difference in one's life. 

One challenge I came across was figuring out how to handle the families of the children. It was always very obvious that the ailment of the given child was debilitating towards the parents, and being comforting and kind to both the patients and their families was a top priority. Seeing how an illness can affect one's life so drastically has made me immensely grateful for my health and the health of my family members. I often found myself thinking "why them and not me?" I still don't really have an answer to that quesiton but it just goes to show unfair life really is!

My favorite part of the shifts is when I get to go around to each of the hospital beds and encourage the children to come to the FYZ. I love this on-one-one interaction time because I get to see how I'm making a difference in the general happiness of these kid's lives. Often times the kids aren't able to come to the FYZ, but seeing their faces light up when I would walk into the room made me realize how much they appreciate the little things in life. Even though I don't have a huge impact on the entire organization, I am confident that I do have an impact on each of the children's lives because of how I could easily make the kids days ten times better by playing play dough with them or by playing a video game with them. 
This is a photo of the cluttered storage room in the back of the FYZ.

Stephen's Reflection

1. Today we helped out at the Veterans Hoptel. I was really surprised when we arrived, as I was expecting a much larger shelter-like building, but instead we pulled up to a small house in East Palo Alto. After receiving a tour of the house and the garden and meeting a veteran who lived there, we started to work. I started making thank you cards for people who have donated to the shelter, then I was in charge of filling out an attendance form to confirm all the volunteers who were there. I then helped out in the garden, planting cauliflower, lettuce, and a few other plants. Although somewhat laborious, the hardest thing we did was by far picking up all the trash that had been dumped in the field behind the house. I've never encountered so many horrid smells, and I had never in my life seen a crack pipe and needle casually laying in the dirt, but it did feel really good to see how much we had cleaned up by the end of it. 
2. My favorite part of today was cleaning up the trash. Although it was by far the most disgusting and most difficult, I enjoyed picking up the stuff that wasn't Swisher Sweets wrappers and underwear (there was a surprisingly large amount). Walking back onto the bus I saw how much we had cleaned and how much of a difference we had made since when we got there. That feeling was by far my favorite part.
3. From this experience i've really been exposed to how fortunate we are. I know that's super cliche, but it's true. Seeing the conditions of how the honorable people who serve our country and knowing that so many veterans are homeless or in extreme poverty is honestly gut-wrenching, and i'm so glad we were able to help even if it was in the tiniest ways.
4. In the future, I really hope to work with organizations like this again. I had a really amazing experience that I have never really had before. There was a mention of summer programs and similar things that we could take part in, and I would definatley help out in similar ways again and recommend it to others who want to make a difference as well.

Indira's Reflection

Sophomore Community Service Day: InnVision Network Hoptel

1. What we did . . .  in your own words, thinking literally, figuratively, metaphorically, what did we accomplish. Whatever you do, make the description go beyond the plain
2. My favorite part was . . .
3. Did you discover anything about yourself? Describe any emotional/gut-level reactions to the day.
4. In the future, I think . . . 

Today at the Hoptel, we learned the purpose of the home, and how much it helps veterans in the surrounding area.  We got a tour of the house, and the front and back yards.  Our main task was to plant a new vegetable garden in the backyard. There was four flour beds filled with zucchini, tomatoes and watermelons.  We replaced these vegetables with brussels sprouts, cilantro, basil, lettuce and cauliflower.  Have of us worked out in the garden while a small group went and cooked in the kitchen.  I worked in the garden, pulling out weeds and turning the soil.  After the group finished cooking, they came out and helped out with planting the vegetables.  Once we planted everything we had to go out behind the house and pick up trash.  Behind the house was an open hilly field filled with loads of trash.  Groups of us when out and picked up any trash we saw.  Some things we found were very unexpected.  We found numerous baby clothes, bags and food containers.  After we cleaned up as much as we could we gathered all the trash in bags and had a total of ten trash bags. 

My favorite part was planting all the vegetables.  This was really cool to see the transformation of all the plants in the yard.  It also made the backyard look very pretty with all the new thriving vegetables.

I discovered that people who run these types of homes have a lot of things to do in order for the house to function properly.  I realized it takes a lot of physical and mental strength for these people to do their everyday jobs. I knew i could never have this much energy and strength to do the things these people.

In the future, I think that I have to realize how much work goes into putting these things together. 

Amélie's Veteran's Hoptel Reflection

Sophomore Community Service Day: InnVision Shelter Network Hoptel

1. What we did . . . in your own words, thinking literally, figuratively, metaphorically, what did we accomplish. Whatever you do, make the description go beyond the plain.
2. My favorite part was . . .
3. Did you discover anything about yourself? Describe any emotional/gut-level reactions to the day.
4. In the future, I think . . . 

Today in the Hoptel, we picked the fruits and veggies out of the garden. There were zucchinis, tomatoes, watermelons and flowers. After we took all of these foods out, we uprooted and turned the soil over and planted more plants. We planted lettuce, cauliflower, Brussel sprouts, cilantro, and basil. Some of us also dead headed the germaniums and pulled out weeds, trimmed the bushes, planted little flowers and picked up trash. The trash we picked up was horrifying, both in the amount and what it actually was. I would feel genuinely uncomfortable living next to a place where people treated the land like a dump. The trash ranged from clothes and napkins to drugs and feces. 

My favorite part was planting the vegetables and making the flowers pretty, because you could really see the end result. 

I discovered that while I enjoyed helping people in terms of the yard and landscaping, I definitely could not do what I did today for a living. I could work helping people in one of the other shelters, but this particular job would be physically and emotionally straining to work helping people going through such difficult times. Perhaps it was the drugs we found or the mental health and substance abuse issues, but I would not be strong enough to work that job. 

In the future, I will be ore appreciative of people working minimum wages and going through these issues in their lives.