Today I went to Rushford to help with Flood Relief, yes these people still need help even though it's been 2 months, and we cleaned a big field of dirt/mud. It was hot and muggy outside, and we had to pick up the garbage because this area had become a dumping ground for the things in people's homes that was ruined in the flood. Anyways, to make a long story short, it was hot and sweaty, but we pretty much cleared the field. After we finsished cleaning we went inside the flood relief center to process and talk about our work day, and a man and his wife that was working on relief was there to talk to us. We compared this flood to the floods caused by hurricanes, and then he asked us if any of us had experienced a natural disaster. One girl raised her hand and started talking about a tornado and suddenly the conversation was switched to talking about a hurricane. He was just not listening. One of the student volunteers was from Kenya and the guy asked her to compare the floods here to some things that are going on in Kenya, and then he made this huge arogant assumption that I wanted to slap him for. The girl was talking about the bombings in 1998 to the US Embassy in Kenya, and then he asked about the homes in the small villges in Kenya. He asked if people in Kenya even had their own rooms. He was assuming that because she was from Kenya she lived in a small village and did not have her own room. He assumed the fact that she did not have her own room that if a flood happened in Kenya the people would be more devastated there, than the people are here, because they lived in a small village? Um Hello sir! Just because this girl is from Kenya does not automatically mean that she lives in a small village and doesn't have a room of her own! He would ask her questions and then didn't even listen to her answer, he just answered them himself. If you want to learn about someone from another culture, you have to actually listen to their repsonses on the questions that you ask them. I was so frustrated that he just assumed she was from a small village. He was pretty much saying that all Kenyans are from small villages and there is no cilvilzation there. I know that I'm assuming, but if you had heard the way he was talking to her and then answering his own questions......argh!!! Don't be a stupid arogant American. Just because this girl is not from the US does not mean that she is less fortunate that you. I hate when people on campus assume that the International students are stupid and can't speak English. Um....hello! They wouldn't be able to go to school here is they couldn't speak English. Anyways, I had a good time helping with the flood relief, even though I was tired and dirty.
This is a picture from the floods that happened in Minnesota in August. This is what Rushford looked like during the flood.
I'm recommending an essay this time because it applies to the theme from this blog. Here it is!
White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack (Peggy McIntosh)
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