INTO OSU English Through Volunteering – Page 2 – Adventures in Service and Engagement in the Corvallis Community

Avery ParkVolunteering Experience

I have always been a nature lover. Nature gives me an extraordinary feeling because of the spiritual and aesthetic energy that nature has. Therefore, I love walking among trees, herbs, flowers, creeks, and rivers. One of the places where one can experience the beauty of nature in a city are parks; parks are, actually, one of the places that I love visiting the most among other recreational and entertaining places. Thus, I was interested to volunteer at Avery Park.

I have visited Avery Park, in the summer, which is the bloom season for roses, with my family who were visiting me here in Corvallis coming from my hometown. I found it a very nice place that is maintained in an attractive and bright way. However, I was wondering why there was no one besides me and my family visiting the park on that day.

Before going there for the sake of volunteering, I thought that volunteering there will be, for sure, a very good opportunity to explore how parks are maintained and developed here in Corvallis. Surprisingly, they are, as I was informed, mainly maintained by volunteers. This is a really nice fact that made me feel that I’m doing something that an organization depends on. Therefore, volunteering there at Avery Park seemed to be different than the volunteering experiences that we have done before. In addition, what also made this volunteering experience different is that it is a place that I have visited before, so I knew before going where I was going to volunteer. However, what I was not sure about was what exactly the duties that we should do there are. Whatever duty they will assign us, I said to myself, I hope it will have something to do with the park itself; I mean the roses, herbs, and trees.

I think that choosing Avery Park as the volunteering place to begin our new session with was a very good decision from our instructor, Dr. Cate. It is a park that is full of beauty that makes us enthusiastic to work.

Volunteering there was an experience that will stay in my mind. Although I have visited Avery Park before, this visit was different because we had the chance to help the city of Corvallis parks and recreation department to maintain one of the parks they are responsible for by volunteering there. We also did a service to the community as whole because Avery Park is considered as a public facility which everyone can visit and explore its unique beauty.

The time that Dr. Cate chose to be the visit date was also great because it was in May, which is the month when roses begin to bloom. Therefore, we enjoyed seeing the blossom of roses with their perfume. However, the weather wasn’t that good, because it was a sunny and kind of hot day and I was fasting, so I was really tired when finishing our visit.

We began with a brief introduction about the duties that we were going to do and some facts about Avery Park and people who volunteer their given by a man whom I forgot his name. He assigned me and my group to be responsible for mulching as much flower beds as we could. It was a nice job, but it was quite exhausting. Nonetheless, I liked it due to several elements. Firstly, my group was awesome and we were having funny chats during working. Secondly, it was nice to work at a beautiful place even though the weather did not help, but it was, of course, better than a rainy day because otherwise we will not be able to work while it’s raining.

Ayman Aljishi

Qatif, Saudi Arabia

Avery Park

Avery Park is a public park where everyone can do a lot of activities such as enjoy watching the rose flower, play in the playground zone, and picnic under the huge trees. In fact, Avery Park is the park here in Corvallis that I love to hang out in with my friends the most. What I have known about this Park is a huge number of volunteers are participating to make this park organized. Also I have known the other services that we can get as visitors. I was looking forward to having this experience but I was wondering what kind of work we were going to do. I thought it would be kind of what we did in SAGE garden, which included weeding, mulching, making paths, and cleaning. I was sure that we were going to enjoy working over there, but I was hoping we would have pleasant weather in that day.

I was not feeling well in that day even though I enjoyed going there to help. It was one of the experiences that I liked. First, we started walking from INTO heading to the Avery Park. We were talking about general topics while we were walking which makes the walking more enjoyable. Second, we arrived at the parking and we looked for the guy who would guide us. Shortly he came and started telling us some information about the park and what we were going to do to keep the park healthier. Third, we split into two groups; the first group would do weeding while the second would do the mulching. I was with the second group who were taking the mulch in the wheelbarrow. And then we took little by little from the mulch to fill the small part that needs a little mulch to give a better appearance for the roses. Mr. Steven, who was helping us on the site, told us that the mulch comes from pruning some trees which I had never thought about it. In general, I enjoyed doing this work and I hope everyone will do something for the nature to keep our planet healthier.

Abdulrahman Alaql – Saudi Arabia

Stoneybrook Lodge

By : Abdulmalik Alhudaithy (Saudi Arabia)

On Tuesday May 17, 2016 we went to volunteer at Stoneybrook Lodge, which is a retirement community for the elders here in Corvallis city. The lodge provides health care and social activities for the seniors who need to be taken care of or prefer to stay with people who are active and close to each other. The lodge has many amenities, like coffee clubs, library, a swimming pool, movie nights, and trips and activities around the city. Volunteering at Stoneybrook Lodge was a great and fun experience. Sitting there and chatting with elders who had a lot of experience in life was very wonderful. I really enjoyed having a conversation with one of them who has been here in Corvallis for more that 35 years! He is originally from Portland, which is also called Stumptown, because first people who settled there cut all the trees and left them with their stumps, according to him. We talked about almost everything, such as how he started his life in the army then went to the business school at University of Oregon. Then, he got married and moved to Utah to join a company, then finally settled here in Corvallis. And we also chatted about our cultures, and how we managed to adjust to live in a different culture than ours. The people in the lodge were very nice to us; they were very lovely and welcoming people. I really enjoyed my time there, and I hope to visit them again.

Heartwarming Experience at Stoneybrook Lodge

By : Marine Thianthong (Bangkok, Thailand)

Stoneybrook volunteering was so memorable.

We were divided into two groups; one to Corvallis Manor and one to Stoneybrook Lodge. My group was at Stoneybrook Lodge. My first thought after I got assigned to visit Stonybrook was “Will I be able to do the best I could as I always do?” Before I went there, Stoneybrook volunteering experience seemed really challenging to me. I had never worked with seniors before. This was literally my first time doing it.

What I experienced at Stoneybrook was really touching. There was one senior named ‘Tom Nelson’. First, he entered the meeting room and asked who come from Thailand. I was really afraid if anything in Thailand had disappointed him during his visit. However, it turned out to be a really sweet story.

Tom was once a Beaver at Oregon State with his Thai friend. In the past, they used to make contact quite often, but as the time went by, things changed. He tried his best to contact this friend, but unfortunately, the luck was not on his side. Even though he failed several times, he won’t stop trying. Tom showed me the letter written by his Thai friend’s son. He asked me if there is any way I could find in order to contact his friend. Tom said he wants to know how his friend is doing and whether the son will get to be what he wishes in his career.

As I am an “Internet person,” I tried searching his son’s contact information. I found the son’s e-mail and wrote it down for him. He said ‘This absolutely brightens up my day.’ A short sentence that got my eyes teary.

Tom teaches me to be patient and never give up; where there’s a will, there’s way. It has been more than ten years since he lost contact but he has never given up on his destiny.

Thank you, Tom.

Corvallis Manor Nursing Home

Name: Abdulla Ali From : United Arab Emirates

I knew a bit about Corvallis Manor nursing home that we worked with in English class before going there. I had heard that anyone can go there and talk or visit elderly people. I have been taking care of them many times in my country, but I had never done it in the United States. I thought this would be a good experience for me. I had heard that there are many things that everyone can do there such as, talking, supporting, helping and asking. We went as group to help and support the employees and the senior people there. We thought maybe we would feed them or clean the area from pollution to keep them safe and healthy. We knew we would be listening to the supervisor’s instructions first, after that we would do what they recommended to us. I was looking forward to knowing deeply about Corvallis Manor nursing home. In addition, I wanted to know how they organized their work individually and collectively and how they could control the people there because it’s very difficult to engage with them. I was quite nervous about how we would mange this work successfully, because this was the first time for me visiting Corvallis manor nursing home in the United States, along with the majority of my group. However, I expected our work would be easy because we would be working as group, and that makes the work lighter and faster.

After visiting Corvallis manor nursing home, I really feel proud to have helped and supported the seniors there. It was my fifth volunteering program that I have had in the United States. Thanks OSU for giving me this opportunity to be a volunteer in the United States. At the beginning I was nervous about how to engage with seniors there, but when I went there everything went well. Our role there was to talk and support elderly people. We made a circle and we introduced ourselves to them. We also talked about our background, which was really interesting, and we heard their background as well . I showed them some pictures about Kalifa tower and they loved them. We learned many things today especially, how can we make a conversation with seniors. In addition, they were happy, and the most interesting thing that there was was a lady who couldn’t see but she opened her eyes when we came. I personally was struggling at the beginning with how to engage with them. However, I fixed this issue when the supervisor explained to us how we would adjust to them. I got some feedback from my friends and our instructor, which helped me to improve my communication skills. When we were done with this conversation, I felt sad because I left them but I saw their faces were really happy.

An Afternoon of Fun at Corvallis Boys and Girls Club, May 2016

Towards the end of May, the English Through Volunteering students will head to the Corvallis Boys and Girls Club for fun and games! Before the visit, they’ll spend time preparing games and exhibits to engage kids and teach them about the students’ cultures. It will be interesting to see what kinds of activities they come up with!

Visit to Corvallis Manor and Stoneybrook Lodge, May 2016

In mid-May, some students will visit Corvallis Manor, and others will visit Stoneybrook Lodge. Before the visit, we’ll be learning about types of senior living homes and their roles in society in the United States.

Students will then have a chance to go and chat with residents during social time in which they listen to stories, talk about their own lives in their home countries and their academic goals, and connect with their conversation partners on the basis of shared interests and experiences. It’s a great opportunity to show caring and nurture cultural exchange!

Helping to Maintain Avery Park- May, 2016

In the second week of May, the English Through Volunteering class has a volunteer visit scheduled to Avery Park, where Corvallis Parks and Recreation will have a project for us to help with.

Whether it’s trimming the roses, picking up the grounds, or one of several other tasks that must be done daily and weekly to maintain the park, students are looking forward to participating in taking care of one of the many green spaces that make Corvallis such a livable and healthful community.

Habitat for Humanity: student experience

Habitat for Humanity

Pre-service

What I know about habitat for humanity is that they are a huge organization around the world. Their mission is helping people especially who are low-income to won their dream house, by giving them a loan with no interest and helping them physically to build the house. By the way, those people who get the benefit from this program have to become involved in building the houses with a certain number of hours which is a really great idea. Another thing that I know about this great organization is they have a department called Restore where you can donate your stuff that you do not need anymore. These donations will help those people to Furnish their house with less money.

I think this experience will add new knowledge to me, and I will enjoy it as well, especially if it is going to be building a house, but I will be still happy with any kind of help. I am looking forward to seeing what I can do to help this awesome organization.

Post-service

Saturday morning, I woke up as early as any normal business day because I had to go to help with Restore, which is part of Habitat for Humanity. Our instructor Dr. Cate divided us into two groups to go these. I was with the first group, and we met our coordinator Mr. Ron.

He started by introducing the organization for us and how it works. And then he showed us the store, and everything there was donated. In addition, there was a part of the store for the not working stuff where they “repurpose” those things. The important thing and what we were waiting is what is our job would be and how we could help. Mr. Ron took us to a big messy garage and asked us to organize it and then clean it because they would start building a new house next week and they wanted to use the tools in this garage and they wanted to make more room for the new stuff too. We started classifying the tools and the equipment. For instance, we put all the construction tools on the left side of the garage and we removed a cupboard to the edge of the garage. Furthermore, we shelved all the hardboards in the side shelve. The last thing we did inside the garage was, we cleaned all the surface from the dust. Mr. Rom came to give us another job which is transferring the palettes to their appropriate place. Eventually, we took some wooden boards and we leaned them against the wall.

I am delighted to go into this experience. In the end, I want to thank this incredible organization who is making people and the community going to a better level. And my thank goes to Mr. Ron who makes us comfortable to work with them. Last thanks to Dr. Cate who gives us this valuable chance to volunteer with this organization.

Abdulrahman Alaql – Saudi Arabia

Stone Soup Food Share: Student Journal

This was my second time in the Stone Soup Food Share. The interesting point was that I “shared foods” with the same team, which I worked with in 2 years ago. The team members are still as energetic as 2 years ago when I saw them. The work we did was very fun both times.

I can clearly remember the first time I worked in Stone Soup that my mission was to chop foods. I chopped several bowls of tomatoes and so much garlic. After chopping, I also did the food serving part. I smiled with each person I serve and ask them “Which soup do you like? Beef or cold tomato soup?”. It was a amazing day to me because that was my first time to do volunteer in food serving. I felt happy when I see smiles on people’s faces.

This time was my second time volunteering in the Stone Soup. I was familiar with the work chain in that kitchen and those equipments. The interesting part was that I find my chopping skills faster than 2 years ago. Also I organized people around me to make a team work to process food preparation faster. I learnt a lot about team work this time which I do not have in 2 years ago. Unfortunately, this time I cut my finger. It’s painful, but when I saw people eating my food and say thank you to volunteers, I felt good.