On Wednesday, February 17, students from our class spent the afternoon at the Misericordia campus on the north side of Chicago. Students were split up into different assignments around campus, ranging from laundry to bakery to art classes to office work and more. Students partnered with clients and residents from Misericordia to participate in these activities for the day. (Note: this post will not include pictures due to privacy restrictions.) Here are some thoughts from Aileen Juarez and Mariam Mekha on their experience...
Aileen Juarez
After receiving a smock and deciding where to have me work, the teacher thought I would be better off working with Alice since she was waving her hands frantically in the air to have me sit with her. We colored in wooden ornaments, Alice coloring them in and me decorating them. Soon we were joined by another patient, who was a little shy but very artistic. Alice chatted on about her trip to Florida, how much she loved the color green, and the fun stuff she did with her mom over christmas. The other patient (her name has currently slipped my mind) explained to me how much she loved Mandala art and wanted to learn to draw them and how she was having relationship troubles. They both loved talking, talking about anything really. Alice told me multiple times that her mother bought her a green jacket, at one point with her telling me her mom got her a jacket and me replying, "and was it green Alice?" "How did you know?" "You told me ten minutes ago!" The entire time, other patients were walking about the room, looking at what everyone was doing and trying to get a look at me. At one point, I grew bored of waiting for more green ornaments to decorate, so I started sketching on the paper towel we were painting over. I was drawing a face with dramatic eyes when one patient came up behind me and exclaimed, "Wow! You're really good! Teacher, come look!" The teacher came by and so did a few other patients to take a look. They were all amazed with a mediocre drawing until the other client I was working with got really excited. "That's it! I want to learn that, that's what I was talking about!" A few others joined in and wanted to learn too, so the teacher began ordering them to bring sketch books the following day. I suppose I began a sketching class? Either way, it was time to clean up and my client became preoccupied with making sure her cups were clean. I cleaned my area and headed out.
Coming in and seeing all those people in the room at first made me nervous. I am really bad at small talk but they didn't seem to mind. They just came up to me and let me know something random about them or asked me random questions. They just loved having me there. It was impressive seeing the way they treated them there. The staff was nice to them, yet they weren't afraid to be blunt with them or make them do things on their own. They were very social, and not too different, just slightly slower, and a little forgetful. These people though, are the most friendly people there are. They were very well mannered and continued telling me thank you for spending time with them.
I love these people for what they go through and how they handle the situation. They get treated differently - they're laughed at, ridiculed, never taken seriously, and yet they continue smiling and laughing with no problem. They feel pain, and most will tell you they don't like when people do certain things to them, but they quickly forget about it and focus on you, whoever they're with. These people need to be protected. These people need to be told what is not ok, not appropriate, and what to do when other people mistreat them. This was a beautiful environment for them. They were very social with each other and staff, keeping conversation way longer than I could ever hope for. Other reasons I like this place a lot is because I have my own mentally challenged family member. My brother has slight autism and I would like him to be as social and happy as these people.
I would like to return to Misericordia to help with the art program. I would like to aid in a sketch class if that becomes its own program and bring my little brother here to help and socialize. There was so much energy in the room and so much going on at once. This is a great place. They were all so vibrant. I would like to go into this work some point in college as volunteer work if I could.
Mariam Mekha
Misericordia gathers people to spend time with others, and it is good so that families know that they are in safe place for the day plus they are learning something valuable such as art, poetry, or cooking. The guy I talked to told me that he lives in this community, but some of his other friends do not have to. They could just come every day like school or college. Either way, the program provides food, a place to talk, read, or play games if you want. Also, they provide garden activities for students who want to walk around. They also provide for other people to take care of them in case if anything happens.
"And his disciples asked him, 'Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?' Jesus answered, 'It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him. We must work the works of him who sent me while it is the day; night is coming, when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.'" (John 9:2-7) People asked Jesus about the disabled people being sinners and why they are disabled, and Jesus said they are not sinners. I like this story because people once thought that if you are disabled, then something must be wrong with you, but God shows all of us on earth that each one of us have a story to tell and to share with others.
The experience I had while working with the class and other people was great for making new friends as well as making me see people's true colors. I learned a lot of amazing things about this program. It helped me a lot to get to know what amazing and talented people they are. It showed me that we are no different than anyone. In fact, my client and his friends made me feel safe to talk to them and share part of me with them. It is sad to see that today many people think and act like kids are unintelligent, and I wish we could do something about it. Maybe we could just ask each person to make time to help by doing something - it does not have to be a major thing but just a small thing like what my class had done, that would make our world better.
Note: Minor grammar/style edits have been made to each post not affecting the content or perspective of these students.
* Names have been changed or redacted.
