On May 7th I had the opportunity to volunteer at the Street Library in the 7th Ward. The Street Library is a program of the Fourth World Movement. Me, my teacher Kyle, and his son Jonah engaged in reading and fun activities with youth from 3-7 years old. First we introduced ourselves, then the fun began. I won’t lie, at first I was a little afraid to interact with them. I was more afraid of them then they were of me. But after a few minutes I made an effort and started looking for Waldo in a Where’s Waldo book with a little girl. We spotted the funny pictures of charters who look like Waldo, but wasn’t him. Then we made Mother’s Day candles with vivid colorful sand. After a while I was having fun too. I let my inner kid show. We made Mother’s Day cards that were pretty with stickers, glitter and other stuff as we waited for the candle wax to dry. We played tag for like 15 minutes and after they were good and tired we took them home to show their mothers their presents.
Looking back on my experience with the Street Library I found out that I’m good with kids and can be a good role model. I didn’t like being around kids before. I was always afraid of saying or doing the wrong thing and being a bad role model to them. Having a Street Library can benefit the community because it allows space and opportunity for diversity and different perspectives that can lead to what is most beneficial for the community. Watching the kids interact with each other showed me that kids can teach and learn from one another in this type of environment. On the other hand, in a regular school setting student aren’t empowered to teach and learn from each other because it usually assumed that teachers have all the knowledge and information and students have none. The Street Library changes that. My day volunteering at the Street Library was an amazing experience.
I hope to get one started in the Lower 9th Ward soon.
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