Hi Everyone
Coming to UBC, I was pretty much lost, unsure of everything. Having lived in Hong Kong for the past 15 or so years, I had no idea what Vancouver was like, despite being born there. I had no idea what UBC offered in terms of opportunities. I wasn’t even sure what I was signing up for in the courses that I was about to take this year, such as sociology, geography, and ASTU. The name of the stream I was in under the Coordinated Arts Program (CAP) was a mystery to me: What does it mean to be a global citizen? What do the things that I learn in sociology have to do with being a global citizen?
In sociology discussions, one could either choose to work on papers and assignments, or choose to go out and volunteer, through the UBC TREK program under the Centre for Community Engaged Learning, and to submit reflections based on their experiences in their placements, positions where volunteers help in the operation of a group or organization in what they do. I chose to volunteer, through UBC TREK, in Beauty Night, which aims to help vulnerable women and other people living in the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver. To be honest, I first decided to take the TREK route because I didn’t want to face the daunting prospect of more papers and assignments, given that I was already taking six courses in the first term (which I really do not recommend you do), but in the end, I found volunteering through TREK a very inspirational and educational experience that enabled me to understand more about communities and my direction and commitment.
To me, joining Beauty Night has been an eye-opening experience in itself. Very often than not, we remain constricted by our perceptions of gender, and gender stereotypes. Not only was I breaking the gender barrier by having my placement in Beauty Night, an organization which was classified as a female-only organization by UBC TREK, but I was also breaking barriers by breaking gender stereotypes, applying manicures, pedicures, or massages, tasks which have usually been associated with females.
My experience in UBC TREK, in Beauty Night, allowed me to not only greatly understand the Vancouver community that UBC is part of, but also identify some of the sociological problems associated with it. Throughout my placement with Beauty Night, I was able to visit a variety of shelters in the Downtown Eastside, not only helping vulnerable women who have been victims of sexual abuse, but also aboriginal people, and people suffering from mental illnesses. Working with Beauty Night and understanding these population minorities is crucial because their presence in the Downtown Eastside, and in the shelters that we visit, more often than not have a lot to do with the lack of resources dedicated to aboriginal people, the release of mentally ill people into society due to the decrease of resources and closing down of asylums devoted to mentally ill people as a result of neoliberalism, where mentally ill people were no longer treated as patients but as criminals whenever they commit crimes, where ‘administrative segregation’ is used as a solution to their behaviour. The presence of these vulnerable women in shelters also indicated the gender problems existent in society, such as the gender wage gap, and violence against women in society. Understanding the challenges faced by organizations such as Beauty Night, such as the moving out of the people they serve from the Downtown Eastside to places like Surrey, as a result of gentrification, which hampered their ability to continue reaching out to them due to the poor transport network in Surrey, also further enabled me to understand relevant sociological concepts and problems in society.
Perhaps what is more interesting is the things I have reflected upon in my experiences and the questions asked in the monthly sociology discussions in regards to my experiences at TREK, to reflect on these sociological problems from another perspective: what are the reasons for the existence of volunteering and organizations in the Downtown Eastside, if the social system had been perfect and capable of catering to the needs of the people we help in the Downtown Eastside? Are a lot of the services we provide as volunteers in the UBC TREK program, such as tutoring children, and helping vulnerable women, supposed to be jobs that should receive pay? Is the reason why a lot of organizations and NGOs exist because the government ‘contracted’ the task of handling the needy, in a way through neoliberalism? How are these organizations funded, and would donors actually have a motive behind the funding of these organizations? On the other hand, in my experiences in TREK, I have gained valuable experience not only through serving vulnerable women, but also by listening to the stories and experiences behind every women I help while doing things like foot massages to them. Such activities have allowed space for conversation, and without that, I wouldn’t have learnt about the amazing lives behind a lot of those women, with some who had lives as models, or who had children leading lives in the music industry. Such things increase my understanding of the people that I serve, increases communication and helps build relationships, but most importantly, also helps me reduce the dehumanization prevalent in society towards people in the Downtown Eastside, through understanding and conversation, something, which I believe, is important as a Global Citizen, and something you will definitely continue to encounter in other courses such as ASTU. Being part of my placement in Beauty Night also allowed me to talk with other volunteers, where I have also met many people who have interesting lives, from voice actors to people who interned in the WHO, and quite a number of UBC alumni who may or may not have been part of the TREK program previously.
What is more important, however, in terms of applying sociological knowledge to my work in TREK, is how the things you learn in sociology can change yourself. During one of the last lectures of sociology, professor Greer talked about what we can do to change the world, to resolve the issues brought up in so many of our previous lectures. More often than not, a lot of people together become bystanders, and do nothing in the face of need. To solve this ‘bystander effect’, individuals have to make a difference and persuade other people to help through their actions.
At the end of the day, one of the best ways to bring change, is to be active in encouraging others to act. By joining UBC TREK and being part of Beauty Night, I was able to take action and actively engage with the community, and to translate these experiences into becoming a Reading Week Leader in the Centre for Community Engaged Learning, and in other experiences outside of campus, such as volunteering for and working with like minded candidates in the provincial elections this year, who hope to resolve the problems in the Downtown Eastside. I believe, it is with these experiences that can enable me to understand more about the society we live in, and to become a better global citizen by actively engaging in it. Don’t be discouraged by the time commitments required for volunteering, nor be daunted by the process of stepping out of your comfort zone. By volunteering, you can gain valuable experience that not only applies to sociology, but also to CAP as a whole, and also to you yourself as a person.
Good luck, and have fun in your journey through CAP and TREK!
Mathew