Global Peace Initiative!

Matt O'Mahoney-

Today we headed over to the Global Peace Initiative, a non-profit farm that operates completely through volunteer work. They believe strongly that service working in a sustainable agricultural environment benefits everyone, from the volunteers themselves on a personal level, to then the community at large. They take volunteer groups from every population, ranging from prisoners working to re-enter society, to teenagers with mental disabilities.

Our group spent the whole (beautiful!) day working on a variety of projects, ranging from feeding  chickens and collecting chicken eggs to maintaining and weeding the garden, which looked so much better after the day was done! The volunteers there were all super nice and were really special people. You could tell they had a passion for helping others and teaching them sustainable living. Anyway, below is a picture of everyone giving a peace sign as homage to their being the Global Peace Initiative. It was a great day :)

Jackie Weiss- 

After we got back from an amazing day at the farm, we had time to relax and shower (and go for a run!) before all sitting down together and reflecting on the day.  We discussed how we all learned so much more than we ever thought we would and how much we loved all of the volunteers there. While the issue of agriculture and sustainable living weren’t directly related to our focus on disabilities, it was cool to be exposed to another issue and learn about new topics as well.  During reflection we also read Harrison Bergeron, which is a short story about a dystopian world where all people must live as “equals,” so those with above average intelligence were handicapped with loud noises in headphones so they couldn’t concentrate and those with above average strength had to carry around weights to slow them down.  It really got us all thinking about the whole idea of what is “normal” and who decides this and the benefits of individual differences.

We had delicious tacos for dinner and then we all watched the 2010 movie, “Temple Grandin.”  The movie is based on a true story about a woman with autism who, despite doctors saying she would never speak, graduated from college with a masters and a doctorate and created a humane and efficient cattle system that is now used all over the country.  The movie did a great job of portraying what it would be like to actually have autism because it took place mainly from her point of view.  We got to see the world through her eyes as all of her thoughts take place through images and all of the sensory stimuli she takes in (such as the sound of a ceiling fan or pen clicking) is extremely amplified.  Watching this movie was a great way to discuss many of the key issues we have talked about so far regarding disabilities.

 

Tomorrow we get to explore Indianapolis (and it’s the day of the Indy 500!) so we are all super pumped!