DukeEngage | Duke Center for Civic Engagement

photo by Eric Van Danen

Molly Belkin joined seven other Duke students volunteering with organizations in Ho Chi Minh City focused on work with children's issues, the environment, and teaching ESL.  She describes below what compelled her to get involved in this diverse DukeEngage experience.

1.  What drew you to this particular program or project?

I was drawn to this program because it was one of the few that focused on children’s issues.  For the first part of the program, I will be working at a shelter for young girls.  During the last four weeks, I will be traveling with my group to Ben Tre Province where we will be working with the Vietnamese Youth League’s Green Summer Campaign.  This program appealed to me because I will be able to work with children, as well as collaborate with Vietnamese students similar in age to myself. 

2.  What excited you about working with your community partner?
I was really excited about working with both of my community partners because they are so different.  At the Little Rose Shelter, I had the opportunity to work with young children and adults, while the second half of my program is exposing me to a national movement that was started and is maintained by Vietnamese university students. 

3.  What benefit do you hope your service will have for your community partner and your host community?

I hope that my service benefits my host communities in providing a new and different perspective. While it would be great if my service left tangible and sustainable improvements, I know that this is not necessarily going to happen.  My only wish is that my participation has allowed for collaboration across culture and language barriers.

4.  How do you hope to put into action what you learned through your DukeEngage experience once back at Duke?  

I plan to continue doing community service in Durham during my remaining years at Duke.  I am certain that my experiences in Vietnam will enhance my understanding of children with different backgrounds than my own and my ability to help them.  I also think that the experience of interacting and understanding people of different cultures--but with the same fundamental needs--will help me foster a more compassionate and knowledgeable world perspective. 
 

Throughout the summer, DukeEngage is featuring 18 students participating in both group programs and independent projects.  Check back weekly to view the latest student profile.

   Throughout my time in South Africa, I have become increasingly interested in the protection of children, particularly of those in conflict and post-conflict situations. In Pietermaritzburg, I continued to explore this newfound passion through one deceptively simple question: In your opinion, what is the most concerning issue facing South African children today?
   

    First, I asked this question of an older, white anti-apartheid activist and his family, who had the unique experience of living in a black township during the struggle. Much to my surprise, their most serious concern was the sense of “entitlement” currently burgeoning among South Africa’s youth. Although the response shocked me, I initially attributed this fear to the realization that only remarkable leadership will allow this nation to overcome many of its most persistent problems. However, I remained particularly puzzled by this statement because it did not strike me as a uniquely South African concern. Surely one could say the same thing about young Americans. And furthermore, is growing entitlement really a more pressing concern than say the increasing number of child-headed households as parents continually fall victim to the AIDS epidemic? Ultimately, the response felt very surreal and removed from what I perceived as the reality of the situation facing the majority of South African children, particularly those in townships and informal settlements.
   

    Then on Monday night, I received a remarkably different answer to my question when I spoke with a local social worker committed to advocacy work on behalf of children. Without a moment’s hesitation, she responded that the sexual abuse of young South Africans frightens her most and that the number of reported cases seems to increase each week. This answer first broke my heart and then perplexed me even more. How could two people, both very active, informed citizens of their communities, see the same situation from such obviously varied perspectives? I have a feeling this question will continue to haunt me for the remainder of my time in this foreign place, which constantly challenges my understanding of the world.
 

    Yesterday here in South Africa was Youth Day- a national holiday to commemorate the Soweto Uprising in which black schoolchildren protested the apartheid policy of teaching classes exclusively in the Afrikaans language (associated with the Dutch regime). During this uprising, the peaceful child protestors were met with horrific violence by police forces. The first comparable images from recent American history that come to mind are those of the March at Selma during the Civil Rights Movement. Each year, special youth events throughout the country encourage people to take the time to remember this grave event in South African history. 

      As a special activity on our day off from work, our group toured the Langa township located just outside Cape Town. This was our second tour of a township area, and for me, these experiences have been some of the most difficult of the trip. When I see the level of poverty in these shantytowns (which from my perspective is beyond the conceivable notion of poverty in the States- that some of these conditions are even considered live-able is beyond belief), I literally have to will myself to keep my eyes open. I have to fight the urge to mentally transport myself to the comforts of home and instead absorb all that I can in an effort to understand even the slightest bit of what is before me.

      But I have also discovered a new comfort that exists at home, in townships, and around the world: the pure hope and joy of children. Amidst the squalor of a decapitated shelter with a mud floor and no ventilation for the indoor fire, I felt incredibly nervous and out of place. Yet a toddler sitting across the room began to make faces at me, and after several rounds of peek-a-boo, I too was smiling despite my discomfort. These children are the ones who give me the courage to keep my eyes open. I hope that I can at least share the story of their condition so that one day the youths in these townships can have the very same opportunities as those in more advantaged, developed South African communities.