I had the opportunity to “teach” the module to the Huron Valley Church Community. It was late notice and during a study break, but I remember Nesha saying that we had to make sacrifices because the community is making sacrifices by giving us their time, especially with such short notice. They were so enthusiastic about learning the module and they welcomed us into their community with a lot of respect. They already knew quite a bit about HIV/AIDS, but they still gave us their attention and still wanted to learn the module. One of the key components that I have taken from this experience is the concept of community. These women welcomed us into their community, they showed us respect within their community and they were always bringing the module back to the relations it has with the community. They knew where to get free testing within their community, and they talked about how much they would love to implement and teach the module to the community. As I reflect on this experience now I think about the real meaning behind the module: empowerment. Little by little this module is allowing people to believe in themselves and believe that they are capable of producing change, capable of being the executors of liberation.
The graduation was one of the last steps in this process. I was excited to see everyone else who learned the module and I was excited for the room to be packed with members from different communities. When I arrived, I didn’t know what I was going to talk about in relation to my experience with the church group. But, I thought about what I learned most from my experience and from these women, and their involvement with community. I also wanted to make sure that I thanked them for letting us enter their community and being so welcoming in doing so.
One discomfort I still have is with people who were upset that they weren’t able to have the experiences that others in the class were having. This is the time where I also reflected on the idea of giving our time to the community as they are giving us theirs. I also thought about the ideas around entering communities, and who benefited most from such (the oppressors/ “converts”). They were upset that they weren’t able to share stories about what had happened, or how this person was getting the module really well. Reflecting back on this situation and us asking for another group makes me think about the reason for asking for another group. Did we ask because we wanted to teach more people and spread the module and its underlying meanings, or did we ask for another group because we paid for this class and we wanted to gain similar experiences to that of our classmates?
I will constantly reflect on what I’ve learned and what I will learn in the future, and I will use this in developing who I am in my career and in my older self. Reflection on identities I hold and others hold will help me better understand and care for my patients that I may have, in hope that I do become a doctor. When asked my majors and my chosen career path I tell people I aspire to be a doctor, but it’s the next question that always gets me. “So, why do you do social justice? Just for fun?” as if being in solidarity is an activity or game in which one chooses to do for fun, for a hobby. I am currently thinking about the ways in which I have responded to such a question and the ways in which I should respond to the question. The fact is that being in solidarity and learning more about different identities and issues that plague this society is not something one should partake in because it offers a good time, because it makes one feel good about oneself, or because everyone else is doing it. Rather, one should be in solidarity because there exists an unjust order in the world that needs to be transformed and instead of perpetuating such a system one can take a stand against it.
