One and the same
Someone once told me that the first indicator of how delapidated a neighorhood is by the number of pawn shops and bars per square mile. That being said, I was quite leary of the fact that upon entering the Ville, a supposed historic site of downtown St. Louis, I was nearly blinded by the sight of a monstrosity of a pawn shop adjacent to a butcher shop and a bar. I don't normally spend my Sunday mornings driving around in search of areas where indoor furniture on the lawn and one room shacks is the norm; however, this was part of an assignment for my Social Responsibility and the Public Health Professional course (more on this later).
Street after street of filthy, ransacked bricks and lumbar that aspired to be housing and twenty minutes of my time later, I was beginning to get a bit dejected that this was where I am going to be spending my weekends for the next month and a half. People in this community apparently didn't care that they are the derelicts society, instead they choose to sit on their porches blowing unidentified smoke into the breeze and bludgeon their own destinies with crimes against one another.
But then, as I turned the corner down Saint Ferdinand Avenue, I saw it. The face of God, of truth and of light, whatever most aptly describes inspiration. The church stands on one whole side of the street and is bold and bright, in deep contrast to the darkened remains of the rest of the neighborhood. With all the negligence in regard to their own homes, the upkeep of this place of worship was humbling even in comparison churches to churches in upscale areas. This brought an unsuspecting smile to my face, the prospect that though unforsaken in appearance, these people still must have joy in their hearts.
In some ways, that church is much like the pawn shop I saw when I entered the Ville. For many, with money comes hope, and for others, it is the idea of God. It also made me quite ashamed of my eager conclusion about the people there, the marginalized community that still clings to a thread of hope through divinity. I think that this will be a truly worthwhile experience to work with members of this neighborhood and maybe find that in the end, what inspires them is exactly what inspires me.
posted by Sheila @ 3/06/2005 12:09:00 PM
1 Comments:
In one of my classes in college, we had to do a sort of community service project for two Saturday mornings in a row. Our teacher helped out in that area, the Ville, right in and around the church you're talking about. The two Saturdays we helped, we cleaned out the church, planted and maintained the garden directly behind the church, and even helped one of the elderly women clean out her kitchen. The houses are as delapidated inside as they are on the outside, and even dirtier than one could imagine. I couldn't fathom how people could live like that, but nonetheless, the people in that neighborhood directly behind the church are very warm, open, welcoming, and friendly. The little kids fell in love with all of us, and you could tell that many of them just had dreams of getting out of that neighborhood. It was definitely an experience--scary at first, but something I know I wouldn't have done w/out that class.
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