Today was our first real day in service since we have arrived. Our group worked directly with the children of West Dallas by partnering with Wesley Rankin Community Center. This is my second time working directly with Wesley Rankin and it is clear that this organization cares about the population it serves. While we were there today we were able to play games with the children and learn more about their personal interests. As a second time participant of this Dallas trip, it is interesting to see how all of the changes in the community have made an impact on the children that are embedded within it. As of last year, West Dallas was in the middle of rebuilding homes and adding apartments to Wesley Rankin’s direct Community so that the housing in the community are up to living codes. It can be difficult for a child to experiences a large amount of change in a singlet time period, so seeing all new teachers today was a little bit of a shock to their system. Once the participants were able to connect with the children while interacting in ways the kids enjoyed and once the kids felt connected they began to open up a little.

The children were open and honest about expressing their feelings and emotions, which from a social work point of view is an amazing thing. The children were open about expressing what games they enjoyed and pretty relaxed about working with to meet the end goal- which in our case was beating us at all physical activities. It was rewarding to see the children began to relax and allow us to become more of a part within our own games. The children ranged in age from kindergarten to fifth grade and were full of energy and laughter. It was bittersweet to have the children ask us why we did not live in Dallas and why were only coming for a couple days. I hope to tomorrow makes for another great day making memories with Wesley Rankin’s sweet children.

Until next time,

Danielle