Lizzy- Freedom House- Day Four

Once a month Freedom House has a deep clean, which was scheduled for today. I spent most of my
time scrubbing microwaves and stovetops (all industrial sized) with a woman named S., who became
one of my closest friends at Freedom House. Many of the appliances needed to be scrubbed outside,
which was cold and uncomfortable, but this was probably the most technically productive afternoon we
had at Freedom House.

Before dinner we made three different cakes with the residents: vanilla, chocolate, and butter pecan.
For some reason we were thinking this would be a class – actively teaching the residents something –
but most of the attendees were very, very good cooks. S., for example, worked making cupcakes in a
grocery store for years. Afterwards we enjoyed dinner and dessert with the residents. We were able
to hang out for a couple hours (including more reading homework with A.), but we had to be back at
Summer in the City by 8PM; we had told Elizabeth we would have a discussion with one of her interns, but were not sure what all that would entail.

Elizabeth’s interns, Aaron and Don, eventually led us in a discussion about privilege and volunteerism. It was not unlike many of the discussions we had had in our Alternative Breaks lecture, but the reminders were refreshing during our volunteer experience. Our group revealed more personal details than before, bringing us closer together and also helping us understand each other. Aaron ended the discussion after two hours, though it could have gone on for much longer. We ended the evening with games and chatting, and at first I think we felt guilty for not spending as much time as possible with the Freedom House residents. However this evening gave us perspective on our purpose and our goals and overall made our week into a more fulfilling experience.