In my volunteering life, a couple of hours on Wednesdays and some Sundays each month are spent with people I might only see once or twice, a handful of times at most. They may speak English or not, may be indifferent to my presence or not — it’s impossible to know until I show up. As a volunteering activity, it has challenges I’ve not encountered before, it has limitations, but what keeps bringing me back are four things:
- I could be any of these people;
- I have things to contribute;
- I have things to learn;
- The interaction, although relatively brief, has every chance to be meaningful.
After some months in this role I’m starting to get the hang of it. It requires creativity, constantly thinking of how to bridge gaps, how to communicate, how to engage someone in something joyful. It must be simple, because we don’t have much by way of materials or time or even a common language. It can be art, conversation, or a game. Often we turn to art, which has tapped into a part of my brain filled with cobwebs. I can’t bring photography to volunteering, so I’ve been doing things I haven’t done in a very long time, such as drawing and painting. It’s been good to stretch in other artful directions.
The recent art activity has also been a reminder for me to create new projects for this year, photography and otherwise. It will help bring new ideas to the volunteer work, too.
These photos were shot at Matosinhos Beach back in November, as part of an art project that will expand this year. This was an outtake from that session.
November 15, 2015
Album: Hands Project
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