Powerful

By far, the most powerful experience today was visiting the Sunflower County Freedom Project and meeting with students there. Sunflower County is a very poor county in the Mississippi Delta, with double the national unemployment rate, few educational opportunities, high obesity rates, and persistent segregation. Although the racial breakdown of the county is split between black and white, there are private schools that were founded as segregation academies and still essentially act as such, leaving the almost 100% black public schools with very little funding. The Freedom Project is an after school and summer program that provides tutoring, extracurricular activities, arts enrichment, and encourages healthy habits.

My first reaction was simply awe of the incredible work that these people are doing. But then, I got somewhat concerned because the people that run this program are from out of town and are all young, so likely will move on at some point. This absolutely does not take away any of the work that they have done, but I couldn't help but think that it would be really great for these students to be helped by someone from the Mississippi Delta, someone who could act as a role model and show them that they can succeed.

Then, I realized that such a person may not exist because many people from Sunflower County probably don't make it out, and the ones that do may not want to come back. It made me realize the importance of programs like the Freedom Project to provide opportunities and resources to students of Mississippi, so that one day they can come back and show other students that they can succeed. I think that having role models who were in similar circumstances is very powerful because students can connect to them more than volunteers who are from a different state and come from a different background. I think that it can be hard to figure out that place and how you can help. I also think that the Sunflower County Freedom Project has done an amazing job, given the circumstances in Sunflower County, of giving these students life-changing opportunities. If you read this, and would like to learn more about the Sunflower County Freedom Project or make a donation, check out this link. http://sunflowerfreedom.org

Julia Bainum, Baltimore City College