Values Clarification

Kaitlyn Daugherty, Emily Fortman, and Melissa Trepa

Resilience - n: an ability to recover from or adjust easily to misfortune or change.

Falanda, the creator of Soulsville Knowledge Garden, took a troubling diagnosis and turned it into a solution to food insecurity and malnutrition within her Memphis neighborhood. When Falanda was diagnosed with Type II Diabetes and breast cancer, she realized the importance of a healthy diet as part of her treatment, and it's role in vitality and disease prevention. She told our group that she began to notice the inaccessibility of fresh produce for the children and families in her neighborhood. Through her own misfortune, she was inspired to start a community garden in her neighborhood to not only benefit her diet, but to promote wellness by making fresh food accessible throughout her community.

Respect - n: to treat others as you would like to be treated  

We were able to serve one morning at an HIV/AIDs organization in Memphis called "Friends for Life". The name itself let us know that this was an organization that valued community and respect amongst its members, regardless of their positive or negative HIV/AIDs status. During our time there, we met with one of the organizations' counselors. One of the points they continued to stress was the prevalence and danger of the stigma associated with HIV/AIDs in Memphis. we were reminded that stigma kills more than the disease itself - meaning that the violence, isolation, and negativity surrounded with a positive test result has proven more fatal than the physical impacts of the disease. The main cure for this stigma, as we were told, was respect and friendship, and open doors and communication, between all people - both HIV positive and negative. We were touched by the respect that we were shown as volunteers, and the smiles and love that filled each room of their office building. Friends for Life demonstrated the power of respect in action on both an individual and a larger local and social level.

Empathy - n: the action of understanding and being aware of the feelings, thoughts, and experience of another 

During the duration of our trip, the Dance Marathon Service team worked together to look beyond our own experiences and identities in order to empathize with the Memphis community. To begin, our small group took the time to read the story of a mother of two children and her son's journey with cancer by reading A Sippy Cup of Chemo . This book demonstrated the power of empathy to shed a positive light on a negative and devastating experience. In Memphis, we got the opportunity to tour St. Jude's Children's Hospital - a hospital founded on empathy and kindness, that vows to provide life-saving treatment to children regardless of their ability to pay. Hearing the story of the founder, Danny Thomas, and his intense empathy for children experiencing life-threatening illnesses was an enlightening experience.