August 21, 2009

Vivian Hui, second-year Engineering Science student, and VP Events, Eyes of Hope, wasn’t happy with the level of layers between her and those she was aiming to help, so she decided to go directly to the source – providing meal and conversation at a local homeless shelter and around the city. Below is her account:

Eyes of Hope is a student group with a mission to help those affected by poverty. During the year, we fundraise and provide help through donations to World Vision, Free the Children and Habitat for Humanity. image students make sandwiches

These fundraising activities allowed us to help those affected by poverty; however, there always seemed to be a barrier between us and the people receiving our help. In order to gain a deeper understanding on issues of poverty, Eyes of Hope decided to organize volunteering activities in which members would be able to interact with people directly affected by poverty.

These community service activities included volunteering at the Scott Mission Homeless Shelter, where we shared conversations with the homeless while serving meals. We also participated in sandwich runs alongside Project 417, which is a non-profit organization that leads volunteers around Toronto to hand out sandwiches to the homeless.

A first experience in any one of these two activities can immediately change one’s perspective on street people. When we interact with those in need, we start putting aside stereotypes. In fact, the homeless are very friendly and polite individuals. The reason why they are on the streets may not be due to low education, gambling, drugs or alcohol. They all had to make the impactful choice of running away from home and it was most likely due to something far worse. Ultimately, it was because they were unable to receive love from those around them.

As a group, we have come to learn that the most important part of our services is not about providing meals for the homeless. Instead, the most important part is showing that we care. As engineers, we should be motivated to bring upon social change to the society. Our interaction with the homeless has broadened our perspectives and given us this motivation.

In the future, as engineers, we will make decisions based on our knowledge, skills, goals and judgment, and these decisions should also be committed to such social change. When we volunteer at the homeless shelter or at the sandwich runs, we hope to provide the care that is missing in the lives of the homeless. At the end of the day, when we receive a smile and a thank you from those in need, we smile inside as well, knowing that we were able to show some love to our dear friends.