It's a Small(er) World

"Keep on waiting, waiting, waiting on the world to change."
--John Mayer

Today, I decided not to wait any longer and I took a small step to change the world.

Last week I reconnected with Greater DC Cares and found a project still looking for volunteers, which brought me this morning to the Josephine Butler Parks Center - an historic embassy building that is being renovated into "Washington's first community greenhouse". Now, when I read this, I seriously thought I would be planting shrubs in a warm tropical interior environment, you know, with a nice glass ceiling. Silly me. We're talking "green" here, like "earth friendly." They're making renovations to reduce carbon emissions and generally make the building more in tune with our planet's environmental needs. So, ok. I'm all for that.

The man in charge gave us a brief history of the building and the organization behind it all - Washington Parks & People. He then explained today's tasks to our group of about 10: install window unit air conditioners (of which I know nothing about), paint a bathroom (which previously ended in disaster when I tried it at home), and paint some yellow parking and traffic lines in the parking lot out back. Fine, I think I can do that - aside from the fact that it is close to 30 degrees and snowed last night!

R (the project coordinator), J, C and I volunteered to take on this task - marking out the lines with masking tape and filling in the lines with "traffic yellow" oil-based paint. While we took on this mindless and hand-numbing task, we engaged in introductory conversation. R is married with children and is (self-proclaimed) not a people person, which is why he prefers volunteer opportunities such as renovating buildings, for their minimal social interaction. Yet, he has been volunteering with this particular project for 10 years, which I found quite admirable - regardless of the fact that I could barely understand a word he mumbled. J is a groom to be and was volunteering with his fiance (she was working on the A/C units). And, J and his fiance are due to marry in June at... the Josephine Butler Parks Center! Talk about being invested in your volunteer work. He and his fiance come out once a month to the center to paint, and weed, and shine brass knobs. I couldn't help thinking how nice it will be when the beautiful June day rolls around and they will make a lifelong commitment to each other in a building that they dedicated themselves to many years prior. And lastly, there is C - who I spent much time talking to. C has been in the United States for two weeks. The U.N. brought him here from Iran to join his brother. He was accompanied by his brother's wife, yet his parents remain in Iran. C knows very little English but we got by, with hand gestures and pointing and using only the essential words to communicate. He misses home, but knows he has a better future here. He's getting acclimated to city-life. And he is spending his second Saturday here volunteering his time to paint lines in a parking lot.

I realized that we all come to volunteer for different reasons - some personal, some prescribed, some out of guilt and some out of desire. And those like C come to give thanks to a community so welcoming - and to learn a little English.

I'm not sure exactly how the lines I painted today changed the world, but I do feel that through the people I met and the conversations I had, I helped make the world a little bit smaller.