IDEA Corps Intern: Camille Williams

This week was the first week of my internship, located at Common Good City Farm (CGCF) in Washington, D.C. This first week, I noticed how there are two sides on the same street. On one side, there were nicer restaurants and houses, while on the other side it was public housing and people crowded the pavement, but not to walk on it. 

It was sometimes concerning, like when I saw the tent on the opposite side of the street I was walking on, and when a man came to the market and was not able to pay, even with the Pay What You Can discount. But other times it was not concerning, like when I saw the nannies play with the children they were watching over at LeDroit Park, and when I would go to the corner store to get a drink. The community did not seem dangerous, but it is definitely one that makes good use, or could make good use of the community garden. The most apparent justice issue in Northwest D.C. is economic security, which could lead to food insecurity. This feeds into what I saw this week, with the two sides.

Some questions that came up about myself, that I have not asked anyone,  were:

• Did I do things right?
• Did I slow things down?
• Am I helpful?
• What more can I do to help with what the other staff need?

I wondered about all these questions, because this is my first time doing this type of farm work and helping in this way. I was worried most of the week about how helpful I was, or if I made a good addition to their team. 

If I had the chance, I would love to go back whenever that need help as a volunteer or even as a staff member when I’m not busy with school and extracurriculars. Some questions that came up about the community, that I also have not asked anyone about”

• Where do most of these people come from?
• Are people being pushed out because of gentrification?
• What more could the farm achieve to help the community?

I thought of all these questions because I want to know more about the community, which includes the people, the churches, the stores, and the restaurants. I think that CGCF can offer a lot of stability where it is needed in this community. 

This week was hard to focus on seeing God. I was learning the ropes of how the farm operated during summer months and was more focused on that than looking for where God was in the community or site. I can say that God did help me throughout the week when finding my way, understanding tasks, and overall getting put with such amazing people at my site. A lot of the time I feel like I do not know what I am doing, but the people I work with at CGCF helped guide me through the week, so I am very thankful for them.

I cannot really tell a story about how I faced oppression, exclusions, or marginalization. I was too young to even understand what those terms meant when I lived in a place where I would face any or all of those terms. Where I live now, and where I go to school, there are more people like me, and more people that are not as ignorant as they could be.

I was bullied for eight years when I lived in Pennsylvania, but when I moved to Maryland there was not much of that because I was new and I looked like any other student. I guess I could say I was excluded in Pennsylvania since there was a certain way girls should look, I did not look like that, and a certain way girls should dress, I did not want to dress like that. But I also would only ever wear my hair up in a tight ponytail when it was curly or I would straighten it. When I moved, I started to wear my natural hair down almost every day, and I rarely straightened it. So, by moving away I overcame exclusion.

The piece of United Methodist History that stood out to me was that German was the language the service was usually spoken in until the World Wars. The Old Otterbein UMC was one that accepted black people into the congregation, which many churches did not want to do since churches wanted (and want) money, which black people, especially at that time, did not have much of. 

This week at the market, I saw many people with food stamps and WIC come. I was so glad that they came to our market, and were able to get fresh food for the week. There were also people in need of pay what you can, and I was also happy that they were able to come to our market. God was on their side last week and brought them to the market.

If I could tell only one story that describes something about my professional history, it would be about entering into a male dominated field. It’s been hard going through college and feeling like I’m not being heard. In group projects specifically in my stock classes my male classmates don’t give my ideas the time of day because I’m the only girl in the class and they think I’m not going to have anything valuable to add. It’s especially hard in class when they talk over me and don’t allow me to get a word in. The United Methodist history that stands out to me from our tours in Baltimore, MD are that John Wesley appointed Francis Asbury to be bishop for the United Methodist Church. Instead of just accepting Wesley’s word Asbury insisted that he wanted the acceptance of the Methodist Church as a whole. So Asbury gathered all the Lay leaders at what would be known as the Christmas conference held at Lovely Lane. They then voted to make Asbury bishop. I found this the most interesting as Asbury didn’t just accept a nomination from someone of power above him instead, he insisted on a vote to make sure everyone wanted him to be in that position, setting a present for the Methodist Church.

Where did you see God in your placement this week? I saw God in the wonderful people who helped run the food pantry this week. I got to see firsthand how much work goes into planning the event and how overwhelming the day of the food pantry can get. It’s amazing to see how many people from the church come out and help at the event. This week in my placement the church was also holding a funeral for a fifteen year  old teenager who took her own life. I definitely felt I could use God’s support this past week as trying to grasp how people feel to take their own life and trying to understand why this is happening so frequently is hard. 

I have had many friends in my life. They almost all had and have different social, racial, and economical backgrounds than me. One of them was a girl I’ll call K. She lives near me and is white while I am mixed raced. We had an okay relationship, she had a smaller house that her father built himself, and my family bought ours. From her and her family, I learned that I need to make better friends and I need to remember that not everyone is a good person. 

During this week, we prepared for the market share customers in about 25-30 minutes, and it usually takes a lot longer. We had finished setting up very quickly, meaning we had about an hour and thirty minutes before the market started and we had all the tables set up minus the fresh produce. I do not have many questions this week, other than, what is done with the leftover produce?

I am trying to work out a project that uses the churches around the site. I want to know if they have the ability to take fresh food weekly to give to the people in the community. One church reached out after I had emailed them and said they were not able to, but they do a monthly food distribution. One year from now, I hope that some of the churches are able to take fresh food to give to the community.  

When I hear the word immigration, my first thought is the people coming to America, seeking a new life. This is the first thought I think of because of what we see in the news, what is portrayed in our shows and movies, and what we heard on Friday. My family, on my mother’s side, has been in America since the Mayflower as pilgrims. The pilgrims were people either running away from what they thought was a corrupt government, and their dissatisfaction with economic opportunities. My father is from the United States Virgin Islands, specifically St. Thomas. He grew up there and came to the states for college and work. He too came to the states for a better life where he could move up in a company and get what he felt he needed for a proper education. 

I noticed that when I was reading the principles, I was sometimes disagreeing with the first part. But then when the meaning was explained in the sub principles, that's when I did agree with the principle(s) as a whole. For example, the subprinciple of abortion. To me, it seemed like whoever was writing this was trying to be unbiased while still showing that certain types of abortion are not affirmed with the United Methodist Church. An example of a not affirmed abortion would be late term abortion if the mother or fetus’ life is not in danger. I do disagree, and even with explanation I still disagree, that girls that have not reached full adulthood should tell their parent or legal guardian that they need an abortion, unless it was “alleged incest.” That is asking for the child to potentially put themselves in a dangerous position with their parent(s) or guardian, so I think it would be more appropriate to tell someone older that they trust. The older person that the child trusts could be a parent or guardian, but just saying that it should be up to the parent or guardian could be dangerous for the child. That is just how I see it since I believe that everyone, even minors, should have medical privacy (except for the people elected to legislature). 

I also had noticed in the last sub principle of Steward of Creation; it had mentioned that they affirm science and are willing to use it to understand the “origins and functioning of the cosmos” and then says that science is one of the many human endeavors that can be abused. From my understanding of the term human endeavor, I do think that Christianity and religion could be considered one, and that it is worth mentioning that there are people and places that are being abusive through religion. An example of that is the Taliban in Afghanistan.

As I reflect the weeks starting from June 6 to now, July 9, an issue that led me to being an organizer was that the farm has left over food from market days could be used for and by people that need it. I decided to make my project be finding churches and food pantries that take fresh food donations to hand it out to their congregation or anyone that comes to them in need. In order to organize who would be coming, I made a google sheet of churches around the area of the farm and contacted them via email or phone. 

The people that supported me when I was working on this project was every staff on the farm that knew about it, which included my supervisor. They all thanked me for doing it, and I know they were happy when someone came Thursday to come get some of the produce. I think what I gave up was my energy. I worked harder than I normally do, and I had to metro to and from work everyday. It was all worth it in the end, and I want to do it a bit longer so I can get two to three more places that take fresh produce donations.

This week was a pretty short week, but I was still able to feel God, Christ, and the Spirit. I felt these Holy Figures while at my placement, on my way to and from my placement, and at home as I was preparing to go to my placement and when I returned. I especially felt them on Wednesday and Thursday because on Wednesday it was so hot that I felt sick, but I kept going and was able to make it through the day. 

On Thursday I felt them when I made the call to a Church and got them to come to the farm to pick up some fresh produce that they can distribute when they have their food pantry and food distribution. This week I hope to see God, Christ, and the Spirit more when I am at home after my day at the farm, so that they can give me the energy I need for the next day, and the next, until my final day there in person. I also hope that they guide more people who want to use fresh produce to our Wednesday market so that they can find what they need and want to use in their cooking.

When I first started at my placement, I was very excited to work at a new place and to learn from the people around me. I was hoping to learn more about the situations of the community economically, and I think I learned a little bit about it. I had expected to learn a little bit about what goes into growing crops on the farm, but instead I learned something much more useful for my future career plan, which was preparing and planning for weekly markets. I also learned a bit about how the farm gets grants, and helped with a small part of the preparation for that. Even though I helped with the daily things that the team was already used to doing, I was very proud to be able to make good relationships with people. I am also proud that I was able to kickstart my project, which was to get one or more churches/food pantries to come and pick up the produce that was not sold at the market as a donation. We were able to get one, and I will try to do a little more this summer with that or give my supervisor some places that I think will be helpful. I did gain a few values such as networking, self-reliance, and productivity for my future plans. These values I gained will help me with my future career and jobs I do.

I mentioned that I am very proud of the relationships I made at my placement, so I want to give thanks to all of the staff members, and the summer youth employees. They were all welcoming and kind to me. I also want to thank the other interns for being people I could talk to and ask questions to, and I hope I was able to be someone like that for a few or all of them. 

My goodbye prayer for the people of my placement, Common Good City Farm, and to the Washington-Baltimore Conference is:

Dear God, Thank you for guiding me to apply and experience this opportunity to work with a new community and new people. I learnt so much from them, more than I expected. I’m sad to leave, but all good things must come to an end. I want to say goodbye to my supervisor, Marc, and thank him for being a great first boss, and I want to thank him for helping and supporting me along the way. I want to thank Neal and the other people in the conference who accepted my application, and allowed me to participate in the IDEA internship. Every Friday, I learned something new about what it means to be an IDEA intern, and was able to use it for the rest of my weeks at Common Good City Farm. I hope everyone has a peaceful rest of the year, and wish them well.