Final Post (#4) Wage Claim Clinic

 Mariana De Paiva

Wage Claim Clinic

                      

        

    Working at the Wage Claim Clinic has been one of the most rewarding experiences I have gone through. For the past couple of months I have set aside my Thursday evenings to dedicate myself to helping others gain justice to count for school credit and  I could not have asked for a better assignment. Overtime it became so natural to me that I would often forget to sign in or would rarely check my hours. When they first heard I was a film major they immediately asked for my assistance with a video project that would introduce the program to our workers. I was extremely honored and really put all my efforts into the video. The experience in video making that I got was extremely helpful so in the end everybody benefited from it.

 However, my inner transformation I went through was the most benefiting part.  

        A part of me is very idealistic and thinks that the world is/should be this perfect candy land like place where everyone is always smiling and there are no conflicts at all. So when I first saw all the horrible things done to the workers I was very overwhelmed and traumatized. However, the way in which the people who work there cared for each worker really gave me back hope. Through their urge to fight for justice for one individual they are propagating world peace and there is no cause as noble as the cause for world peace. So, being there for me feels right and even though it may not seem like it but I gain more from helping these workers than the other way around.

            As we read Shakespeare in class I thought about the effects that social class has on justice. Most of the workers that go to the Wage Claim Clinic are undocumented and speak little to no English. They work crazy number of hours and have to send most of their earnings to their families overseas and consequently live below the poverty line. Because of this they are taken advantage of and have to conform to not being paid in fear of being deported. I wonder, what makes people think that it is okay to mistreat others like that? Knowing that these people are in extremely difficult circumstances, why not help instead?

I feel like these questions are actually a lot harder to answer than they seem. Simply justifying that people are “evil” and that it’s all about greed is not good enough. The answer is a lot more complex and Shakespeare does a really good job of using different circumstances to describe a character’s intentions.

Even though I have completed all my service learning requirements I feel like my job is not done and so I will continue  volunteering.

p.s the tab thing was not working correctly and I couldn't indent properly so that's why the paragraphs look really deformed.