La confianza

A few weeks ago, I interpreted for a patient's husband to get his taxes done for free at the nearby community center.  It was a super complicated return because he wanted to claim his ex-wife and children whom he supports in Mexico, and since he didn't have everything he needed, I suggested that he return the following Saturday morning.  However, my patient seemed frustrated.  She kept asking if they were just offering to do his taxes for free so they could take a cut of the money from his return, and when I said no, I'm pretty sure she assumed he'd still get less of a return.  I explained that the community center existed solely to help people, but no matter how hard I tried, I felt like she didn't believe me.  Of course, this may have been made worse because my knowledge about taxes is very minimal even in my native language, never mind in my second language.  And she had just paid to get her taxes done at H&R Block, so maybe she had the "you get what you pay for" attitude.  Granted, it's not like them paying for him to get his taxes filed elsewhere was a problem for anyone at the community center, but I still felt badly when the couple didn't return the following week.

I tend to be a very trusting person.  I usually give people the benefit of the doubt and very rarely am I incorrect in trusting the people around me.  However, I also haven't been taken advantage of for my entire life.  I haven't sat on the margins of society, waiting to be fooled by TitleMax and loan sharks.

When I spent the summer of 2009 doing research in South Philadelphia, the lesson I learned over and over again is that it's important to gain a community's trust when you enter it from the outside.  I was incredibly blessed to create beautiful relationships there, many of which are still going strong.  It was only after I took the time to listen, ask questions, and just be present that I was able to start unraveling the complicated life of people who are undocumented and who live in the shadows of main-stream U.S. culture.  Slowly but surely, the rift between "us" and "them" was lessened, and I learned incredible lessons in love, solidarity, and community.

Throughout my experience with MVC so far, I've discovered another important aspect to trust.  When I first began working at Good Samaritan Clinic, I was slower than I would have liked to suggest "improvements" for the organization.  I was a new set of eyes and ears, and I wanted to learn everything I could before I passed judgment.  I think this helped me gain the trust of the steering committee, volunteers, and possibly even the patients.  Although it was sometimes frustrating for me, "Yankee" as I may be (I've learned that "Yankee" is sometimes used as a synonym for someone who is rushed and impatient), looking back it's easy to see how much those first months paved the way for where I am now with the clinic.

I hope that as I go through my adult life, I never lose sight of the importance of gaining peoples' trust.  I hope that I take the time to build the relationships, observe, ask questions, and listen, even when it seems like I'm not getting anywhere.  And I hope that I remember that this is important whether I'm entering a new community with the Peace Corps or managing a project with a large organization.