Discusses food aid organization Numana's community-based strategies for organizing food packaging events for Haiti and coordination of nongovernmental organizations for distributing emergency food. A feminist analysis of Numana's principles is compared to a culture-centered, community agency model.
Author discusses the complexities of identity representation in terms of her Afro Caribbean/"third" world background and her historically African-American university (HBCU) affiliation. Notes how her academic identity marked by her first and third world educational experiences as a Caribbean person of color in the U.S. positions her between the borders of insider/outsider.
The author's thoughts on service work during a summer 2010 travel course to Haiti with a group from Saint Mary's College of California and reflections on the complexity of service learning and disaster relief work. A dilemma concerning the installation of a rainwater capture system on a house brought to light the issue of what the family thought they needed versus what the group thought they needed. The decision making process is discussed.
