For my final project I wanted to continue with the idea that I used in my first multimedia essay. It is all really based around the feeling of hope and prosperity that the boys and girls clubs brings to South Milwaukee. It is not to say that they are the only contributors who have made the area as beautiful as it is today but since it was where I did my service learning they were the ones I became the most familiar with. Not only did I attempt to show how these people were contributing to the community I also wanted to show the contrasting side of it. The boys and girls club brings a message of hope, but if everything was fine there would be no need for hope. I also attempted to show a little of the darker part of the south side in order to highlight what it was that Escuela Vieau was doing.
In order to obtain the materials I needed for my slide show I had been taking pictures through out my service learning experience. It was easy enough to get pictures of the kids studying and doing crafts but there was much more than that to this community and it was difficult to find the right way to represent it. My goal was to show how the area had done an amazing job of mixing its cultures. They were by no means assimilating, they were taking the best of values of both cultures and creating a new culture that was better than either standing alone. The best way I found I could do this was photographing some of the surrounding area. They have many beautiful murals especially by the “United Community Center” which showcase both architecture and style mixings from the US and Hispanic cultures. With those photos in my arsenal it was much easier to display the beautiful melding of societies.
In order to show the contrast between some of the nicer more upbeat and well kept areas of the south side and the more grim areas I decided to look up articles about local crimes there. I was somewhat aware that there is a considerable amount of crime on the south side from spending time in the neighborhood during a previous internship. Unfortunately I found many articles about shootings and violent gang rivalries. There were also many involving police have to use lethal force on some of the residents of the south side.
There has to be a bad to have the good, a ying to the yang. I think that the boys and girls club of Escuela Vieau is just that, the counter measure to the gangs and violence that the community has been subjected to. By getting the children on the right track and instilling good values and work ethic in them it builds a brighter future for the neighborhood they have already been so philanthropic to.
