当地社区一直被帮派暴力所扰,所以我一到那里,我们争取做的第一件事情就是与社区领袖开会商量应对帮派的对策。我为这项工作忙了好几个星期。我们邀请了警察;我们打了电话,我们去了教堂;我们散发了传单。要开会的那天晚上,我们排好了一排排椅子,以为会有一大群人到会。我们等啊等。最后,一 群老人走进大厅,然后坐下来。有一位瘦小的老太太举起了手,问道:“宾果游戏是在这里吗?(笑声)真是糟糕透了。没有人来。我的第一个社区大会——没有人到场。
And later, the volunteers I worked with told me, that's it; we’re quitting. They'd been doing this for two years even before I had arrived. They had nothing to show for it. And I’ll be honest, I felt pretty discouraged as well. I didn't know what I was doing. I thought about quitting. And as we were talking, I looked outside and saw some young boys playing in a vacant lot across the street. And they were just throwing rocks up at a boarded building. They had nothing better to do -- late at night, just throwing rocks. And I said to the volunteers, “Before you quit, answer one question. What will happen to those boys if you quit? Who will fight for them if we don’t? Who will give them a fair shot if we leave?
后来,和我一起工作的志愿人员对我说,够了,我们不干了。他们在我来之前已经干了两年之久。他们觉得没有任何成就可言。说实话,我也感到相当气馁 。我不知道我在做什么。我想过不干了。当我们交谈的时候,我往外边看了看,看到一群年轻的男孩在马路对面的空地上玩耍。他们正对着一座用板子钉起来的建筑物投掷石块。他们百无聊赖——在深夜,扔石头玩。我对那些志愿人员说:“在你们退出之前,先回答一个问题。如果你们不干了那些男孩会怎么样?如果我们不为他们着想,还有谁会为他们奋斗呢?如果我们走了,还有谁会给他们一个公平的机会呢?
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