Reality TV is nothing compared to the reality experienced by University of Memphis social work students last weekend in the impoverished Delta town of Jonestown, Miss., population 1500.
Fifteen female students left the big city of Memphis on Friday, with a mission of helping the community strengthen family bonds and hold a festival for the town, as well as getting hands-on experience with problem-solving social work. Each student was allowed to bring two changes of clothes, pajamas and $20, so they could better understand what it was like to live within the constraints most people in the town of Jonestown experience.
Participant Jamie Aden, who painted faces during the festival, said that she truly enjoyed the experience, although it was hard not having fresh clothes to change into Saturday night. “The people were more than receptive, and I think we learned the importance of a group,” Aden said.
Bryant said that she started helping out in the town in 1997 with her Mississippi State students. In 1998 her students did a “needs survey,” determining what the main problems of the community were. The students determined the four major problems in the area to be unemployment, school dropout, teen pregnancy and teen lawlessness. 70 percent of people in Jonestown have an average income of $10,000 or less, and 79 percent of families there are headed by single females. When Bryant came to The University of Memphis, she brought the passion for the project with her.
Because the studies had shown that most of Jonestown’s problems were youth-related, the focus of the trip, besides education, was social intervention to help the local youth, Bryant said. The first day, U of M students visited the elementary school to emphasize to the younger students the importance of character. On Saturday, the visiting students held a festival strategically planned to unite parents and children.
“We set up games where there was always a big prize, but the parents had to be there with the child to play,” Bryant said.
“Last year was a success, but we saw an even greater turnout this year,” Bryant said. The festival, a major event in the town, brought out at least 20 percent of the town’s population.
The group hired the local DJ to play at the festival, which extended into the evening.
“It kind of turns into a block party — everyone dancing in the street,” Bryant said.
Much of the work of the trip was done by students earlier, according to Bryant. Students sought out donations from area businesses prior to leaving on the trip. Pepsi donated 15 cases of soda, Target and Walmart helped with expenses and Chik-fil-A is a major sponsor of the project.
On Sunday, the group attended the local church to get an idea of how spirituality plays a part in the citizens’ lives and outlooks, said Bryant.
Many in the group, who bought their own food at the only grocery out of their twenty dollars, found they came home with change.
“They live how they live,” said Aden. “But it’s not like they worry. They’re happy with what they’ve got.” Aden also added that she thought it was great that in such a small town, everyone knows each other.
“I think of the project as a learning lab for students,” Bryant said. “They learn and they give.”
“I enjoyed it,” Aden said. “But I hope in the future we aren’t there to do more. I hope the community becomes strong enough on their own, because that was, after all, the goal.”
