DukeEngage Durham^2
Ezgi Ustundag, Class of 2016
My summer with DukeEngage Durham: The Sister Cities Program feels less like selfless service and more like an opportunity for personal growth. Let me explain, I promise it’s not actually as bad as I made it sound just now. While DukeEngage is indeed one of the greatest programs that a Duke undergrad can partake in (thanks to the generosity of University Scholars co-founder Melinda Gates) and has, in its six-year history, tangibly improved the three dozen communities it serves, its impact on participants themselves is perhaps even more remarkable. Personally, I decided to apply for DukeEngage Durham because I had spent most of my freshman year volunteering downtown. I wanted to learn more about Duke’s host city and strengthen my connections to my home for the next four years. We learned a huge amount about Durham, North Carolina’s, history, culture, nonprofit sector, and persistent challenges to its economic development in the post-tobacco era. During our six weeks in NC, I was fortunate enough to work on Self-Help’s (if you aren’t familiar with this tremendous organization’s work–from credit unions to congressional lobbying–in the Durham community and beyond I urge you to visit their website) communications team, improving their credit union SEO strategy and social media presence.
But the plot thickens after we leave North Carolina and arrive in the other Durham–our sister city. At first glance, the ancient and breath-taking town of Durham, England, hardly seems impoverished. Indeed, tourists flood its ancient castle and cathedral, where St. Cuthbert and the Venerable Bede are entombed. But the shiny exterior of a UNESCO World Heritage Site hides the deep scars of a painful journey out of a coal-dominated economy in the past three decades. After Margaret Thatcher closed 20 mines in County Durham in 1984-85, the county’s union of mineworkers was the first to rebel. After Thatcher’s regime squashed the Miners’ Strike, nothing could prevent the swift decline of the mining industry in the county. Almost overnight, thousands of men, young and old, were left without work. The entire area fell into disrepair, and became further embattled when substance abuse, higher incidences of mental health issues, and homelessness popped up in the pit villages around the quaint cathedral city.
The most eye-opening experience of my DukeEngage tenure thus far has been working at the Waddington Street Centre, a mental health resource center on the north end of the city. With over one hundred service users, WSC aims to improve its members’ mental health by giving them opportunities to take classes taught by New College faculty, socialize with one another, and even exercise with the on-site health trainer. As DukeEngage volunteers, two other Duke students and I get to work with the housing, support, health training, and education departments while preparing three promotional leaflets for the Centre’s new marketing kit. But if you check out this entry I wrote for our official DukeEngage Durham blog, you’ll see that the experience has been much more meaningful than creating a few brochures. With two weeks of work left in England, I am confident that all of us will continue to learn and grow from this wonderful experience.
Both Durhams have made a comeback in recent years, thanks in part to the two world-class universities to which they play host. Stateside, I hope to continue to volunteer at various downtown nonprofits and maintain a close relationship with the Duke-Durham Neighborhood Partnership, one of the key entities behind this amazing program. As for the rest of you Duke students and University Scholars: I encourage you to look around you, and to get off campus every once in a while to immerse yourself in our incredible host community. The largest classroom at Duke isn’t even on campus–you’re going to have to leave the Duke bubble if you want to do some real learning.
