The participants of the Eastside Project go into the community as students, not volunteers. They go out to listen and explore, question and wonder, observe, feel and experience. That is why what they are doing is not adequately described as community service. All the wonders and riches and experiences of the larger community are hidden from the student until the student takes the chance and makes the effort to expose him or herself to what is really out there. From the perspective of the learner, great thinkers live agelessly, and experiences reside without cultural boundaries in the lives and memories of members of the community.
Great treasures make themselves available to the willing student.
Further critical reactions center on the perceived nature of the relationship of the students to the community members. This is also a very important point of consideration. If Eastside Project participants enter into this relationship as volunteers, they go in from a position of prestige, status, and power over the community member. Wearing the volunteer's hat, the participant approaches the relationship with a sense of giving to others. The reason we pursue this distinction is that the nature of the relationship of the participant to the community member is affected by the label or definition we apply.