serving and helping are so different

The reading for today about the difference between fixing, helping and serving, really helped me realize how important it is that I approach my project in the field with an attitude of serving, as opposed to helping or fixing. The reading emphasized how helping and fixing put people on different levels and as unequal's. I really don't want to go to Uganda and have people think that I think I am better than them and have more than them or that I feel pity for them for being in the midst of war for such a long time. Service is about being on equal grounds with those you serve and treating them like humans and being human yourself. I can't go to work with the Ugandan women acting like I'm some expert or something, but just be myself as an ordinary human being. I think people can tell when you try to adopt a different persona and I just want the women to feel comfortable around me and know that I just want to get to know them as friends on the same level as me. This article taught me that if I go about my days there with service in mind and not helping or fixing, than I will be natural and the people I'm with will recognize that I don't see them as inferiors in any way, but as equal, beautiful people.