Illustration by JENNY YURSHANSKY/Daily Bruin
By Marjorie Hernandez
Daily Bruin Contributor
Fourth-year microbiology and economics student Kabir Singh
remembers the first time he met his former buddy, Anthony Rushing.
It was at a canoeing trip to Marina del Rey two years ago where
Singh gained more than just a lesson in water sports.
“When I first met my buddy, I went into this mindset that
I’m going to teach him how to canoe, even though I’d
never done it,” Singh said.
“I’m going to be the one leading him,” he
thought.
But once they entered the boat, Rushing, an experienced Boy
Scout, took over and showed Singh how to paddle correctly.
“I was trying to teach him how to canoe, but it turns out
that he was much better than me,” Singh said. “If it
hadn’t been for him, I think I would have fallen off the
boat.”
Singh and Rushing are two participants of UCLA’s Best
Buddies, a community service outreach program that links college
students with high school students and adults with mild to moderate
developmental disabilities.
The Best Buddies program promotes friendships between college
volunteers and their buddies through group and one on one social
activities.
“We want to break down stereotypes about those with
developmental disabilities and include them in the society where
they have been thought of as more challenged than they actually
are,” said Singh, one of the program’s directors.
The UCLA chapter is an extension of Best Buddies International.
First established by Anthony Kennedy Shriver at Georgetown
University in 1987, the national non-profit organization holds more
than 200 college chapters. Outside the United States, chapters in
India, Greece and Canada have also been established.
“The organization’s success is defined by its
volunteers and how well they do,” Singh said. “This
year we have a group of volunteers who have shown that they are
really interested in helping people with developmental disabilities
and making a long-term commitment.”
UCLA students who apply for the program are matched with high
school students from the Kayne-Education Resource Service Center in
Culver City who share common interests with the volunteers.
Their love for sports, video games and music brought together
fourth-year physiological sciences and psychology student Natt
Songdej with Geoffrey Williams, his buddy for the past two
years.
“At this point in our friendship, we’ve become
comfortable with each other,” Songdej, the other program
director, said. “It’s a regular thing.”
But things were not as easy during their first few meetings.
“When I first met Geoffrey, he gave me a lot of one-line
answers,” Songdej said.
According to program directors, volunteers must break through
their buddy’s initial shyness.
“A lot of times they don’t show how much fun they
are having, but when they talk to their parents, it turns out that
they are really happy about (the program),” Songdej said.
Audrey Williams, Geoffrey’s mother, sees the positive
impact the Best Buddies program and Sondej has had on her son.
“We wanted to expose him to college students to show him
what happens after high school and to also get involved with
different cultures,” Audrey said.
“Geoffrey gets excited when they go on little trips and
when Natt calls,” she continued. “Natt is a really
great kid. He’s really a good, positive person for Geoffrey
to be around.”
To develop lasting relationships, students must commit one year
to the program and contact their buddy by phone or e-mail at least
twice a week.
Although the entire UCLA Best Buddies chapter meets for two to
four group outings each quarter for activities such as the Fall
Festival, trips to amusement parks and sporting events, most
activities are one-on-one.
“It’s a group effort, but we really try to promote
individual contact between the buddy and the volunteers because
that’s what really cultivates the friendship that make a
positive influence in somebody’s life,” Songdej
said.
Although most returning volunteers have previous experience with
the developmentally disabled, Edward Chou, a fourth-year biology
student and member of Best Buddies, said this should not discourage
others from joining the program.
Third-year communications and English student Adrianne De Castro
agrees.
“Working with people who have learning disabilities is not
something you need to be heavily trained for,” De Castro
said. “It’s more about learning how to be more patient
and how to be a good role model.”
This year, UCLA Best Buddies has teamed up with the Exceptional
Children’s Foundation in Culver City, a federal program that
provides vocational training and job placement for adults living
with developmental disabilities.
Working with older buddies has proved to be a more challenging
experience for some volunteers.
“I found that with an older buddy it’s a lot more
difficult,” said Singh, who was just assigned a new buddy who
is 44 years old. “Since the older buddies are not in a
constant social environment like the younger people they require a
lot more attention and it takes a lot more to develop those
friendships.”
Despite the initial hardships, volunteers and program directors
alike think this partnership will produce positive results.
“It broadens their experience and opportunities they have
to interact socially with people without disabilities,” said
Shirley Bianca, director of the rehabilitation facilities for
ECF.
According to Bianca, adults with developmental disabilities
interact mostly with their families or others with similar
handicaps.
Volunteers said the program helps their buddies gain confidence
through their new network of friends.
“We don’t want them to feel like they are part of
the program because they have a disability,” Singh said.
“We want them to look at themselves as our peers and our
equals.”