International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS) |Volume VI, Issue XI, November 2022|ISSN 2454-6186
Dr. Betty Muthoni Njagi
Catholic University of Eastern Africa, Nairobi, Kenya
Abstract: This study seeks to elucidate that community service ought to have communion of purpose for both the givers and recipients of the services. In communion, community relations run deep because community service is relational and promotes the wellbeing of the community members engaged in the service. Community service can become part of the social-economic system of a country through community service learning. This is a desktop study where secondary data from previous studies and various governments’ policies on community service were analyzed. The findings of the study are that indeed community service learning is a value-laden system that does have an input not only on the learners of Community Service but also on the wellbeing of the human person and the society at large. Living and practicing community service makes the members to thrive as it becomes a communal achievement that allows the individual human person to be treated with dignity and honor.
The study recommends Community Service learning to be aligned with sustainable development goals of Kenya to give the learners an experience of communion of purpose when serving the community.
I. INTRODUCTION
This study is necessitated by concerns of little research on sustainable livelihoods and the well-being that we derive from community service as a society in communion. Drawing from the trust we have for the custodians of our resources that has been abused, to lack of justice and the many rising cases of mental distress, our country Kenya is staring at a relative state of discontentment among its citizens.
Kenya is a country that has a strong culture of communion evidenced by the many times the citizens have come together to assist one of their own in a communion of purpose. Communion of purpose in the community is based on issues held in common to deepen the relationship of the community members (Tattersall, 2018). But that is as far as it goes for when it comes to politics, the country is divided right down the middle. This not only creates tension but also births uncertainty of the future which can be a source of anxiety especially in the context of economic and social wellbeing. On the other hand, a community in communion of purpose goes far beyond into their thoughts and feelings which enables them to share or exchange all that they hold dear with other members of the community (Páez and Rimé, 2014).