So I realize I'm a little late with this. This last week has been busy and filled with end of the summer activities. I'm finally going to finish telling you about training.
The first session was focused again on poverty and finding ways to combat poverty. The main idea behind the in depth study of poverty was so that we would know how to handle it and what to do in certain situations. There were people at the training who had never been exposed to any kind of poverty.
The facilitator asked us to write down what our take away was from these sessions. I wrote, "People are more concerned with third world countries that with what is in their own backyard. While they feel sympathetic to domestic poverty (once they knew it was there) they have high expectations as to what can be done about it."
Perhaps this response was unfair. When I wrote it I was slightly upset since I felt like I was the only one who had any semblance of what low-income living was like. I did not have a privileged childhood such as they did. This was also only one of five breakout groups. I'm sure it would have been a different situation in the other groups.
Moving off the topic of poverty was good for me. We were finally able to focus on our VAD (Volunteer Assignment Description). This contains a brief description of everything we would be doing over the next year. Our main goal was to come up with a list of questions to ask our supervisor. These were mainly things about the VAD that we were unclear on or needed some help achieving. As a group these were some useful questions we came up with:
- What are some of the norms or ground rules I need to observe?
- What are capacity building activities?
- How can I identify the cultural guide?
- What has a potential for working?
- What is the interest level in a specific program?
- What is the context of the people in the community so I can create an effective program?
- Am I meeting the needs of the community?
Some of these questions are more helpful for me than for others, and vise versa. I have a slight advantage of being familiar with the community in which I am serving, and in fact the office in which I'm serving. I've worked in this office for the past three summers as an intern, so I'm familiar with the office and how it works.
On my VAD there is a main goal that I will be working to achieve:
"Increase Extension Outreach to underserved youth and families."
There are four main activities on my VAD that I am supposed to be working toward to make this happen.
1) Marathon County will adopt a Homelessness Plan
- I will be working in conjunction with the United Way to look at the homelessness problem in our community and come up with some ideas about what to do about it.
2) Assist with Marathon County Diversity Commission/WIPPS work
- These organizations have been working together to look at youth leadership in our community, and looking at what causes people to leave or stay, and how engaged they feel in their communities. There will be a leadership summit in January about this, and I am on the planning committee for the focus groups that will be done before hand.
3) Youth Detention and Shelter Home
- Every week I am going to go to the Juvenile Detention Center to run a short program with the youth that are in the shelter home and on the secure side of the center. These will be little projects that will hopefully enrich their lives just a little and teach them something they may not have known before. There are many different things I can do there and hopefully I touch many peoples lives and make a difference. My other goal with this project is to set up an outside volunteer to take this program over when I leave.
4) Develop volunteer leadership within Extension Youth and Family Programs
- This essentially means that I will be working with the Youth Action Council by helping them run several different community service programs and projects throughout the year.
There are a few other activites and programs I would like to get started while I'm here, including either starting a Hmong 4-H club, or continuing the Latino 4-H club. I would also like to start a reading program where high school Spanish students go into the elementary schools and read books in both Spanish and English to ESL (English as a Second Language) students.
I have lofty goals for this year. Hopefully I reach them.
I may post either later today or later next week about the projects I have started and what I have on the immediate horizon. Not sure when I will get to it. Hopefully soon!
Until then!
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