Community Intervention Blog Post

So, I'm deciding to write my reflection as a letter to a friend of mine who is a survivor of domestic violence and sexual assault and was the driving force and inspiration for this week!

Dear Friend,

As you know the week of April 11th was Domestic Violence Awareness Week. We had to do a community intervention and participate in various events throughout the week. Although organization was tough through three different classes ... yes, all three classes organized this! We had to communicate via email and blackboard which became increasingly difficult because something always goes wrong with technology. Emails don't always work, people don't check them (I know you never do) and others don't have the time to respond. Verbal and face to face communication is the best way to do things. I know what you're thinking, didn't one person do all the work? In some cases yes, but we broke into teams split the duties and I think everyone kept their word. With a cause like this how could you not? Our class is suppose to evaluate this, and the way I think we should evaluate it? Not by who did what, or was every job done equally but how the survivors felt about this event and if we made an impact. Yes, for classroom sake we have to know all that who did what stuff. But when it comes down for it we were there as advocates and if the survivors felt support and we raised awareness and money that our evaluation was successful.

I know you're not a social work major, so it's kind of hard to understand what we all go through but let me tell you. This week has created a bond between us all that I'm glad I got to experience while here in college. Talking to classmates I think is the best way to be informed and to gain feedback. We were the ones to make all this happen! No one understand the stress and hard work as much as we do. And I think we all never felt prouder than when the survivors thanked the social work department for all their work, how amazing is that?

The future, what can we do there? If this wasn't a letter I'd ask you out loud, cause I think people and survivors like you will shape future community interventions like this. Weeks like this shouldn't stop. A survey given out at the end of the week would be the best way to better organize and fill in the holes for the future. Taking feedback from survivors and making a comprehensive evaluation to give to future social workers would work best. Do you think survivors would be willing to evaluate the programs? I feel they would if it would help the cause.

I learned a lot about myself through this experience, starting with how unaware I was of the oppression of this group and also how vague my understanding was about what survivors go through. And I'm sorry I never truly understood what you went through, but this week has shown me how hard it is and that support is the best medicine. A small community like that at BSU can reach out and touch so many people and I love feeling that I could be a part of that. I'd like to share a quote with you, from an article I read for class that I think pertains to what I learned during this week and maybe will inspire you too:


"It requires that we choose to belong to each other. It does not require us to like each other or agree with each other…it requires us to be committed to both caring for the container of commonality and the individual differences inside."

This quote pretty much sums up my learning about communities and community interventions. That we are all so different. During Take Back the Night I was standing with so many people so diverse and different than me, but we were all there for one commonality which is what made this week so special. You know me, I love being an advocate for anything possible, using my loud mouth to the advantage of other people is something I'm proud of. This is the thing that made me feel the most like a social advocate, I started in my community and bettered the people in it, rather than working from the outside. 


The future is unknown, but you know other social workers will be taking over this project in the future ... what can I tell them? 1. Start AS EARLY AS POSSIBLE 2. Assign jobs and stick to them 3. People don't respond, it happens 4. Work together, this is a community event 5. Be willing to let someone else lead, you could learn a lot 6. It's SURVIVOR not victim. 7. Strength in numbers 8. Meeting face to face means more and get's more done 9. Learn to tie knots or the clothesline project will be VERY difficult and 10. Accept criticism, everyone is entitled to their own opinion!

I hope reading this letter let you know a little bit about what I did that week. I know it was too hard for you to attend, but maybe when these kids in the future do it, you could do too.

Sincerely,
Lacey.

Post Blog!

I'm not too creative, I struggle to even be on camera so please excuse that.

Compare this to my original video too, see how things have changed :)

Aid/Community Based Approaches!

“When we launched Kony 2012, our intention was to share the story of Joseph Kony with new people around the world”

- CEO of Invisible Children Ben Keesey

In macro work there are two basic approaches that can be taken: aid based and community based approach. Let’s tackle the biggest one first and that would be aids based approach, which can be loosely defined as an outside source or organization attempting to solve a problem that does not directly affect them or their living area. This can be compared to the “Kony 2012” an organization called Invisible Children in 2003 started campaigning against the LRA and Joseph Kony and his part in the civil war in Africa. Kony is charged with being one of the worst war criminals in history and abducts children into his rebel army.
Invisible Children was started by three college students who went to Uganda and found children who were being abducted and forced to be child soldiers. Much of how most aid based approaches exist they are created in the Western world to solve a problem that they are little educated about. Which leads into the badvocacy role of aids based approaches. These organizations often give a western-civilization view to issues that shouldn’t have it and insist on involvement and that all Americans must jump to action immediately. Which is part of the main criticism for Kony 2012. Many people feel that Invisible Children is using money in the wrong ways and spreading a message about an issue that is mis informative and made to draw attention to the organization not the problem. It’s pretty hard to wrap your head around these issues, an organization tells you to do something important for people who are struggling and critics say don’t! But in my opinion, I think you should do what you feel is right after proper research. Aid based approaches always start with good intentions but don’t seem to end that way, they try to end world hunger by donating shoes and stop criminals with bracelets. If there is an aid based approach someone is passionate about and they want to make a difference they should research! Make calls, don’t be afraid to ask questions about where your money will go and what the plan of action is. Just because a famous actor tells you to donate, doesn’t mean you have to reach for your checkbook. But in macro social work there are always criticism and adversity that organizations and people have to overcome, regardless. And that’s part of working with such a large amount of people, you can’t please everyone!

These organizations such as Kony 2012 differ very much from community-based organizations such as Women, War and Peace. This is a community-based effort that is about stabilization of the community and not the quickest way to get help. It’s working within the communities to find the best approaches in helping them. In Women, War and Peace their organization is using a different approach. They are not trying to advocate for woman affected by war but empowering woman to end conflict that is an obtainable goal and something that will come over a length of time. This organization is working along side these women to help and advocate for them rather than in an office.

Pray the Devil Back to Hell is also a community-based organization that was formed by woman in Africa. These women saw a problem, the same of that with the LRA stealing children, and decided to take action anyway they could. These two organizations are fighting for justice for the same thing but using completely different approaches. In PDBH, it is women who are fighting for a cause, which is rare compared to Kony 2012 who was started by men. But perhaps the biggest difference is that Kony 2012 was started but three men who have visited Uganda, the area they think is being harmed. In PDBH, the woman live in Liberia where they know the conflict is happening. They are experiencing it first hand and trying to change it in their community for themselves. Kony 2012 is trying to simply bring attention to an issue, not resolve it. They wish to only get it recognized so it stays on the radar of the United States. The two are similar because they are fighting for the same cause, to save the abducted children of Africa and are both filmed in a documentary format. I think in the end their intentions are pure at heart in that they want to end something that is affecting a population so greatly, and cannot do it alone. It’s social workers like me, who want to work on the international level who have to help these organizations be capable to expand and reach a whole community of people.

The approaches of these organizations are so different and all come with criticism and conflict so the real question is:

What is the best approach to solving these macro issues across borders?

EDITORS NOTE: As I mentioned in previous blog posts, the Invisible Children organization has been something I have been involved with for 5 years. I have participated in many events, donated money, given presentations and have personal connections to the organization. I’ve even applied to an internship with Invisible Children for the summer 2012. I tried to stay professional and keep my opinions based on facts and readings and not on my personal opinion. If I seemed biased this reason is why. People should look to the overview of the organization; it’s about spreading the word to get people talking about issues!
This is me with a survivor of the LRA! These issues are real, go out and fight for them!

My Community Interventions!

This class has come such a long way and it's so exciting to see everything falling together. As much as I dislike giving myself praise or claiming I did a lot of tasks, I'll write up a few things that were "my job" for this community interventions class! I really do dislike giving myself credit for anything I've done because I believe this is truly a group effort and no one person's contribution is more important than other. It's the face that we all work together and try to make this event happen that's important!


I really have enjoyed being a part of the Leadership Team for our class. Not only do I get to help make these exciting decisions but I get to learn so much from my other classmates. The people on the leadership team are intelligent and teaching me so much about community interventions and social work itself.
Broken down I am on team Publicity! Which is exciting in it's own ways because we get to spread the word about!
One of my main jobs on publicity was Student Announcements. I had to research student announcements and figure out how we would get the word of our events out to the whole community. Once I had that issue solved, I put out a few reminder announcements for the fund raising class about their bake sale and save the date for the stop the violence events!
My next task I have been working on is researching signs for the clothesline project as well as the other events. The signs will stick in the ground around campus helping to say "clothesline project -->" etc. This task is still in the works because of it's communication with fund raising and our budget but we shall see!
Contributing time and ideas is one of the hardest tasks and I think that's the one everyone can say they've accomplished the most and will continue to accomplish until these successful events happen! Keep that in mind :)

Holding Ground and DSNI !

After reading about DSNI and spending time on their website in coordination with watching the Holding Ground video has given me a different look at macro practice. It shows a different perspective of making a difference in a community that seems more close to home and more reachable. It was nice to read and watch information about communities that seem like they could be in my home town or I can relate to. It makes learning about macro work that much more enjoyable.

The video Holding Ground video is a basic overview that's inspiring for the work with communities in need of assistance. The video focuses on a community that was slowly turning into a poor neighborhood. The quality of the community was declining, rather than inclining like most communities that change do. This movie really showed the struggles faced in trying to improve the situation of the community and really portrayed how easy it is with cooperative people to help. The citizens were willing to do anything to improve their living situations and better the sense of community they had. This community had become a dumping ground of trash and false hopes. It really showed how financial, mental and physical supports are needed in order to improve the situation of everyone involved. A large struggle was ensuring to keep the interests of the long term residents, as said in Fraser and Kicks article which surrounds the struggles of rebuilding the community it says, "Another more commonly recognized danger of community building is that it can lead to gentrification and displacement of long-time residents." Which is true and something that became new to me as a macro social worker because you have to make sure all key pieces of a community are in place before rebuilding.

The issue of diversity also comes into play in this video because of the population of Cape Verdean, Spanish and African American community members. They faced the struggle of discrimination and people not wanting to sell houses to them. It is important as macro social workers to embrace the diversity of others. In one article it discusses the boundaries of working with communities and the appropriate ways to deal with them, "on going community-based efforts to develop a coordinated community response system that is responsive to the cultural, linguistic, ethnic, and religious diversity of the community." This shows that the response to community interventions has to relate to the diversity of the community. This is a huge key in my understanding and learning.

When reading about DSNI it was inspiring to see a community project geared towards bettering youth. I love projects like this and being a part of them because it's continuously working towards a goal. The website was very well put together and what I loved most is that it was approachable. It made it seem that anybody could help the community or anybody that needed help could be helped. I feel being approachable is the biggest thing when working with communities. In the Netting chapter in the introduction it talks about communities and how we should talk to the communities and relate to them as social workers we cannot separate ourselves but becoming an equal within the community to help it best.



References

Netting, F. E., Kettner, P. M., McMurtry, S. L., & Thomas, M. L. (n.d.). Social Work Macro Practice (5th ed.).

Fraser, J., & Kick, E. (2005). Understanding Community Building in Urban America. Journal of Poverty, 9(1), 23-44.

Horton, M., & Freire, P. (2003). We Make the Road by Walking (pp. iii-256). Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press.

Change Agents!

CHANGE AGENTS!

Rana Husseini is a female Jordanian journalist who first began advocating for her cause in 1994. As a journalist for a small Jordanian paper she first came across the story of a young girl who had become a victim of an ‘honor killing.’ After Rana read of her story she became an investigative journalist looking further into the unspoken world on honor killings. What she found was a story she wanted to dedicate the rest of her life advocating for. She began fighting to bring the persecutors of honor killings to justice and she did so by joining the Jordan National Committee to Eliminate So-Called ‘Crimes of Honor’ in 1998. She started petitions and became one of the biggest advocates for honor killings. As Rana tells in her first story of hearing about this epidemic, an honor killing can be defined as

“In the name of honor, a sixteen-year-old girl was killed by her family because she was raped by her brother. He assaulted her several times and then threatened to kill her if she told anyone. When she discovered that she was pregnant she had to tell her family. After the family arranged an abortion, they married her off to a man fifty years her senior. When he divorced her six months later, her family murdered her” (Unknown, 2008).

Last year in Jordan between 15 and 20 people were killed, strangled to death, stabbed or beaten by family members in the ancient tradition of honor killings. (IRIN, 2007). These crimes are used in Jordanian culture as a way to preserve the honor of a family and have been for years. The crimes are usually specifically geared towards women but it had increased to mixed gender with the fast adapting culture. This problem has become on the radar thanks to Rana Husseini’s public campaign to end the ridiculous rituals but it hasn’t been fully affective. Many of the murders face little or no jail time if convicted at all. A quote from Rana herself said, “It is often found out that victims were virgins but when the court looks at the case, the sentences they give are very mild compared to the crime.” This quote is one of many that express the discontent with punishment for honor crimes and the basic lack of awareness. In many cases Huessini has been the leading force in awareness and advocacy for the victims of honor crimes and made a major impact on the social issue. Besides organizing community events and being the lead part in many Jordanian women’s activist groups recently Rana has written her own book about honor crimes titled: “Murder in the Name of Honour: The true story of one woman’s heroic fight against an unbelievable crime.” This book “has poured all the passion, commitment, insight and frustration of 15 years of campaigning against murder in the name of honor. Her writing style is crisp and engaging. Her factual information and analysis are comprehensive” (Bland, 2009). Rana uses this book as a tool to continually contribute to the advocacy of a population with no survivors to advocate for them. She is truly changing social work by giving a voice to victims who have no other way to tell their story and creating information on an unknown subject to create more awareness.

This leads into a different type of change agent Mr. Noah Baker Merril. Noah is a young male humanitarian activist from the United States. Noah didn’t start off wanting to change the situation stumbled upon in Iraq, but once he did, he had to dedicate his life to it. Noah became passionate about humanitarian rights when he was on a visit in Jordan and stumbled upon displaced Iraqi’s. After seeing this Noah knew he had to make a change and advocate for the rights and care of all displaced Iraqi citizens. From there, Noah co-founded Direct Aid Iraq, which operates on a simple principle “Americans have a responsibility to support a peaceful future for Iraqis, and building relationships is part of that restitution process. The global network connects Iraqis with urgent medical care on a case-by-case basis, advocates for resettlement, and facilitates other organizations” (UNTE Reader Staff, 2009). Noah is still working on expanding his project and making it better known. He often gives speeches and advertising such as a new project where Internet surfers can download a free album with a donation it Direct Aid Iraq. Noah is creating awareness and fixing the situation of inhumane conditions and the displacement of Iraqi citizens affected by the war. A new social problem emerging with the fairly new Iraqi war and something that hasn’t been considered while protecting our country. In doing this Noah is setting up a project that will be carried on to help all citizens of Iraq and even spread to other war-torn areas. Since his project has begun Noah has already spread awareness and added another lasting contribution under his belt. He has expanded his project to other regions such as Mexico providing resources for indigenous populations. (“Noah baker merrils, 2008). Noah is a revolutionary young person who has an idea and turned it into something real. Many people can’t have a lasting impression or affect on a community like he has. His work with Direct Aid Iraq has become a household name and has many volunteers today. Like a true change agent he has sparked a movement to better others and create a positive change in society.

My leadership style is driven by passion. I feel I can be the most outgoing, stand up, kindhearted leader if I’m advocating for something I am passionate about. I enjoy working with large organizations that are in reach of the common goal and enjoy being in a leadership position in which anyone can turn to me for help or advice. One social issue I feel really passionate about is focusing on the lack of help in other countries. I am very passionate about being an international social worker and working to better and benefit other countries. I’m passionate about helping citizens in war-torn areas with medical, financial and psychological help. That’s why I chose these two change agents because they are bettering a community that is not in the United States. Their passions focus on over seas issues, which is something I feel very strongly about. Out of thirty students in a class, 29 of them most likely want to work in this country and I like to think I am the 1 that wants to focus on abroad issues. From Rana I have learned that being fearless and doing what you feel is right can spark a social workers passion into a full-blown movement. I think as a change agent, she shed light on an issue that was overlooked by people in her country. She dared to stand up against her culture and stick up for what she felt was right. As a change agent I want a lasting contribution of doing what is right regardless of culture or consequences, just like Rana. In Noah’s case he is changing the other side of the world at only 32-years-old. He is using his young age and passion to his advantage and creating a movement that is spreading worldwide. From him I have learned that being young means nothing, and you can get anything accomplished if you have enough courage to pursue it. This is another quality I’d like to have as a change agent. Being able to go after something I want and have a true passion at a young age to change the world. These two are very similar in the fact that they found an issue that was affecting them and decided to make small changes that evolved into a larger positive change. Courage is another trait both these change agents share. In Rana’s case she dared to go against her country’s culture and expose an ancient ritual that could have had serious repercussions but because she knew what was right she has to courage to change it. Noah saw a large problem he wasn’t sure he could change on a small scale but his willingness to help people who were caught in a war turned into something truly magical.

Want to donate to Direct Iraqi Aid?! The album I mentioned in my article?! Click below :)

http://ottmarliebert.com/rose/

References

Bland, S. (2009, June 15). Giving voice to the victims. Retrieved from http://archive.jordantimes.com/?news=17553&searchFor=rana%20husseini

IRIN. (2007, March 11). Jordan: honor killings still tolerated. Retrieved from http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?reportid=70634

Noah baker merril's page. (2008). Retrieved from http://www.internationalpeaceandconflict.org/profile/NoahBakerMerrill

Unknown. (2008). Rana husseini bio. Retrieved from http://www.activisminstitute.org/joo/index.php/en/meet-the-activists/rana-husseinis-bio?phpMyAdmin=63Zd5MNYvoB-puvrTCp0,rioaHc

UNTE Reader Staff. (2009, November). Noah baker merril: Cofounder, direct aid iraq. Retrieved from http://plato.bridgew.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_id=_2_1&url=/webapps/blackboard/execute/launcher?type=Course&id=_12662_1&url=

Potential Problems with Macro Work!?

Sometimes trying to work out the problems of macro practice can seem like trying to solve a jigsaw puzzle ....


After reading and researching about Macro Practice as it applies to social work their are evident presenting problems that could occur. Three presenting problems I chose to focus on are:
1. There is not enough leadership

2. There is not enough change in the community or system

3. Their are unintended or unwanted outcomes.

But how will we address these problems you ask? Well, that's what I'm here to tell you about. I'm going to briefly explain each of these problems in the macro work and how us social workers should address the problems!

Starting with ..
There is not enough leadership:
This is a loaded question but it breaks down fairly easily, without leadership there is no organization or set plan with a macro project or group work. Substantial leaders must be identified as the people that make sure everything comes together and runs smoothly for the client. There are a lot of processes and questions that the group must go through to elect a leader or two (depending on what the group decides) and to ensure that it's the right choice for them. A technique that I think is the most resourceful and works as the building block for solving this issue is: Does the leadership team reflect the community? The team and leaders must reflect the vision of the community work. A helpful tip, is to include someone from the community or organization's population you are trying to help and include them on the leadership team. This way the group has substantial leaders and a person who can relate and speak for the population on the leadership team. It ensures a successful project. Another important aspect with keeping this potential problem out of macro work is to: recognize your failures as well as accomplishments! It is critical that successful team acknowledges failures and reevaluates how to turn it into a success. Failure is all part of the problem and if you have substantial leaders who can turn around a negative situation, the group will be successful!

There is not enough change in the community or system:
Well .. that just won't do! This problem breaks down into performance and the quality of performance. One thing I really enjoyed reading about this particular problem is the optimism that goes with it. We can change the community if we try hard enough. A willingness to change the community and striving to accomplish goals will result in the right amount of change. In macro work any change is enough change! Regardless of what's accomplished, small change is still steps towards bigger, broader change.

Their are unwanted or unintended outcomes
Well in Macro work their are several ways to prevent this from becoming a potential problem and a few solutions for if it has become a problem. Ways to prevent this would be organization of a mission! A mission statement is a tool that can be used to set a goal for a specific outcome to organize an outcome for a specific community or group. Another way to stop unintended outcomes is to constantly gain feedback from the community or organization that you are working with. To ask members or leaders of the community for their feedback, we can adapt plans and missions to maintain the outcome intended for the community and fix any issues that arise.

It seems when reading about the potential problems there is a lot that can go wrong. As a social worker, it's overwhelming to see about all the potential problems that could arise with macro work. But with these specific solutions it is refreshing to always see a optimistic look with many options of how to solve any issues!