UPDATE (Sunday):
JUST received excellent news that ALL FIVE BROTHERS ALIVE & SAFE in P-a-P!
Trying to help spread the word for a friend, who is looking for her five little brothers in Port-au-Prince.
Their last name is RIGAUD
Their address is 198 Rue St. Hubert, Turjeau, P-a-P
If anybody happens to read this and have any information, anything, just post a comment and I can get word to her immediately.
Please give to the efforts in Haiti, but beware of hucksters. You can find reputable organizations via Charity Navigator.
Peace/سلام
16 January, 2010
13 January, 2010
Really, Pat? REALLY?
While everybody else is struggling to help those in Haiti, Pat Robertson offered THIS explanation for the nation's continued struggles and a condemnation of Haitians. Kudos to the woman beside him, by the way, who said absolutely nothing in response to his racist, crazy story.
So, let's tally: 9/11 was the fault of feminists, gays, and the ACLU, the 2005 tsunami wasn't really a tragedy because it killed Muslims, the Gulf Coast would have been spared if not, again, for those pesky gays (God apparently really hates a Pride parade), and now those devil-worshiping Haitians caused their own 200-plus years of suffering from poverty, dictatorship, unrest, environmental degradation, and now a massive earthquake.
Disgusting.
Having grown up in S. Florida, all news from the Caribbean basin is local. I was relieved to hear that one friend's family on the island is reported safe. My thoughts have been with Haitians and others there, including the apparently hard-hit MINUSTAH and other U.N. staff. No one deserves a disaster like this, but few places are more ill-equipped to handle this.
Peace/سلام
Update: Not to be outdone by Pat, the every-classy Rush has now cannonballed into the "Worst Person in the World" contest: “We've already donated to Haiti. It’s called the U.S. income tax.”
So, let's tally: 9/11 was the fault of feminists, gays, and the ACLU, the 2005 tsunami wasn't really a tragedy because it killed Muslims, the Gulf Coast would have been spared if not, again, for those pesky gays (God apparently really hates a Pride parade), and now those devil-worshiping Haitians caused their own 200-plus years of suffering from poverty, dictatorship, unrest, environmental degradation, and now a massive earthquake.
Disgusting.
Having grown up in S. Florida, all news from the Caribbean basin is local. I was relieved to hear that one friend's family on the island is reported safe. My thoughts have been with Haitians and others there, including the apparently hard-hit MINUSTAH and other U.N. staff. No one deserves a disaster like this, but few places are more ill-equipped to handle this.
Peace/سلام
Update: Not to be outdone by Pat, the every-classy Rush has now cannonballed into the "Worst Person in the World" contest: “We've already donated to Haiti. It’s called the U.S. income tax.”
11 January, 2010
And two more things...
About to walk out the door, but wanted to share these two pieces:
Liberty Clinic is back (Guardian)
This is such a great idea. Anybody know if an American paper has a similar feature?
The Americanization of Mental Illness (NYTimes Magazine)
Replace 'mental illness' with 'social work'. This is part of the discussion of indigenization/universalism debate in social work. Worth a read.
'Ta.
Peace/سلام
Liberty Clinic is back (Guardian)
This is such a great idea. Anybody know if an American paper has a similar feature?
The Americanization of Mental Illness (NYTimes Magazine)
Replace 'mental illness' with 'social work'. This is part of the discussion of indigenization/universalism debate in social work. Worth a read.
'Ta.
Peace/سلام
10 January, 2010
Back to Work
I start back at my internship with the local public agency tomorrow morning. This break wasn't as productive as I'd hoped and I'm happy to get back to work. Classes begin the following week. Not starting out with as much spunk as I'd hoped and that worries me.
My goals for this semester are to throw myself into the macro/meso-end of things. For our macro project, I'm developing a project to redesign our center's waiting room to make it humane, welcoming and user-friendly. The plan is for a mural project, more information accessible to walk-ins (not locked behind the counter), and overall simply a space that feels less like the waiting room at county lockup. The fact that people camp out at the door from as early as 1am never ceases to bother me; I think about it perhaps too much. I'll also be studying up on the budget - Aren't I a girl who knows a good time? - and attending some of the council meetings to see how things are actually accomplished within the agency. I'll also be making a bother of myself with the planning department to see how/if they actually work with neighborhoods. How does community development happen in this town? I also have to organize and implement a group project. No idea what it will be at the moment other than it will not be a therapy group. My God, aside from lacking any training, there's no way anyone in, well their right mind, would let me help them heal. Other than a training group, nobody has really given me much of a clue on other possibilities, so I've no idea what will come of the assignment.
While I still have to hit certain direct practice markers for the department and the CSWE, I am trying to find ways to make it my own. Since the people who come to the us seeking help really don't know what a social worker can do for them in the context of our agency any more than I do, I put forth the idea that I make like Lucy and set up shop amongst the people. For set times I'll just sit with everybody in the waiting room and talk to anybody who would like to talk. Some of the people seeking help are only waiting to get a letter stating they cannot receive help from our agency so they can take that letter to another agency to receive their help. No sense in those folks waiting all day for that. And no sense in some people waiting for weeks for an appointment with me. I just think it will feel a little more community oriented and less clinical. At least I hope so.
While this position has been interesting in many ways, it has certainly taught me that I am a field person, not an office person. Confinement, fluorescents and grey-beige walls kill the soul, at least mine. I also miss being so removed from people's lives. It may get a bit trying when everybody in the village is in your business, but there are few better things than sitting with the council, taking tea with the women, being invited to a wedding, roughhousing with kids or helping bring in the alfalfa crop. Still hope to get back to that.
We'll see what the next few months bring...
Peace/سلام
My goals for this semester are to throw myself into the macro/meso-end of things. For our macro project, I'm developing a project to redesign our center's waiting room to make it humane, welcoming and user-friendly. The plan is for a mural project, more information accessible to walk-ins (not locked behind the counter), and overall simply a space that feels less like the waiting room at county lockup. The fact that people camp out at the door from as early as 1am never ceases to bother me; I think about it perhaps too much. I'll also be studying up on the budget - Aren't I a girl who knows a good time? - and attending some of the council meetings to see how things are actually accomplished within the agency. I'll also be making a bother of myself with the planning department to see how/if they actually work with neighborhoods. How does community development happen in this town? I also have to organize and implement a group project. No idea what it will be at the moment other than it will not be a therapy group. My God, aside from lacking any training, there's no way anyone in, well their right mind, would let me help them heal. Other than a training group, nobody has really given me much of a clue on other possibilities, so I've no idea what will come of the assignment.
While I still have to hit certain direct practice markers for the department and the CSWE, I am trying to find ways to make it my own. Since the people who come to the us seeking help really don't know what a social worker can do for them in the context of our agency any more than I do, I put forth the idea that I make like Lucy and set up shop amongst the people. For set times I'll just sit with everybody in the waiting room and talk to anybody who would like to talk. Some of the people seeking help are only waiting to get a letter stating they cannot receive help from our agency so they can take that letter to another agency to receive their help. No sense in those folks waiting all day for that. And no sense in some people waiting for weeks for an appointment with me. I just think it will feel a little more community oriented and less clinical. At least I hope so.
While this position has been interesting in many ways, it has certainly taught me that I am a field person, not an office person. Confinement, fluorescents and grey-beige walls kill the soul, at least mine. I also miss being so removed from people's lives. It may get a bit trying when everybody in the village is in your business, but there are few better things than sitting with the council, taking tea with the women, being invited to a wedding, roughhousing with kids or helping bring in the alfalfa crop. Still hope to get back to that.
We'll see what the next few months bring...
Peace/سلام
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