After many deliberations and working through different obstacles, I decided to study abroad in Uganda and Rwanda in the Fall with a program called Go ED. Making this decision has added a whole new load of work for me this summer on top of my internship work, as I have books to read, homework to complete, and lots of paper work to fill out. I am excited as can be, but at the same time, it’s a bit overwhelming and scary.
I read a book "And you call yourself a Christian" by Robert Lupton which was a great book. I also read through a devotional book by Amy Sherman called "Sharing God's heart for the Poor" which was great too. I recommend both.
Embarrassing story: I was going to do an interview with the Boys and Girls Club. Unbeknownst to me, the club is in the same building as the police academy. I walked right through a door into the training room of a bunch of police cadets. I just stood there awkwardly with them staring at me in their short shorts. After freezing and blushing, one guy asked what I needed and as I stood there stuttering for a few seconds not saying anything coherent, I saw the lady I was meeting at the other end of the hall and just kind of pointed at her and mumbled something to the guy as I rushed past him and then I had to walk the whole hallway through the guys to get to her.
As far as internship work goes, one of Anna's and my jobs has been to set up interviews (listening conversations) for the Alliance we are working for and notetake for (and sometimes conduct) them. So far, 63 have been done with about 10 more to add to that list by the end of the week. We came into this summer with only about 5 being done and my boss wants hundreds to be done. So, I am excited about 63 (soon to be 70) being done, even though this isn’t near the hundreds yet. But, it’s a start and I celebrate the little successes.
One interview I was a notetaker for was a spontaneous stop-by at a resident's place. I know it was the Holy Spirit's prompting the person I was with to go to this resident's house because part-way through doing this on-the-spot interview, this person prayed with us and made a profession of faith right then and there. It was the neatest thing I have been a part of on my internship. This is the heart of community development: having people come to Christ.
On top of setting up interviews, Anna and I are trying to find more interviewers who will carry on our work when we leave so that this momentum that we have created will not stop cold in August. I was at a dead end on this front, until a breakthough was made and we got 3 more people on board. This is a big deal, even though it is only 3--3 is better than 0.
Another job has been for us to do asset mapping/data entry/research about the assets. This work has been slower going, but I’m slowly finding my way to figuring out the best way to research assets and then “map” them in a way that is helpful for the Alliance.
Last Friday marked the halfway point for our internship: 6 weeks we've been here, 6 weeks to go. I continue to learn everyday. I am growing a lot and being challenged in my assignments and the work I do in the community, but I am seeing growth and I'm thankful for all that I am learning on this internship.
Emily
_________________________________________________
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Monday, June 14, 2010
Let me tell you about a day in Knoxville
So, I still haven't really gone into detail about what I do on my internship. Thankfully, Emily has given updates on specific things, but I figured I need to step up to the challenge and do the same. So, here's a few things I do in Knoxville:
1. Type up notes - well, first I have to write notes... although Emily and I have done a few listening conversations (interviews) ourselves, it is preferred if the Alliance members lead the interviews while we note-take for them. Last week, I got to take notes for a high school coach, a Western Heights resident (I did this one over the phone. It was totally unexpected. I called for the wife, but the husband picked up and wanted to know why I couldn't just ask him the questions...so I did. Very loudly I might add), a Knox Police Department Officer, a husband and wife who provide a traveling Sunday School program to all of the low-income housing projects, a lady who works for a non-profit based out of its home church, and a man who used to live in Western Heights
2. Random events - last Saturday I got to go to Beardsley Farms. It's a farm where they grow fresh vegetables and flowers, etc. They also have a few chickens and a park for kids to play on. They provide 30 plots every year to volunteers who can commit a certain amount of time each week for helping out at the Farm. A few of the Western Heights residents take up this opportunity. They love it there, as do their kids, and get to get community service hours (which they need to stay in Western Heights) and get to learn about growing vegetables (which I know nothing about). Oh there's also a butterfly garden there. This last Thursday they were having a festival with some local artists, entertainment, and food. I got my face painted like a butterfly.
3. VBS - First Baptist Concord, where I have my cubicle, has one of the biggest VBS programs ever. I saw 1 1/2 of their skits and it was amazing and very professionally performed! If you can imagine mixing a Broadway musical with a rock concert, that would be their skits. The only thing I did to help out with the VBS is hold up signs, help kids out of their cars, etc. but I got free lunches pretty much every day that week and two free VBS t-shirts!
4. Another VBS - this time in Western Heights. First Baptist Concord is joining with I think two other churches to do an all summer long VBS program in Western Heights. I helped some other college kids pass out some flyers in WH last Saturday and then attended the kick-off party yesterday (Sunday). While we were at the party, we were able to get some more quick interviews done.
5. Resident's Association- there are a good handful of Western Heights residents who are on fire in getting a Resident's Association started in their community, which would be a HUGE resource for them, finally giving them a voice to get things done. I got to attend the first half of their first meeting last week and helped pass out flyers for their next meeting while we were passing out flyers for VBS. Three of the "on fire" ladies helped us pass the flyers out.
So, that's a brief look at my life in Knoxville. This is the start of our 6th week here! Hard to believe we're half way done!
I have to go now, my host brother has been waiting for us to play basketball and I told him I'd be out there like 5 minutes ago!!!!
-Anna
1. Type up notes - well, first I have to write notes... although Emily and I have done a few listening conversations (interviews) ourselves, it is preferred if the Alliance members lead the interviews while we note-take for them. Last week, I got to take notes for a high school coach, a Western Heights resident (I did this one over the phone. It was totally unexpected. I called for the wife, but the husband picked up and wanted to know why I couldn't just ask him the questions...so I did. Very loudly I might add), a Knox Police Department Officer, a husband and wife who provide a traveling Sunday School program to all of the low-income housing projects, a lady who works for a non-profit based out of its home church, and a man who used to live in Western Heights
2. Random events - last Saturday I got to go to Beardsley Farms. It's a farm where they grow fresh vegetables and flowers, etc. They also have a few chickens and a park for kids to play on. They provide 30 plots every year to volunteers who can commit a certain amount of time each week for helping out at the Farm. A few of the Western Heights residents take up this opportunity. They love it there, as do their kids, and get to get community service hours (which they need to stay in Western Heights) and get to learn about growing vegetables (which I know nothing about). Oh there's also a butterfly garden there. This last Thursday they were having a festival with some local artists, entertainment, and food. I got my face painted like a butterfly.
3. VBS - First Baptist Concord, where I have my cubicle, has one of the biggest VBS programs ever. I saw 1 1/2 of their skits and it was amazing and very professionally performed! If you can imagine mixing a Broadway musical with a rock concert, that would be their skits. The only thing I did to help out with the VBS is hold up signs, help kids out of their cars, etc. but I got free lunches pretty much every day that week and two free VBS t-shirts!
4. Another VBS - this time in Western Heights. First Baptist Concord is joining with I think two other churches to do an all summer long VBS program in Western Heights. I helped some other college kids pass out some flyers in WH last Saturday and then attended the kick-off party yesterday (Sunday). While we were at the party, we were able to get some more quick interviews done.
5. Resident's Association- there are a good handful of Western Heights residents who are on fire in getting a Resident's Association started in their community, which would be a HUGE resource for them, finally giving them a voice to get things done. I got to attend the first half of their first meeting last week and helped pass out flyers for their next meeting while we were passing out flyers for VBS. Three of the "on fire" ladies helped us pass the flyers out.
So, that's a brief look at my life in Knoxville. This is the start of our 6th week here! Hard to believe we're half way done!
I have to go now, my host brother has been waiting for us to play basketball and I told him I'd be out there like 5 minutes ago!!!!
-Anna
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Welcome to the real world
Before this internship, I pictured working with non-profits as a time of helping people out through fun activities. In fact, one of the main reasons I started getting interested in working with non-profits was because I had so much fun serving food to the children and their families at Give Kids the World in Orlando, FL. Today I realized that there is always a behind-the-scenes picture to everything "eventful" that happens. Throughout my classes at Covenant, I have learned that community development is a very slow process and is always complicated, which echoed the workings of tonight.
Tonight the leaders of the Western Heights Community Alliance had a 3 hour long meeting. Of course, it didn't just "happen". It took the leader of the leaders a couple of times just to find a date that the other leaders could come and even then one three people couldn't join. Emily worked alongside another key Alliance worker all day preparing documents that needed to be given out during the meeting. Someone had to make sure the catered food got ordered. Documents had to be printed out. A power point had to be prepared and approved. All of this to say: non-profits don't just involve working with the community, they also involve inside the non-profit agency. There has to be a business-like voting consensus, a meeting facilitator, a note-taker, people willing to take time out of their life to come, etc...
Before this internship I never imagined this summer to be filled with such normal day business activities. I guess I was expecting some sort of surreal experience of working hands-on with the community, but I have now been introduced to the regular world. Even non-profits have to go through the technicalities of meeting together and discussing the next move, it doesn't happen on its own.
I'm not sure if I'm disappointed or not about this wake up call. I'm kind of bummed out to find that there will be business meetings no matter what field of work I enter into after college. To be honest, I don't really like meetings. But, I am grateful that I now realize that community development is not surreal.
Before I stop writing, you must know that there were positives to tonight's gathering. 1. it gave the leaders opportunity to get to know each other a bit more and to hear each others' opinions 2. People started to volunteer. We got people to give us their schedules so that they can start getting more involved in the Western Heights Community. This was VERY exciting to both Emily and I.
Tonight was a great success I thought. It took many people to bring it together, but that's a good thing (people working together).
I hope that the business-like formalities won't discourage me about continuing in this line of work, or any line of work for that matter! I hope that God will give me a love for His people, even though working with people is long, complicated, and can be stressful. People are God's creation and therefore I need to care and love for my brothers and sisters because God loves both them and me!
-Anna-
Tonight the leaders of the Western Heights Community Alliance had a 3 hour long meeting. Of course, it didn't just "happen". It took the leader of the leaders a couple of times just to find a date that the other leaders could come and even then one three people couldn't join. Emily worked alongside another key Alliance worker all day preparing documents that needed to be given out during the meeting. Someone had to make sure the catered food got ordered. Documents had to be printed out. A power point had to be prepared and approved. All of this to say: non-profits don't just involve working with the community, they also involve inside the non-profit agency. There has to be a business-like voting consensus, a meeting facilitator, a note-taker, people willing to take time out of their life to come, etc...
Before this internship I never imagined this summer to be filled with such normal day business activities. I guess I was expecting some sort of surreal experience of working hands-on with the community, but I have now been introduced to the regular world. Even non-profits have to go through the technicalities of meeting together and discussing the next move, it doesn't happen on its own.
I'm not sure if I'm disappointed or not about this wake up call. I'm kind of bummed out to find that there will be business meetings no matter what field of work I enter into after college. To be honest, I don't really like meetings. But, I am grateful that I now realize that community development is not surreal.
Before I stop writing, you must know that there were positives to tonight's gathering. 1. it gave the leaders opportunity to get to know each other a bit more and to hear each others' opinions 2. People started to volunteer. We got people to give us their schedules so that they can start getting more involved in the Western Heights Community. This was VERY exciting to both Emily and I.
Tonight was a great success I thought. It took many people to bring it together, but that's a good thing (people working together).
I hope that the business-like formalities won't discourage me about continuing in this line of work, or any line of work for that matter! I hope that God will give me a love for His people, even though working with people is long, complicated, and can be stressful. People are God's creation and therefore I need to care and love for my brothers and sisters because God loves both them and me!
-Anna-
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