Wednesday, July 31, 2013

Week 5


The past few weeks have been amazing.  They have helped me view the world in such a way that I could have never seen in the United States.  We read statistics, read about homes of many, or homes made of mud.  Here it is not a story; it is not paper with typed words.  These orphans are real and have been struggling with their pasts and to survive.  Even public schools cost money, and the tuition for the final year of high-school alone can be about 1000 USD.  A lot of this did not hit me right away, until our hike up the highest mountain in Swaziland led us through a small village near Bulembu.  The village contains several homes, all or most of which are constructed with mud or made with thatch.  The people in the village do not have the luxury of constant plumbing; they actually get water from small pipes that go from the springs within the mountain.  I have also found that even though I came here to serve, I have been served by those who live here.  I can still remember one day when a cook came in to work with me on his break.  He told me his story, his favorite movies (all of which were much older movies like Terminator), but he also gave me advice that back home I would ignore.  He heard me mumbling to myself about how I was thinking that I would drip too much paint while painting the ceiling and ruin the carpet.  He simply walked in and asked me how I was doing.  I told him I was fine, just trying to paint correctly.  He chuckled, looked at me, and said,”I know we’ve only spoken a few times, but I think you are a little hard on yourself.  I think you worry too much about how it’s going to turn out and don’t put enough faith that you are capable of doing it.  If you think positively, everything always turns out alright because you are positive.”  I looked at him with astonishment, a man I had only known for the duration of this trip, a man I came to serve, just served me.  I was not sure how to respond at first, so I just smiled back.  It was not until later I really thought about what he said, and since that day, I think I have done rather well at all the jobs I’ve been given.

Week 4


As a group we have successfully finished our first work project which was repainting an old home to ready it for a future administrator or even as a future home for teachers.  Now we have begun a new project for the town of Bulembu, painting a large flat for workers.  Many of the workers for the town have to walk from another nearby town, and our project leaders have been trying to fix up this old flat for a long time.  We have scraped the roof for painting (roofs here are metal shingles) and the inside walls as well.  Charles, one of the Bulembu painters, has even told a few of us he is proud of how well we paint and that he would like us to work with him again in the future.

One of the Aunties that I worked with at the toddler home has begun calling me her friend, which is incredible.  Most of them have come from backgrounds similar to the kids, so having one of them call me friend is truly an honor. 

Week 3


Our group is beginning to build some relationships with the students here.  It truly is astounding how many of the kids, aunties, and administration have started to take an interest in our lives and build bonds with us.  Apart from the giving of Swazi names, some of the Aunties have begun calling us Sissi (Sister), or bhuti (brother).  One of my Aunties even asked to hear about my personal childhood and the challenges I grew up with.  I have begun to bond more with the workers and some of the older boys.  Our maintenance project leader, Ivan, reminds me a lot of my older brother.  They both have the same sense of humor, except Ivan likes to say that we are crazy Americans and tease us for our painting. 

We have begun working with the clubs and even been given the chance to share dinner with a host family.  My house is a group of older boys, two of which are about to graduate.  They enjoy having us as a visitor, and when I stayed for dinner, were very polite.  It is taking time to get to know my boys, since most of them are new to Bulembu.  Being new comers at their age they have a lot of troubles they remember and it is obvious they are nervous about opening up.  They are happy to have help doing homework assignments, or with constructing homemade projects.  One of them has built himself an electric fan for the summer, with a car license plate, computer parts and an adapter.  I got to help him wire it and we managed to get it working.  The younger boys in the house just enjoy having a person to help with their work and love to show off the good grades they achieve. 

Week 2


Over the past week specific challenges have been revealing themselves.  The first is living with four women.  Our team of five lives in a single home and it is rather awkward for me because I have never lived with sisters before.   It will definitely be an adventure to adapt to this new living situation.  Fortunately the maintenance project leader, Ivan, is a good comic relief for me during the work day.   Another specific challenge for me is the work with the orphan toddlers.  The toddlers are between 2-4 years old and I am not the most aptly equipped team member for this age group.  Both Sarah-Michelle and Jessica (or Jess-ee-kuh by the kids) are majoring in elementary education and their knowledge of children and kiddy songs may save us from weeks of soccer and running. The children and aunties are great, but there is a significant language barrier.  The Aunties have begun giving us SiSwati names, and have dubbed me Sibusisu, the male blessing and Sarah-Michelle, Busisiwe, the female blessing.

Week 1


This summer I will be traveling with four others to Bulembu, Swaziland.   Swaziland is a country bordered on three sides by South Africa and on the fourth side by Mozambique.  Swaziland also houses an orphan population of 150,000.  As a group we are working in Bulembu doing maintainance projects and helping care for the orphans.   Bulembu is an ambitious attempt by entrepreneurs to help create a self-sustainable city as a way to give hope to the Swazi people.  My personal goals for the trip are: to develop lasting relationships, help the people of Bulembu to reach their goal, learn from their culture, and see how we can help after our time there is finished.

Friday, July 26, 2013

Week 6

This week I got to hold a human brain! Yup.

A graduate student from the university neuroscience department came to our weekly seminar. He gave us a brief presentation about ‘research’ on Zombie brain after which he rolled out a cooler and pulled out a couple of human brains. 

The goal was to walk us through a proper research project presentation. His other point was to encourage us to pursue whatever it is we are really passionate about. Once we figure that out, an important skill is being able to get other people excited about our research, otherwise, good luck forming a research team and getting funded.

My main priority is to work on putting together my final poster. Space is limited which makes cutting down all my hard work into a couple of bullet points pretty challenging (Everything about my project is important, duh). However, if I want people to actually stop by and listen to my presentation, I need to keep it simple.

I’ll reveal the results of my underinsurance study in the next post! :D

Monday, July 22, 2013

Personal Reflections

Personal reflections
When I found out that I would be doing my SOS at Naples Equestrian Challenge (NEC) I was hoping to find out more about how the program ran. I was not expecting to gain so much knowledge about not only the program but myself as well. This summer I have done so many different jobs and put my all into every single one of them.
Many of my jobs have required me to call people. I defiantly liked calling people to confirm their kids were coming to summer camp more than calling to say lessons were cancelled because of the weather. However by having to do both I have overcome my fear of calling people on the phone!!
I also believe that I am being seen as an adult now. This summer I gained a lot of responsibility and trust from the staff and instructors. I can joke around with them yet not be seen as an immature kid.

I have also learned how to take leadership and be assertive. For example I have had to step up and enforce the rules. Many of our counselors like to play on their phones, stand on the fences and other things they are not allowed to do. I know that it is summer and not boot camp, but these are rules to keep them safe. It is hard to constantly tell people who are volunteers that they cannot do something. I feel bad about it, but I’ve learned to look past the eye rolling and dirty looks. 

Personal Reflection week 5

Personal Reflection Overall I am very happy with how my S.O.S has played out; I have improved my time management skills by having three CLA’s and have been able to reflect on the true meaning of the S.O.S. Many of us go into an S.O.S with expectations of helping an organization that helps people, animals, or provides much needed services. Over the past couple weeks I have realized these organizations we volunteer for, help us as much as we help them. For example each of my CLA’s have taught invaluable lessons that I would have otherwise not have been exposed to. The biggest lesson I have learned is that it is all about people; you must define what the needs of the community are by going out into the community. These needs are not found in a text book or on a website; instead they are found on within community which the organization services. I have been humbled to have experienced within each of my CLA’s , a lesson I will always carry with me.

Sunday, July 21, 2013

Week 1- Service Goals

Week 1 

    
 This summer I have been serving in the DeLand community, working  with The Boys & Girls Club and doing other odd jobs with the Center for Community Engagement. My goal during this time period is to learn the dynamics of my service site, and envision how a relationship between the service site and a Bonner Summer Fellows camper would work. 

     The first week was spent exploring different options for service sites with Audri and Logan. Initially I was assigned to the Chisholm Center where I volunteer during the year, but due to time restrictions with the volunteer registration process, I decided to join Logan at the BGC. 

     Our first day on the job, the instructions are pretty simple. No running inside. If you catch a runner, send them back and make them walk. Turning to me, Mrs. Althea (Head Honcho) adds that the girls will ask to play with my hair, and if it makes me uncomfortable...to decline politely. Cringing a little bit (I hate people playing with my hair), I nod and Mrs. Althea introduces us to the rest of the staff. There are three groups of kids, each run by a staff member (Ms. Kiki, Mr. David, Ms. Maritza). Mrs. Althea leaves us to mingle with the kids and Logan and I are quickly roped into intense games of Jenga, Uno, Mancala, and Apples to Apples. One thing I've always liked about kids is their lack of inhibition and their ability to befriend others instantly.

     The rest of the week was spent getting to know all the kids and the daily schedules of the BGC. I enjoyed being around the kids because it reminded me of my lovely Chisholm kids.

Bella Ramirez

Tuesday, July 16, 2013

SOS Week 6

Week 6 - Project Evaluation:

Serving at the Indian River Medical Center is revealing to which a career in the medical field would be similar. I am interacting with patients directly, some of which are patient and friendly and some others whom are in unfortunate health and reflect their pain through their behaviors. Nonetheless, it is reality and it is wonderful to know that I can talk to them and help them alongside the doctors, and one day, as the doctor. I also see the work that is done "backstage," including the enormous amounts of paperwork, countless phone calls, numerous testings/labs, et cetera. Bonner has helped to open my mind to engaging in this valuable, productive, selfless experience.
Best wishes to the rest of you fellow Bonners! :)

Monday, July 15, 2013

Week 5

   For the past two weeks my main focus has been on data analysis and obtaining results. I've had the opportunity to work with a statistician and topographer (I like to call him “map guy”).

   Things are coming along pretty well—I've gotten some interesting results. I was stressed when I figured out that an analysis I was planning to use would not accurately represent the overall population because of the way the survey was originally administered.  Of course my first reaction was "CRAP" because I need to having this done in a couple of weeks! But that’s okay, not the end of the world. Turns out I can still do plenty of other things with the data I have and I've already gotten some significant results! :D I had to tweak my research proposal quite a bit, but it’s all good. 

   I learned that when it comes to research, staying organized is the only way I won't end up swimming in papers and data, it’s okay to ask for help, failure is almost expected, and being flexible is a must. 

Project reflection

It is hard to believe that my S.O.S experience is almost half complete, as I reflect; I am very happy how things have panned out. Going into my SOS CLA with Volusia County Mosquito Control, I was expecting to gain and learn many new things. Without a doubt my knowledge of mosquito control has been double. As myself first thought and along with many others believe that mosquito control plays a very small role in community; when in fact the opposite is true. This is evident in my daily tasks which include a variety of projects that range from landing rates of mosquito, setting out traps, and collecting data. All these are key parts of (IPM) integrated pest management as there are many laws and considerations that govern public health. All these projects fit into the main goal of the mosquito control which is to prevent the spread of disease through mosquitoes and keep the mosquito population low as a high population can affect tourism. Each week I learn more and more with exposure to new areas within the department. This allows me to reflect on the importance of my CLA within the community, and how all the parts of the department fit into one another. I look forward to sharing my experience with the other Bonners.

Sunday, July 14, 2013

Week VI Project Reflections

Hello dear Bonner, hope you're all having a good summer. So my project reflections are great :) I have been working on more than one project (organization), so I have lots of different reflections. Let me start with SOS Children's Villages. The Play Bus (the SOS CV project which I volunteer with) just came back from our summer tour. For a week we went to Ganja, a city West of the capital. SOS CV has a 'village' there too, so we stayed there and had programs with different schools, kindergartens and orphanages. It was a great trip because I had time to develop even closer relationship with the employees of the Play Bus as well as the kids of Gandja. The kids called me 'American' because I told them that I study there and because of my 'not-so-good Azeri' hehe. I really enjoyed working with these kids, and I tried to bring hope and ambition to their life by encouraging them to study harder and go to colleges! I also gifted two of my plastic Stetson sunglasses to the two boys from the Gandja SOS CV. On our way back our car broke, so we had to drive around 60 km/hr, this made our trip twice as long - almost 8 hours! The second organization I volunteer at is EducationUSA (at BEIC). Just 2 weeks ago we chose a number of kids for the competitive college club; these are the high school students who will be tutored for SAT, TOEFL, essay writing and other skills one needs to apply to US colleges. I was also asked to prepare a power point presentation about the Life in the USA (American culture, holidays, and traditions); this would be presented to the students who are about to leave for American universities in this fall. I am so happy to know than more and more students are applying to the foreign universities and expanding their knowledge!  I have also developed a close relationship with some of the students who come to the conversation club, and once we went out to see a movie in Eng.

Saturday, July 13, 2013

Week 4: Project Reflection

I have now completed two full weeks of camp, being an intern in the office, a volunteer coordinator and a volunteer at therapeutic riding lessons. This summer is going great!!! 
Camp has been the best out of the seven summers I have worked it. This year my friend, Sam, and I are head counselors which has brought us lots of responsibility. While this is great it also brings many challenges. We are in charge of the safety and happiness of ten campers a week, with and without special needs and just as many counselors. This means that sometimes we have to step up and enforce rules and play the "bad guy" card. I think this is the hardest part about camp because most of the counselors are only a few years younger than us and some are older. I know that Sam and I are doing the best we can and the instructor even commented the other day that this has been the best year of camp she has taught in her ten years of summer camp. 
As an intern I have been doing a lot of data entry, filing, color coding folders and alphabetizing for the Program Director. This doesn't sound like a lot of fun but it really is fulfilling for me. I know that by doing this I am helping the program to expand so we can serve even more people. Currently we are trying to get a grant to purchase more land and all of my work will help towards that grant. It amazes me how much the program has changed since I started eight years ago and it has been changing even faster the last two years. I am so excited to have a part in that no matter how small it may be :) 
Another hat that I am wearing this summer is that of a volunteer coordinator. This means that during therapeutic lessons I match up volunteers with horses and kids. It has been quite a challenging job because I have had ample volunteers show up each week!!! The negative part of this is trying to make sure everyone has a job to do and feels like their time is being rewarded. I love this challenge. It's like trying to figure out a puzzle or solve a Sudoku puzzle. All the volunteers have been so kind to me, especially the first week when I was figuring out what to do. I am so lucky to get to work with the instructor, Beth, that I have been volunteering with weekly for years. She has really helped me and been there when I have questions about what to do. 
The last hat I get to wear is my favorite, a volunteer during therapeutic riding lessons. I love getting to work with the riders and see how much many of them have progressed in the year I was gone. It is great to see them and their families again and I have definitely been welcomed back with open arms. 
One of my biggest goals for the summer is to simply watch how lessons are structured and all the great techniques the instructors use. I want to be able to take this back to my service site to help them become even better. Knowing all the instructors for so long I have learned many of their techniques throughout the years, but this summer I have really been observing, learning and implementing them. It is great practice for me for my future career as an ESE teacher.Many of the techniques that I have learned from watching the instructors teach throughout the years will be able to be used in my classroom someday. 
I am really happy and pleased with how well my Summer of Service is going. I have learned so much and have grown as a person.