Yesterday, almost out of the blue, a seed planted in early September produced a shoot. This practicum finding business is hard work! A friend of mine has become closely affiliated with UNHCR - USA out of Washington. I had asked her to look into practicum possibilities for myself and one of my classmates (Musa), and had not heard back for all of these months. Yesterday she called, and said that she had had the chance to speak to someone who is the ED of UNHCR - USA. She gave me this person's personal email, and asked me to contact him for further information! Excitedly, I spoke to Musa, and we strategized about the best way to make and maintain contact with the organization. On Friday afternoon I sent an email introducing ourselves, and asking the contact if he had any further resources or information that could be of help to us. By Friday afternoon, I had received a long, thoughtful and lovely email from the person containing 10 direct emails of UNHCR staff in Washington, Ottawa and Geneva. Wow!!
Musa is going to move forward in contacting these individuals in the hopes of seeking a practicum with them. I am happy to be able to be a part of this connection for him - as I so hope that Musa is able to find a way to connect his passion with a practicum. It seems clear to me that he is so meant for work with the UNHCR as his life and pursuit of social work come from his involvement with this agency.
As I think about Musa I find myself wondering where my passion is - what is the work that would manifest my life experiences, and allow me to offer the most? I know that this work has something to do with working with women and children (maternal health, childbirth, reproductive health) and that I am passionate in working with prevention, promotion and support of health and well-being. I have tried to be on the intervention side of work and I found it difficult and draining. So what does this mean in the context of an international practicum this summer? What skills do I hope to gain?
- Direct skills in facilitation/work with women and children
- An understanding of what ‘women's empowerment program' might mean
- Some skills that are transferable and useful to women (micro-credit? Maternal well-being, food sovereignty)
- Skills in translating from the grassroots level to policy level
- Skills in organizing, supporting programming aimed at women's groups
I am appreciating our work in Thursday night's class with Ary. I feel that I am gaining the skills to be able to express where my skills are and what I can bring to the table as a Social Worker (and everything else that I am!) Before this course I had some fear about expressing my underlying concern that as a Social Worker I felt that I did not have a valuable skill set to use in International work. I can't set bones, or provide clean water.... So what can I do? This question has become particularly relevant in the context of the tragedy in Haiti. I so want to be able to ‘help' - and yet what does this really mean? What skills do I have? What does it really mean to be of assistance?
In our class, Ary is encouraging us to think of ourselves as the advocates of ‘process', particularly of the ‘human process'. What does this mean to me? That I assist in facilitation, connection making and relationship building. I seek to understand (or at least see) underlying conditions and contexts. This is certainly a part of what International Social Work means - what else can it be for me?
Musa is going to move forward in contacting these individuals in the hopes of seeking a practicum with them. I am happy to be able to be a part of this connection for him - as I so hope that Musa is able to find a way to connect his passion with a practicum. It seems clear to me that he is so meant for work with the UNHCR as his life and pursuit of social work come from his involvement with this agency.
As I think about Musa I find myself wondering where my passion is - what is the work that would manifest my life experiences, and allow me to offer the most? I know that this work has something to do with working with women and children (maternal health, childbirth, reproductive health) and that I am passionate in working with prevention, promotion and support of health and well-being. I have tried to be on the intervention side of work and I found it difficult and draining. So what does this mean in the context of an international practicum this summer? What skills do I hope to gain?
- Direct skills in facilitation/work with women and children
- An understanding of what ‘women's empowerment program' might mean
- Some skills that are transferable and useful to women (micro-credit? Maternal well-being, food sovereignty)
- Skills in translating from the grassroots level to policy level
- Skills in organizing, supporting programming aimed at women's groups
I am appreciating our work in Thursday night's class with Ary. I feel that I am gaining the skills to be able to express where my skills are and what I can bring to the table as a Social Worker (and everything else that I am!) Before this course I had some fear about expressing my underlying concern that as a Social Worker I felt that I did not have a valuable skill set to use in International work. I can't set bones, or provide clean water.... So what can I do? This question has become particularly relevant in the context of the tragedy in Haiti. I so want to be able to ‘help' - and yet what does this really mean? What skills do I have? What does it really mean to be of assistance?
In our class, Ary is encouraging us to think of ourselves as the advocates of ‘process', particularly of the ‘human process'. What does this mean to me? That I assist in facilitation, connection making and relationship building. I seek to understand (or at least see) underlying conditions and contexts. This is certainly a part of what International Social Work means - what else can it be for me?
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