Tuesday, June 11, 2013

Cross post from my private blog

Mission post #8


One of the requirements of being selected for volunteer work is completing an online class on child safety - how to detect and report behavior that suggests potential abuse and appropriate interaction with children and vulnerable adults.  This 2 hour course took me 6-7 hours to complete over a two day period.  
The format and study was easy to work with and accomplish.  The subject matter, on the other hand was not easy to get through.  I was surprised by what I didn't know, the sheer awfulness some people.  As a consequence, it took me a lot longer to get through.  I also wanted a complete record of the course so page by 68 pages, I copied and pasted it into a word document.  

Not knowing what will be expected of us, I know that taking this course could add up to just being a formality.  If it isn't, I sincerely hope that I detect no evidence of actually abuse.  I know we will come face to face with some fierce poverty but neglect and abuse? - well, I hope not.  
Based on what I've read , volunteers aren't left alone with children or vulnerable adults so quite possibly Don and I will work as partners.
I haven't thought about it much this week but the week is young.  I DID have an idea though, on Saturday, the day we went to Sonora to attend a memorial service.  As I listened to Fr. John Fitzgerald speak of why we are drawn to gather together, he reminded us that it isn't death that draws us together, it is love (perhaps a novel idea to some of us).  His words nudged a germ of an idea on recording the experience of this trip.
We will be on the road for at least four months and we will have a chance to meet all sorts of people who may feel very different from what I grew up with.  Don is very adaptable to the slower pace of life and the Midwestern and Southern thought processes.  I'm not.  Very Catholic and Conservative I may be but I'm also firmly imprinted with a California mentality.  It will be a golden opportunity for me to:


  • talk and listen
  • ask questions
  • find out what people know
  • discover their points of view
    I expect a lot of differences.  I'll take lots of sets of pictures, series that tell a story.  I've also thought about putting the information together and creating a mini-documentary of what we encountered and who we met.   The materials needed will be part of the organized supplies I plan to bring with me so I can mitigate the lack of some art or writing tool that will make my record keeping easier.  But in the end it really is still all just thoughts.

    3 comments:

    Jeanie said...

    annie, the line about love not death -- I need to save that one. It is really special and precious.

    When does your trip begin?

    Ginny Hartzler said...

    I knew you are going to do something like this, but don't remember any details? For how long and exactly what? I just got your link but my security won't let me in, sorry, it has categorized it as dangerous...

    Darla said...

    It all sounds very interesting but I'm not clear about what you have planned. Working with neglected or abused children must be emotionally difficult but very rewarding in other ways.


    Darla