Month: July 2014

Hello everybody! Hope your summers are still incredible and refreshing, and you’re gearing up for the upcoming semester (which for me, as a new CA, is actually right around the corner). My time at AVODAH has really changed its course since I have arrived. In my first post, I outlined a flash-fundraising campaign and my exposure to non-profit management, but now my experience has been centered around alumni outreach and programming from more of an educational standpoint.

During the third week of my internship, my supervisor began to teach a morning class as part of the List College (the joint program of Columbia University and The Jewish Theological Seminary) pre-college program, “JUSTCity.” This program gathered 18 high school upperclassmen to discuss issues of social justice and inequality in New York City through a Jewish lens. My supervisor’s daily sessions provided a Jewish textual context for exploring and aiming to solve these issues, as well as an open space to dabble with personal experiences and inexperience with antipoverty work and current events. I primarily functioned as the TA of the class, giving a hand to my supervisor and interjecting relevant information pertaining to areas about which I know a thing or two. These 16-18 year-old kids engaged in a remarkably thoughtful, sophisticated discussion about racial, economic, and environmental justice, as well as the escalation in Israel and Gaza. The conversation that struck me most followed their reading of excerpts from “A Case for Reparations” by Tanahisi Coates, an article featured in The Atlantic hashing out an unprecedentedly non-radical approach to reparations for Blacks in America. Admittedly, aside from all I learned from simply sitting and listening, it was also great to see my cousin who was a participant in the program. No worries, everyone- I made sufficient plugs for Brandeis with this group of college-searching kids.

Following this two-week stint, I have been spending much of my time managing the alumni database, and transferring bios of alumni from a large spreadsheet into the new online system. Since I haven’t really met very many alumni, I’m glad I can at least take this route to learn about them and what they did after the program. I even found someone who really is very similar to myself, and am planning on contacting this person to as how she got to her current job! I did not expect bio-transferring to be a networking opportunity!

I am under the impression that my internship will comprise a similar set of tasks for the duration of the summer, and that I will be exposed to a greater arsenal of Jewish texts on issues of social justice, that I will interact with more alumni material, and that I will get to know my co-workers better.

Thanks for reading, and I look forward to updating you at the conclusion of the program.

Hannah Kober

It’s 5pm and I’m standing at the head of a conference table in a downtown Boston law firm. In the room are lawyers, injured workers, and advocates. Another intern and myself are about to facilitate a bilingual meeting. Everyone in the room is older and mostly everyone is male. Our supervisor coaxed the attendees to the meeting, now it was left to up us to gain their respect and insight.

The purpose of the meeting was to determine the substance of our report on the workers’ compensation system. We are seeking a balanced perspective of a complicated and convoluted system that treats participants unequally. During my time at the Massachusetts Coalition for Occupational Safety and Health I’ve met with lawyers, doctors, advocates, and low-wage workers. Each interview has its own flavor and end goal, revealing a different view of the workers’ compensation system.

Everyone believes the system is broken. Everyone believes it isn’t them.

I feel my confidence grow after each one-on-one and group meeting. I and the other intern prepare and debrief after each interview to hone our approach. I’ve learned to employ open-ended questions and to not shy away from critical ones. We’ve also come to recognize the importance of language and setting to gain the trust of both professionals and laborers. We’ve developed relationships and fought to demonstrate that we are knowledgeable and determined, despite the generally disparaging and transient connotations of being an intern. With each connection we make, I know I am gaining valuable professional tools for my future career.

A major goal at the beginning of the summer was to meaningfully contribute to my community. MassCOSH has successfully advocated for several pieces of legislation that benefit injured workers. Most recently, they were part of successful campaigns to raise the minimum wage in Massachusetts and to increase burial allowances for workers killed on the job. Next, MassCOSH intends to pursue changes in the workers’ compensation system to ensure low-wage and non-English speaking workers can equally access their rights. Our report will inform what specific changes MassCOSH lobbies for. Having seen the organization’s previous policy successes I know my report is a meaningful piece of the process rather than something that will be put in a drawer come September.

Compiling a report for MassCOSH has led to more practical skills than I could have imagined. Knowing this report is a serious document that will precipitate greater change makes even the hours researching in front a computer fulfilling. In the short run, I’m looking forward to our next step of passing around the draft to receive feedback from various contributors. In the long run, I’m looking forward to a radical overhaul of Massachusetts’ workers compensation system.

– Mia Katan ‘15

Six weeks after my first blog post, my job at NARAL has swelled to encompass a new set of managerial responsibilities. In addition to doing substantive work – helping my supervisor brainstorm creative field operations, draft LTEs, and strategize political campaigns – I now manage a team of nine interns, and am responsible for distributing them to our four-plus priority campaigns. This task is surprisingly complicated; I have to take into account more variables than I initially thought when I began drafting my interns’ schedules. On a daily basis, I have to consider whether or not the interns have a car, whether or not the campaigns are accessible by public transportation, etc. Last week, I finally managed the interns’ schedules such that they are traveling to work on each of our priority campaigns at least once a week.

I embarked upon my journey this summer hoping to learn how to effectively negotiate varying relationships in the workplace. Many of my interns are graduate students, and I was initially worried that I would not be respected in my supervisor role, given the age differential. However, through conversations with my supervisor and other members of the staff, I have learned how to act and how to speak so as to seem an older, more confident supervisor. In my first few weeks here, I would apologize to my interns for making strict demands. Now, three months in, I have gained my footing and have realized that, although my interns may be older than I am, my three years of experience in this field has given me the qualifications I need to be an effective worker and supervisor. I have learned to unapologetically set high expectations. During one-on-one conversations and midpoint check-ins with my interns, I make sure that I am offering strong, constructive feedback. In the office, during meetings, I am firm and assertive. During lunch breaks, walks to the T, and coffee runs, I allow my more informal, personable side to show through; I inquire about the interns’ weekends, offer tricks of the trade, and share a bit about myself. By balancing the “friendly” and “professional” moments in and out of the office, I am able to command the respect I need while also showing my team that I am approachable and understanding.

Throughout the summer, my work has included holding one-on-one meetings with community leaders and lobby meetings with elected officials. I have met with a variety of elected officials on the Public Health Committee in support of our Healthy Youth Bill (which would implement comprehensive sex education in public schools). Armed with research and statistics, I quickly learned in my lobby meetings that elected officials will only fully support a bill if the bill will directly improve the lives of those in their district.

Similarly, my one-on-one recruitment meetings with community leaders have shown me that, while organizations are willing to coalesce, they will only do so if the impact on their clients is tangible. I recently had a one on one with a staff member from an organization that raises low-income women of color out of poverty by providing jobs training, peer mentorship, and professional development services. Only when I explained the impact of Crisis Pregnancy Centers on communities of color specifically was I able to garner her support for our initiatives.

Through these meetings, I have grown to understand that true coalition and relationship building must be founded on reciprocity. Organizations like NARAL are too pressed for time to engage heavily in an initiative that does not cater directly to their membership. In future lobbying and meeting efforts, I will be sure to come armed with facts, data, and anecdotes that directly address the constituencies of those I meet with, be they geographic districts or a certain demographic of people.

I am consistently amazed by the amount of organization and attention to detail my job requires.  Serving at NARAL in this capacity has increased my managerial abilities tenfold. I have grown to feel comfortable delegating tasks to my intern team, although some are older and more experienced than me. The staff has been exceptional in their eagerness to accommodate my needs and treat me as one of their own. I sit in on staff meetings, assist in building strategy and blueprinting campaigns, and am privy to exclusive conversations among the Political, Communications, and Field teams.

More than anything, this internship has given me an in-depth look at the machinations of the political non-profit sector. Though I previously worked at NARAL for a year, I have never understood the extent to which fundraising and membership building are critical to the maintenance of a non-profit. Sometimes I become disenchanted by the reality that a significant proportion – if not a majority – of NARAL’s work is dedicated to maintaining the structures that already exist instead of directly propelling forth a pro-choice agenda. In this field, progress comes more slowly than I expected, and victories are few and far between. I often find myself wondering if the political non-profit venue is the most effective means of pursuing electoral and legislative success.

This doubt is bolstered by the hyper-partisan nature of the choice debate. Upon accepting my summer internship, I stated, “I hope to use my duties at NARAL…. to learn how the organization makes the pro-choice debate less partisan using creative messaging and framing.” Interestingly, my experience at NARAL has taught me quite the opposite. NARAL is a non-partisan organization, but our political inclinations are clear in the work we do. As the choice debate has become more polarized in light of the Supreme Court rulings in the Hobby Lobby and Buffer Zone cases, Republicans that we had once considered allies have begun to vote against our bills in the state house. We cannot endorse legislators with an anti-choice record, so although the staff does not want to endorse electeds along party lines, we find ourselves doing just that. Nonetheless, I am still searching for ways to make the debate less partisan in my conversations with others. I hope that continuing to work here, and having one-on-one conversations with community leaders and stakeholders more often, will teach me how.

While sitting at my desk working patiently on data entry and file review, I can’t help but hear my HSSP professor’s words echoing in my mind… “prevention, intervention, and follow-up of patient cases are essential to health care!” Professor Conrad’s course Health and Society reflected on the various forms of illness, how society defines and perceives illness, and the methods by which illness can be treated. As I read files from the 1970s, I can see how our nation’s mentality has shifted over the decades regarding mental illness and treatment. HSSP courses usually begin with a review of the historical timeline of health and health care in the United States, and so it’s basic knowledge by senior year for HSSP students that the taboo surrounding mental health persisted in our country up until 10 or 15 years ago. Recently, this trend has abated in light of the development of legislation that mandates health insurance coverage for mental health services and grants funding for non-profits focused on mental health services.

When looking through files dated before 1985, I am reminded of the lack of support for individuals who require some form of counseling or therapy, and the faulty networking between agencies involved for that matter. Initially, Emerge adopted a political agenda, operating on the belief that the response to domestic violence should be social action rather than medical or psychological intervention. The creators of Emerge were activists, not medical administrators or health care providers. Therefore, the majority of these first case files are not standardized, meaning that the folder contains errant papers, scribbled notes, and blank/missing information. Some vital information, such as the client’s date of birth or social security number(important for identifying clients who are also on probation or have pending court cases) are not even required fields on some of the older forms.

The forms Emerge uses to keep records have changed drastically since 1980. The referral source in 1980 was more likely to be a family member, informational pamphlet, or co-worker. Abuse history is brief, especially in comparison to the modernized form.

Furthermore, not all clients were interviewed in the same manner, and so information that would otherwise be useful in identifying the socio-economic status of the client was consistently left blank, which created a gap in quality of service in many cases. The purpose of the program was geared towards providing support services for victims and partners, but the consequential development of a client-base who sometimes require long-term counseling meant that Emerge had to adapt.

In contrast, the newest intake forms require personal identification information such as DOB, SSN, and car make/model. This information is relevant for clients who have been referred by a Probation Office or DCF Agency for violence against a partner or abuse of children. This form, in comparison with the 1980 version, allows clients to record the number, names, and ages of their children, in addition to the other biological parent. The older forms did not account for non-traditional families.

It is clear that a significant amount of progress has been made since the founding of Emerge. All new files have a comprehensive background on all clients – today’s files are so detailed that we request partner contact information for not only the “victim” and “current partner” but also 2-3 ex-partners. Sometimes, to provide better services for the client, we investigate incidences of violent and controlling behaviors in previous relationships. The increased demand for accurate information ensures that Emerge can follow up with victims and partners to get firsthand reports of incidences of violence or abuse. The agency also contacts victims regarding the status of the client: whether he has been attending, has completed, or has been terminated from the program. Clients can use group sessions as a form of social support, to continue to work on themselves in a familiar, comfortable setting among men who can relate, either through cultural identity, family history, or lifestyle, etc. Emerge still emphasizes a focus on abusive behavior and not on the psychopathology of the abuser. Its relevancy in the field of social services and mental health services is evident.

This unique lens of being able to see the real-time applications of my HSSP courses for the coming semester is a huge motivator. I can attest to Professor Conrad’s principle that prevention and intervention are major elements of confronting the issue of domestic violence and other mental health problems, such as co-morbid substance abuse or long-term anger/violence. I recall another HSSP course, “Perspectives on Behavioral Health: Alcohol, Drugs, and Mental Health,” which provided me with an academic background of the current problems that Emerge clients deal with: ending addiction, understanding their own behavior, coping with past traumas and current stressors. I am enthused that I can apply information from my past classes to gain a greater understanding of the clientele, such as the impact of drug use on self-esteem and interpersonal relationships. Using this knowledge will allow me to conduct thorough personal history interviews and deduce key concerns related to the individual’s progress. Streamlining my own methodology will only allow me to better serve the needs of the client and victim, which is paramount to improving the nation’s Social Services in future decades.

Reflecting on the progress that Emerge has made as a pioneer domestic violence counseling center, it is obvious that there are still a few hurdles to overcome. Emerge offers services in Spanish and for other minority groups like LGBTQ individuals, and has a much higher completion rate than in decades past. Still, client attendance records suggest that we have yet to truly validate mental health care services as irrefutably necessary in today’s world. Social stereotypes still exist that may prevent clients from continuing group counseling, as many men believe that “real men don’t need help.” Agencies like Emerge have minimal influence to enforce attendance and participation. By examining Emerge’s past, and observing the present group sessions, I believe that I have a clear picture of where we have come from as a nation and where we are looking to go in the next few decades to improve the quality and image of mental illness and health services in the United States.

Elsie Bernaiche ’15

It has been two weeks since I arrived in Hinche, Haiti and began my experience at ETE Camp. These two weeks have been filled to the brim with new experiences and lessons learned. The first week was one of adjustments. The heat here is unlike what I have experienced anywhere else. Even after living in the northeast of Brazil for six months. Although I prefer the heat to any other weather, it took my body some time to adjust to the constant heat of the Caribbean sun especially during the day or on long car rides. Food and mosquitoes have been another adjustment. Hinche is a small town a two hour drive through the mountains from Port-au-Prince and is calm and laid back. Our first interaction with the students was Opening Day when over 100 parents and children came to try to take part in this free and educational opportunity. We registered and met the 60 children that I would be working with and learning from the next month.

From 8:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m., Monday- Friday nothing, including the mosquitos or the heat, matters besides the 60 wonderful, intelligent, creative, loving and energetic ETE camp scholars. A day in the life consists of Morning Motivation, breakfast, teaching three classes, lunch and an afternoon activity. There are four subjects being taught in one day: Math, Science, English Writing and Leadership and each teaching pair is off for one period. I have been co-teaching English Writing, and I have never met such eager to learn children who are so excited to be in school. They are always doing the best they can to learn as much as possible. Once in a while there are discipline issues to take care of as with any children but for the most part they are extremely well-behaved. The daily chorus of “Good Morning, Miss Amanda” has proven to always make me smile, as have the moments during meal times when the children sing their prayers in unison or someone grabs my arm and asks me to sit next to them.

The language barrier was another adjustment as I spoke no Creole and only some children spoke a couple of words in English. We have however come to an understanding and a rhythm of how to communicate without words or with the few we know of one another’s language. Both I and the students learn new vocabulary each day through interactions and in English class with Daily Words. In many instances words are not even needed to communicate as every child knows what a stern look means when they have done something wrong or what a smile and a sticker means when they have successfully completed a task. Through this they are also learning how to communicate with all people through a common language we all speak that doesn’t include words. Theses exchanges and their classes are contributing greatly to their growth into the leaders of Haiti and of the world that they all have an incredible potential to be.

Amanda Pereira ’15

The most advantageous aspect of interning at MCAD is how much interns are able to observe and become directly involved in the process. Throughout the course of our internships, we are scheduled to attend an investigative conference, a mediation conference, and an appeals hearing. These opportunities have allowed to me progress through my defined learning goals. Not only do I get a chance to read dozens of different cases, but I also get to see how different processes and steps work. During the mediation conference, I got to see a complainant and a respondent settle on a monetary amount after the complainant’s case was found by MCAD to have probable cause of discrimination. While I cannot go into great detail about the cases or the conferences, it has been great to get a chance to observe and ask the mediators and attorneys questions afterwards. Everyone is very willing to help and explain how the organization deals with differing situations. I am becoming more and more familiar with discrimination law, both on the state and federal level, just from my work with cases as I am usually the first person to see a case when it is sent to the housing department.

My goals for this internship included not only learning about discrimination law, but also figuring out if I am interested in pursuing a career in this area.   I already know that I want to go to law school and that I am interested in civil rights, but I wanted to see if I liked both working in anti-discrimination law and working for the state. As far as working for the state, I have found it a bit difficult to deal with the bureaucracy in general but admire the work that is done. I am learning that working for the state means being connected to different state and federal organizations as well. For example, when MCAD takes a housing case, we also have to file with HUD (Department of Housing and Urban Development). This means entering the case both into our system and HUD’s system (TEAPOTS), then waiting for approval. As the case goes on, there are tons of different steps that have to be taken. This allows the case to be reviewed by different organizations such as HUD and the BFHC (Boston Fair Housing Commission).

As far as working with anti-discrimination law, it still may be something I am interested in pursuing, but not at the state level. Cases tend to take an extremely long time just to be investigated because of how many cases each investigator is assigned to. I also want to be able to do other types of law and litigation along with anti-discrimination law.
Despite some reservations, I still find the internship to be enjoyable. Because there are so many interns, I have gotten a chance to become very close with some of them and we have lunch and go out all the time. I also feel that because I am in the housing department which is smaller, I have had to work harder to adjust and learn how to do things. This was difficult at first, but now I see it as a new skill (thinking on my feet) that I have had to develop as a result. This is something I believe will help me greatly in future internships and jobs. I also am honing skills in my attention to detail. At MCAD, it is crucial that everything be entered correctly. Even in intake, if we do something wrong when writing the complaint, often we cannot just change it but have to go through an amendment process because we are working with legal documents. This has taught me to be extremely cautious with my work, especially when people’s cases can be effected by the complaint I write for them.

Finally, I am most proud of the work I have been able to do on intake. As I mentioned in my first post, I am on intake for one full day a week and have to see clients and write complaints for them. First, the attorneys who review the complaints I write give me great feedback and have told me that my complaints are very well written. Also, I am especially proud of one of the complaints I wrote. The complaint went to the housing department so I got to enter it in and one of the best investigators took the case. She has scheduled an investigative conference in August so that I will be able to attend. I think the case is very strong for the complainant and I am looking forward to seeing how it turns out.

Veronica Saltzman

Taking a break from my internship, I sit in the campus center on the UMB campus. In front of me is an expansive array of flags overlooking the atrium. And also across from me, a fellow intern is hard at work, reading through articles related to her research project. After settling in with the organization, I split my time working in and outside of the office. Outside of UMB, you can usually find me at the Boston Public Library or various coffee shops around the area.

Just yesterday, I had my probationary interview with the staff at the Consortium. Since our first meetings after orientation, I have not had the chance to talk to the staff one-on-one. I looked forward to meeting with them again after spending the last few weeks getting to know each other. Talking with my supervisors this time around, I felt much more comfortable sitting in the office and discussing my work with the Consortium. In addition to the probationary meeting, I submit weekly updates to check in with the staff and create a plan of action for each new project that I take on. To keep a record of all the work I do with the organization, I also keep an individual plan of action for my time with the Consortium.

Since starting my internship, I have decided to take on projects that are less researched based, which was my initial focus when applying to the Consortium this summer. After completing an independent study project abroad, I had spent plenty of time researching and decided that I wanted a break from this type of work. The flexibility of the Consortium’s internship program allowed me to continue honing my research skills, while mainly focusing on non-research based projects. From completing budgeting documents to organizing the cloud storage space, I spend the majority of my time with administrative tasks for the organization. The nature of the internship requires however that every intern take on a research project and shortly after beginning my internship, I received my research topic, Gendered International Political Economies of War and Post-Conflict! My research topic relates well with my study of anthropology and economics at Brandeis and has shown me a new side of issues related to gender and armed conflict.

Aside from my main projects at the Consortium, I’m really proud of the way that the interns and staff have been bonding these past few weeks. My fellow Networking Director and I make sure to create plenty of opportunities for everyone to interact. We have planned lunches, trips to the zoo, and even yoga! My favorite type of event that we’ve had is definitely the intern and staff lunches outside. Overlooking the harbor, both intern and staff sit outside under the trees and picnic by the water. Already over a month into the internship, I cannot believe that in a few weeks I will be leaving the Consortium! Although a short period of time, that’ll be more than enough to have a few more lunches outside with my fellow interns and the staff.

Iris ’15

It’s been an exciting summer, to say the least.

During my first week I jumped right into action at MataHari, a Boston-based women’s social justice nonprofit organizing to end gender-based violence and exploitation.  The Domestic Workers’ Bill of Rights passed the Massachusetts Senate only a few weeks prior, and the Bill was on the slate for the MA House of Representatives the following week.  The excitement and energy in the office was huge.  MataHari had been organizing for the past four year with several other groups like the Massachusetts Domestic Workers’ Coalition on the Domestic Workers’ Bill of Rights to reach a vote in MA State congress.  Additionally, International Domestic Workers’ Day was the following Monday (June 16th) which added an extra layer of pressure to the big event.

In the midst of all the excitement, I began my work the Hacker in Residence Intern by developing a plan for MataHari’s new website, hoping for a timely launch near the prospective passage of the DWBoR.  I worked closely with my supervisor to discuss the essence of MataHari, the target audience, and other aspects necessary for developing a solid sitemap for a new website.  We both began to layout design suggestions as I looked into developing the requisite code for creating features to meet what we determined to be MataHari’s specific needs, a process during which I started to greatly improve my project planning skills, client communication skills, and technical (design and coding) skills – which are all part of my career and classroom goals I planned to hone this summer.  Perhaps the most invigorating part of this process, though, was talking with my supervisor Monique about what MataHari’s members (many of whom are domestic workers, caregivers, and women of color) were looking for in a site, what resources and information they wanted to see, and what their vision was for the organization.  One of the most enriching aspects of this work, and this internship in general, is just the ability to ask questions – of my supervisor, of other interns, and of community members – and to learn their thoughts on different social justice issues, such as the integration of community organizing, advocacy and legislation – and how they best see the intersectionality addressed in the realm of technology.

My enthusiasm and enrichment only grew the second week when we held the International Domestic Workers’ Day Celebration at the MataHari office.  As the interns and small staff prepared for the evening celebration, I began to learn a lot about our different working and communication styles – an aspect of having coworkers I hadn’t had to think so carefully about before.  It was a great learning experience, though, as throughout the late afternoon we started to communicate more effectively what we did and didn’t need in terms of instruction and organization.

I was in charge of the Karaoke, which according to my supervisor was to be the focal point of the celebration!  I was fairly nervous setting up the equipment and the technical details as I prepared to DJ in front of a crowded room of our sister organizations as well as community members and domestic workers whom I had not yet met!  As the other interns and I ushered folks into the room, I sat down and began to take requests.  Monique, our supervisor, told all the interns that as part of our “initiation” we had to sing!  While she said so jokingly, she did make the point that putting ourselves out there did help create a safer space for everyone to put themselves out there — and that “leadership” is, partially, reliant on demonstration, creating comfort for all other parties to step up and feel safe, and then stepping back as parties begin to feel confident in that space.

Karaoke was a true blast.  My fellow intern Chrystal and I sang the Spanglish version of “Wavin’ Flag” by K’naan and David Bisbal, and the room went wild.  MataHari members, caregivers, and children sprung up waving their hands back and forth, people sang along with us, and the energy among us was amazing.  Next, person by person and group by group people came up to me to request songs, and there was something beautiful about each performance.

While we were focused on celebrating International Domestic Workers’ Day and the passage of the Domestic Workers’ Bill of Rights in Congress, we also laughed, danced and sang together as a community, and that was when I saw the real power in the work we do.

– Emmy Calloway, 2015

I have been at my internship with the Greater Valley Area Health Education Center (GVAHEC) for just over a month, and it is incredibly gratifying to reflect on how much I have already accomplished.  I have taught four weeks of classes at the Maricopa Integrated Health Systems’ (MIHS) Family Learning Centers, helped implement a new program at GVAHEC that provides children with free meals, and also conducted data extraction and analysis for all individuals that came to GVAHEC within the last couple months.

The classes I have taught at MIHS clinics covered a range of public health and safety topics including Fire Safety, Firework Safety, Germs & Handwashing, and Bike Safety.  Next week I will be teaching a class on Sun Safety.  In addition to expanding my range of topics, I was given the responsibility to develop the curriculum and lesson plans for this next class on my own, from the ground up.  I am excited to see my hard work in action!  Most days, we have about 10 kids at each class, but every location is different, with different demographics and children of different ages.  Developing a curriculum for children aged 0-14 is difficult because of the large age range, but it has already been extremely rewarding.

On the campus of GVAHEC, we have begun working with Kids Cafe, a national movement to help give anyone under 18 free, healthy meals.  You can learn more about Kids Cafe here.  GVAHEC runs Kids Cafe on Tuesday and Thursday from 12:00-12:45, and on Wednesday nights from 5:30-6:15.  It is an amazing feeling to be able to hand a child a Kids Cafe package and to know that I am helping to feed a child that would otherwise go without a meal.  My fellow interns and I are leading this program.  In just a few weeks we have fed hundreds of children. Nothing has felt better than knowing I am improving the health of these kids.

My boss was out of town last week, so my fellow interns and I buckled down and did some intense paper work. When an individual comes into the center, they fill out a face sheet with demographic information and the resources they need.  We extracted this data into excel documents and analyzed the results.  This was a truly eye-opening experience.  For example, we discovered that in May 2014 only 3% of people that came through the center were ineligible for the Working Poor Tax Credit.  In other words, 97% of the people we help are living in poverty.  Crunching numbers and assessing data is vital to our work.  I personally learned about the full range of work and services we provide, and by assessing our efforts we yielded results that can now be used to receive more grant funding and to validate how much GVAHEC is doing.

I cannot choose just one thing I am proud of this summer.  Everything I am doing helped me confirm how much I truly want a future in Public Health, as well as how badly systemic changes are needed to improve the health of the individuals and communities we serve.  It is truly a great feeling to finally be comfortable in my work and to work alongside people who share my passion for service and change (and even to pig out sometimes with my fellow interns).  I also have the opportunity to meet regularly with my supervisor to discuss my work and expectations for the week ahead.  It is a little sad knowing I will be leaving GVAHEC in a few short weeks, but I am thrilled that I still have a lot to do before then!

I can’t believe how the time has flown! It has been over five weeks since I started interning at American Jewish World Service and although it’s not so obvious from day to day, when I look back over the past five weeks I can see that I have grown a tremendous amount.

I came into this internship with a few specific goals for myself, and I believe I am well on my way to reaching them. One of my goals was to gain a new level of independence, and living and working in New York City has been the perfect circumstance for reaching this goal. I have never before had to take on so much responsibility for myself as now.  Even though I lack my standard support system of parents, professors and close friends here, or rather because I lack that system, I have managed to cope with the everyday trials and tribulations of life on my own. I feel confident now in my ability to look after myself.

Professionally,  my goal for my time here is to network. This was not easy for me at first, but I’ve gotten the hang of it. I’ve already met with two colleagues outside of my department here to learn about their jobs, and I have appointments scheduled to meet with two more. Informally, I have also spoken with many other AJWS employees about their jobs and their personal stories. I can see that not only am I forming strong connections here, but I am also gaining the skills to do the same elsewhere.

Finally, I set myself the goal to try grow academically during the summer by gaining new skills that can also benefit me at school. One skill that I have really picked up from AJWS that will be helpful is self-reflection. My team here seems to truly value taking time out just to think as a tool for productivity. I have practiced that here and found that my work has improved after some reflection time. This is a skill I will take back with me to Brandeis.

I am monitoring my growth with the help of my supervisor, John, as he has taken special interest in supporting my professional development. Every week, the two of us sit down and go over my goals and work on how to further them. With John’s help, my goals are constantly in my mind, and I have them printed out and pinned to my cubicle wall. This has been very helpful.

Right now, I am most proud of the relationships that I am building. It is my natural inclination to keep to myself, but I have made an effort to get to know my fellow interns and colleagues, and I have been truly rewarded for this effort. I am forging true friendships this summer, and that is wonderful! I am also becoming very good at organizing social activities among the interns. Relationship-building skills are key, and I intend to carry these skills over to Brandeis, both academically and in my involvement with the Mock Trial Association. Thanks to AJWS, I’ve come to see the importance of creating and maintaining strong relationships in every aspect of life.

– Jessi Puterman ’15

Last summer, I dove head first into the realm of domestic violence prevention and treatment services. I was doe-eyed and fresh out of my first few HSSP courses, eager and inspired to affect change and challenge inequality. As all internships are meant to do, my previous summer’s experience gave me exposure and insight into a field with complex sociopolitical quandaries, and with only surface knowledge in the subjects of women’s health, mental health, and public policy, I was determined to get back on the horse and pursue another summer internship educating myself. Through the recommendation of my program director at NoVA (The Non-Violence Alliance, CT), I found Emerge, a Domestic Violence and Anger Management Counseling Service centered in Boston, MA, which, as I discovered within my first week, had more than enough resources to expand my knowledge in the field of social services. Founded in 1977, Emerge was the first abuser education program in the nation, and has been at the forefront of combating domestic violence and sexual abuse, taking an intersectional approach within the design of the curriculum.

David Adams, Executive Director of Emerge: Domestic Violence Training Video

I emailed the office manager, per request of the Emerge website, and heard back regarding a Skype interview within the week. By the next week, I was meeting with the program director and office manager via webchat to conduct a brief interview. I demonstrated my passion for the kind of work Emerge accomplishes, as well as my pseudo-expertise in working with clientele, probation offices, and DCF agencies, and soon enough, I was invited to come into the office for an introduction to the office setup and procedures. I was familiar with the design of the program: the client type was primarily male offenders, court-ordered to our program as part of their probationary conditions, referred by DCF as part of a service plan, or self-referred to better their current relationship. The program focused on two stages: an educational stage in which the men are instructed on the basics of respectful communication, self-talk, and various behaviors considered violent and abusive, such as verbal, psychological, or financial abuse, and a second stage where the group members are encouraged to hold each other accountable and provide a forum for discussion under the guidance and supervision of counselors.

The office initially introduced me to old client files, cases that had been completed or terminated, so that I could read original docket paperwork, monthly client status reports, and police reports. Working with files dating back to 1980, I had a plethora of data to peruse. I would manually enter the basic client information (date of birth, address, SSN, etc.) by default, but what enraptured me was always the life that was hidden within the paperwork. The image of each client began to take shape: ‘of X origin’, ‘carpenter’, ‘homeless’; bits of data that actually were significant indicators of the individual’s biopsychosocial environment, information that would prove essential to both understand the violent and abusive behaviors of the client and to develop an approach through which to communicate with the client. However, these cases were long-since closed, and I felt myself itching to get some hands-on interactive experience.

The program directors invited me into a second-stage group to begin observations of those sessions, and this gateway to living, breathing clients enabled me to connect the dots between what I could discover on paper about an individual versus what could be gleaned from interpersonal interactions. As in intern, I was not invited to participate, but rather was able to study the approaches of the counselors, analyze the behaviors and language of the clients, and form my own conclusions. After each session, the counselors were more than happy to answer my questions or respond to any comments I had regarding the group. I will continue to observe one English-speaking group, but I am hoping to travel to the Jamaica Plain location to observe the Spanish-speaking group sessions later this summer. I am especially interested to compare how different communication styles will translate in the Spanish-speaking group, as I am a Hispanic Studies and HSSP double major looking to pursue higher education in linguistics and counseling.

While Emerge will be another stepping stone in my path to navigating my place within the field of Social Services, I am not yet ready to move on from the field of domestic violence. There are infinite ways in which one can affect positive change, especially in this line of work; I have since pursued working with Prevention Services at Brandeis, and I intend to apply all the skills that this internship will instill in me to volunteer at a rape crisis center in the Waltham area. Working at Emerge, I hope, will allow me to find my niche, a job within the Social Services where I flourish, where I can produce positive outcomes in the lives of others; at Brandeis, I have found that the bureaucracy of state-funded or federally administered programs can hinder progress for both agency and client alike. Through my summer at Emerge, I expect to learn how to combat this dilemma and provide actual support services for clients to reduce the failure rate for men who have given up on the system. Furthermore, I am ecstatic to develop my spoken-language comprehension in Spanish and to foster connections with other counselors, social workers, and professionals in this field of work that will direct me in my career as a student and (soon-to-be) professional!

Elsie Bernaiche ’15

I am interning at the San Francisco District Attorney Office’s in downtown San Francisco. In the District Attorney Office’s, I am placed in the Victim Services Department. We provided advocacy and support to victims of crime and witnesses to crimes. The services we provided include: assistance with “Victim Compensation Program” claims; crisis intervention and emergency assistance; help navigating the criminal justice system; resources and referrals; restitution; witness relocation; transportation; and much more. All services are free of cost.

As an intern I have a variety of duties, including filling files, updating cases and meeting with clients. In the office, there are many victim advocates that need assistance with constant updates on their cases that are in court. At the same time, as an intern I get to make contact with the clients who come to our office to check them in or to see what services they might need. Furthermore, I assist the clients with filling out the Victim Compensation Program application – those who qualify may receive financial assistance for losses resulting from a crime when they cannot be reimbursed by other sources. The program can assist with medical, dental, mental health counseling, wage income financial support, funeral burial, and job retraining.

I am in a program called Students Rising Above and they help students find internships during the summer. There are many people who applied to this internship and the selection process was competitive and included an interview that took place in February. Two weeks after this interview, I was notified and offered an internship position. Later, I was then notified if I was interested in the Victim Services department. I looked into the services that were offered and was later contacted by a victim advocate to have a phone interview. He explained to me more of what the internship in their department was consisted of. He then said if this is something that you are interested in then we would gladly like to have you on our team.

On my first day of my internship, I was extremely nervous and excited to begin. I had no idea what to expect from the people that I would be surrounded by because it was a completely new environment for me. Once I met the victim advocates I realized that I was going to have the opportunity to learn about many aspects of the legal system. The relationship with the other interns is great because we each have an interest in the legal field that makes the internship twice as better. The advocates that I work with are great because they are willing to teach us about the many different cases that they are involved in. Furthermore, they are very encouraging about letting me learn and even go to the courts to see how it is all being played out. For the summer, I hope to gain knowledge about the other side of the legal system through the eyes of the victims.

– Estela Lozano, ’16

This summer, I have the incredible opportunity to work at a non-profit called Alliance for Justice (also known as AFJ) as a Development intern. I am working in their office in D.C., but they have a satellite office in Oakland, California and they do work all across the country. Alliance for Justice is an association of over 100 organizations including organizations as diverse as the Children’s Defense Fund, Legal Aid Society, and the Sierra Club, that are dedicated to ensuring that all Americans have the right to have their voice heard in the governmental process and to secure justice in the judicial system. AFJ accomplishes this in two ways. First, through its Justice program, it directs its own advocacy resources to fight for a fair and independent judiciary that respects the rights of citizens and second, through its Bolder Advocacy Initiative, it helps other nonprofits engage in advocacy to affect change. Alliance for Justice also produces a film ever year that deals with controversies or injustices within the legal system. If you want to learn more about AFJ, they have a really great website here: http://www.afj.org/.  If you think you or your organization are seeking ways to increase the impact of your advocacy, bolderadvocacy.org, has some very informative tools as well as simple explanations of the laws governing non-profit advocacy.

I found this position while scrolling through B.hired, wondering if there was any possible way I could combine my passion for justice with a desire to explore the non-profit setting. It was lucky that Brandeis has such great online resources for cover letters, interviews, and searching for internships because job hunting as a study abroad student, an ocean away from your ideal market, can be intimidating. After my initial cover letter submission, I had a Skype interview for the first time, which was interesting. AFJ thought my fundraising experience on the Brandeis Debate Team would be a good match for development. A few days after my Skype interview, Chloe Hwang, AFJ’s Development Associate and my current supervisor, sent me an e-mail offering the job. I was so excited to work for an organization with such an interesting purpose.

As a Development intern, my duties include researching current and prospective donors and foundations, drafting briefings for meetings with donors and foundations, and providing support for the Development staff in the form of administrative and research tasks. This past week I have been researching foundations in Los Angeles to determine where AFJ might consider applying for grants. We also have our annual Justice First! Luncheon next Tuesday so the entire Development team is finishing up preparations for the event. It is a very busy time for Development. I feel like I have already been involved as part of the Development team which is so rewarding to experience as an intern. I have a few different learning goals this summer.  Additionally, I look forward to examining how the implementation of social justice works in practice. So much of my time at school is spent thinking about the theories behind social justice that it can become too abstract. On a more professional level, I intend to learn more about networking and how to form mentor-ships this summer. As a rising senior, I am beginning to think about applying for jobs next year and many people say that networking is vital to that endeavor.  I am really excited to further contribute to Development by sharpening my research skills and learning more about how a Development office functions within a non-profit.

Last week, I started my internship at the Greater Valley Area Health Education Center (GVAHEC) and am already learning and doing more than I expected. The center is located on the same campus as LifeBridge Resource Center and LIBRES (Legal Immigration-Based Resources and Education Services). The partnerships between LifeBridge, GVAHEC, and LIBRES are clear. For example, if an individual comes in needing food/clothing, help with housing, and legal help with their citizenship status, they would first come through the LifeBridge resource center. There they would have access to clothing and a food box. They would then come to GVAHEC, where I work, for a transitional housing application and sit with a resource counselor to learn about their options. After that appointment, they would next meet with someone from LIBRES, and learn about their options related to their citizenship.

Although I am only in my first week, I am already working on four different types of projects and taught a week of classes at Family Health Centers on Fire Safety across Phoenix! Coming in to this internship, I thought my role would be based mostly on clinical interventions since I am an EMT and like helping in a hands-on manner.  I am learning through this internship that there are other ways to make a difference.  For example, in my epidemiology course, we learned about primary, secondary, and tertiary preventions, and through this public health internship I will actually be doing all three.  On the primary intervention level, I am teaching classes to kids about various health risks like Firework Safety and Bike Safety as well as developing my own curriculum on Staying Safe in the Sun. In the realm of secondary intervention, we help people who are struggling with their bills by helping to pay for their utilities and prescription co-pays in the hopes that assistance will help them stabilize their finances. In this role, I sit with members to learn how they are struggling and help offer our resources. On the tertiary level, when individuals are facing eviction, we help connect them with shelters and transitional housing programs.

Public health is not only about taking vitals and using stethoscopes. All of these roles that I am playing help our community.  On my first day, a woman came in who was living out of her car with her two boys.  Because of this, one of the boys had a heat stroke from being out in the Arizona sun all day and had to go to the emergency room.  We helped the mother complete an application for transitional housing, and she is staying at a hotel until she is accepted. Housing, utilities, prescriptions, and insurance are all related to having a healthy lifestyle, and at GVAHEC, we are giving people and families in our community support to an array of interconnected factors that are important to having a healthy and stable life.

To learn more about my internships, follow these links:
http://www.gvahec.org/index.php/aboutus
http://www.lifebridgeaz.org/index/welcome

In the beginning of my internship, I was overwhelmed by the new faces and names that were thrown at me on a daily basis, and probably like every other new intern, nervous of my reception. However, now I have made good friends in both the Bioko Island Malaria Control Project and the Equatorial Guinea Malaria Vaccine Initiative and everyday I learn more about them. I look forward to the morning greetings, the daily giggles, the invitations to eat lunch in a coworker’s apartment, and the conversations on the ride home with the BIMCP driver who is always “on his way” and 15 minutes late. In fact, the relationships I’ve built with my diverse coworkers is my proudest accomplishment so far.

I was lucky enough to grow up a traveler and because of that I am always eager to try new things, constantly carrying an open mind on my shoulders. During my time here, I have seen my coworkers appreciate this quality about me, and have opened up to me because of it. I think that’s a very important lesson that I’ve learned when working in a different country, and it can lead to not only great relationships, but also a greater exploration in the country you are working in and in the job that you are working for.

On a daily basis I take on many roles: translator, computer technician, listener, supporter, assistant, creator, editor, student, and teacher. However, I can monitor my steady progress when I reflect on my goals I set for myself before my internship started.

My first goal was to conquer the new data compiling system. During my internship I have had the chance to test the system at different levels and typed up summary reports of the errors and suggestions I had. I have been able to make a good impact on the system and have even met with the system’s supervisor and developer that came to visit EG. It was great to suggest my ideas in person and be involved in meetings regarding the development of the system.

Even though it was planned that I be a part of a running clinical trial; I have learned that clinical trials don’t always go according to plan. Therefore, over the past weeks I’ve been concentrating on pre-clinical trial work. Recently, I’ve been nose deep in formatting, editing, and reviewing study documents (general, lab, clinical, hospital). I also created a map of patient flow during the clinical trial, participated in an HIV counseling training in Spanish and aided in nurse recruitment. I have also improved my Spanish during my stay here, constantly breaking outside my comfort zone. I’ve proof read and translated documents as well as assisted in translation between teams.

Right now, I’m planning on taking a gap year between undergrad and medical school. After working at MCDI for some time I would love to work for MCDI during the gap year. I’m thankful to have already made great friends and connections. Although, I’m not certain of what I would like to do after medical school, I have reconfirmed my desire to work overseas and have decided that I want to pursue an MD/MPH degree as well. Although finding myself is going to be a long journey, I’m glad that I’ve started to take a few steps!

– Jessenia Knowles ’15

“Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.”

– Emma Lazarus

Sadness needs no translation. Sofia’s[1] rapid Spanish rolled over me in waves as I sat sunk into couch cushions. Beyond “Best Western” and “cleaning maid” I relied on another intern’s translation. In the cool of a church basement in East Boston, we absorbed Sofia and Isabella’s stories. They shared a common theme: each was injured at work, their employer denied the injury had occurred on the job, and they lost their jobs.

Massachusetts Coalition for Occupational Safety and Health seeks to advocate and help injured workers like Sofia and Isabella. Their worker’s center helps injured workers, who primarily hail from Boston’s thriving immigrant community, navigate the workers’ compensation system. This summer, another intern and I will be compiling a report on the Massachusetts workers’ compensation system. We are actively interviewing attorneys, injured workers, and experts to explore the contributing factors in cases of delayed medical treatment and inadequate wage replacement benefits.

When a worker is injured on the job their employer is mandated to report the injury to the Department of Industrial Accidents and pay for medical treatment and lost wages through insurance. Most of the time injured workers receive benefits without a fight. However, this process often takes a different turn for Boston’s immigrant workers. The workers that MassCOSH assists are predominantly non-English speaking, undocumented, and earn on or below the minimum wage. These immigrant workers must sometimes face their employer and its insurance company in a prolonged legal battle in pursuit of payment for medical treatment and lost wages.

The state workers’ compensation system is a mesh of contradictory incentives and complex steps. Employers without workers’ compensation sometimes attempt to avoid fines by leaving injured workers at the hospital and denying any responsibility or relationship. Employers with insurance also sometimes try to deny responsibility to avoid increasing insurance premiums. Conversely, some workers fake an injury to dishonestly collect benefits. Additionally, both lawyers and insurance companies are driven by profit incentives on opposite sides of the fight, decreasing opportunity for negotiation.

This legal battle hurts everyone involved. Injured workers’ health deteriorates as treatment is delayed, which increases the cost to the employer, insurance company, and state. Many injured workers already face socio-economic disadvantages such as minimal education and an inability to speak English. When you consider the financial power of employers and insurance companies it truly becomes a David and Goliath fight.

Over the course of this summer we are collecting testimonies from various individuals connected to the workers’ compensation system. Lawyers and experts have proven enthusiastic to share their frustrations, each with their own specific grievances. We also intend to collect approximately fifteen worker testimonies to give our report a human touch. We have met with government employees from the Department of Industrial Accidents as well as individuals in the Occupational and Safety field. We hope to gain a holistic and balanced perspective of a system within which injured workers have so much at stake.

This comprehensive report is intended to identify elements of the workers’ compensation system that harm all parties involved. An ineffective system financially drains employers, insurance companies, workers, and the state. Through a national comparison of workers’ compensation systems as well as interviewing lawyers, workers, and experts we hope to identify the most needed changes. Hopefully, this report will inform MassCOSH’s advocacy and precipitate meaningful change within the Massachusetts’ workers’ compensation system.

– Mia Katan’ 15

[1] Names changed for privacy purposes

It’s hard to believe that I’m already at the midpoint of my internship with the Massachusetts Department of Public Health! They say time flies when you’re having fun, but I’d like to edit that for my internship experience with the Sexual Assault Prevention and Survivor Services (SAPSS) Unit: time flies when you’re learning something new every day, especially when it’s about a field that encompasses so many of your interests, goals and passions.

When I started my internship, I was looking forward to combining my passion for social justice with my major in Women’s and Gender studies, while also learning more about the field of public health in general, and testing the waters in terms of whether I’m interested in something like this as a career. So far, I definitely feel like I’ve done that. The projects I’ve been working on at the DPH have provided me with chances to learn new, applicable career skills (like proficiency with data analysis software, and team organizing) as well as feel like I am really helping to “make a difference,” in terms of the support that my unit provides to rape crisis centers throughout Massachusetts. The longer I work with SAPSS, the more I see how vitally important that DPH support is to the organizations doing on-the-ground work, and it’s exciting for me to be a part of that. I’ve also had the chance to network with many professionals in the field, through being able to attend conferences, summits and workshops about sexual violence prevention; this was one of my career goals for my summer internship, and it’s been an exhilarating experience so far!

I am most proud of the work I’ve done with staffing a Governor’s Council committee, called the Higher Education Sexual Assault/Domestic Violence Working Group.  This project requires me to set up conference calls with various committee members, take notes on these calls, as well as compile and distribute a monthly digest and plan for committee meetings.  I’ve really honed my people skills, organizational techniques and leadership ability through this opportunity. Staffing the Governor’s Council committee initially seemed like a daunting challenge, but has proved rewarding in that I am directly helping professionals to create serious change in their communities and beyond. I’ve been able to weigh in on conference calls and conversations not only as a moderator or an intern, but as someone whose opinion on the topic really matters, which is incredibly valuable.  I’ve learned so much from the committee members themselves, as well as my supervisors who have helped me out with many of the technical aspects of the project which seemed especially difficult at first, making my work with the committee my favorite project yet.

Speaking of those supervisors… what I most appreciate about this internship experience so far is how willing my co-workers are to provide opportunities for me to learn new things. Whether that means assigning me a type of task I may never have tackled before, or inviting me along to a meeting about social media and public health, I’m never at a loss for chances at personal growth and professional development. I’m excited for the second half of my internship with the DPH… if it goes as quickly as the first, I’ll be writing my final blog post in no time!

CECYTEM-EMSAD is an organization located in the rural town of Poturo Michoacán, México. The weather is incredibly insane because one day we have temperatures of over 108 degrees Fahrenheit with 80% humidity, while other days there is non-stop rain with severe thunder and lightning. It is very incredible to see the differences in culture and customs that this Mexican community practices and for me to learn about their intercultural roots. Although, I walk a distance of about an hour and fifteen minutes every day to get to my internship site despite rain or shine, this experience provides me with further insight into the struggles and challenges these families face while living in impoverished conditions. They have very limited access to health care and education, and the nearest hospital is located about six hours on bus from the town.

CECYTEM-EMSAD is affiliated with the Secretaría de Educación Gobierno del Estado of Michoacán Mexico, meaning that this agency’s funding is provided directly from the government. They obtain a limited budget, but despite this challenge the organization tries to deliver the best quality health care and education that they can. The mission of this organization is to educate and provide health care assistance to people in need. The town’s population is 500 people, and all of them live in impoverished conditions.  I spend a lot of time exploring the village and visiting families at their homes, which allows me to see the real living conditions of these families and assists me in adjusting the services and programs I am providing to this population to fit their lifestyles.

Most of the work that this organization does is provide very basic health care to children, teens, and adults. They also provide schooling for children and teens. However, this town is not technologically advanced and the organization itself does not have any new type of innovate medical or educational instruments that can provide better health and educational outcome for this population. At CECYTEM-EMSAD I form part of the organization’s committee and they consider me as the “right-hand” for this organization. They believe that as a foreigner I have been exposed to more experiences and have a well-rounded background both from my previous volunteer experiences and education that I can help alter this organization and help them obtain better health and educational outcomes.

I am the first intern for this organization, and I have various internship responsibilities at this site. First and foremost, the main goal of this internship, as discussed with my supervisor, is to develop activities and deliver services that strengthen the health and educational outcomes of this community. This will ultimately help solve health and educational disparities and strengthen the intercultural ties in Poturo. That said, I am working directly with the community doctor as his nurse assistant and take patient vitals as well as provide information sessions about psychological, nutrition and special needs for the healthy development of the children that attend the clinic. A large portion of the population that I am working with includes mothers with special needs children. Currently, I have three cases in progress. I am working individually with these mothers, providing support by by helping them understand better their child’s developmental disabilities. I also provide therapy to the children such as Speech, Occupational, Gym, Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA) and other therapies.

I am also interning at the school and working directly with 126 teens. I am teaching them English and also speaking to them about sexual and preventative health care. I use very interactive activities and games to help these students learn and comprehend all the material I am presenting them with. Because school is almost over, my supervisor and I spoke and I will be delivering these services in small groups and individually, which is going to be closely supervised by my supervisor.

I found out about this internship through the help of my cousin. Last summer I had been searching about internships abroad and thought that Mexico would be the greatest place to intern because there is a lot of disparities when it comes to medical assistance and education. I got in contact with my supervisor in October and from there on we stayed in contact until now. He was a great support system and seems to trust me in all the cases and services I am delivering from the help of his organization to the people.

My first week was very chaotic and unforgettable. When I first saw the village and the clinic and school I was going to working at I could not believe it. There was sand and dirt everywhere and the suns rays beating down on my bare skin. Cows, horses, chickens, and other animals freely walking around, I was completely astonished. I saw the living conditions of these people and could not believe how they could survive in these conditions. I arrived late Monday night and on Tuesday June 17, 2014, my supervisor took me to the school introduced me to the staff and my work began.

I have made many new connections with the staff and students at the town. I can see that they see me as a new support system. I have also gained a lot of trust in the mothers that come to the clinic and I hope to work with many others. This is a very patriarchal society, and some of my views are questioned. However, I make sure that they understand that I did not come to change their customs, but rather open the door to new information and opportunities.

The biggest expectation that I hope to gain from this internship is altering the health and educational lives of many individuals. I want let them know about their rights, resources and integrate a new ideas into their system. I want to build a strong medical and social model in this community and let them know that although they can continue to visit their village “curandera,” they now have better access to health and information due to the implementation of my various services and programs, I began with collaboration with CECYTEM-EMSAD.

I had a great first week as the development intern at United for a Fair Economy!

It was a wonderful welcome and I have learned a lot already. My first day started with a bagel breakfast so that I could meet the whole staff and get to know them a bit. Everyone is incredibly friendly and nice and welcoming, even to a lowly intern. 🙂  Jamie and Suzanna, my supervisors in the Development team, showed me around the office and gave me lots of materials to read about UFE, its work, and the development plan. They also introduced me to the database (of contacts, donors, donations, etc.) and showed me how to enter and find information and how to process gifts. Then it was my turn to do some gift processing on my own.

UFE is in a bit of a transition phase, with the recent departure of the Executive Director, a few other staff changes, and with a new five-year strategic plan that goes beyond education and awareness to focus more on challenging economic inequality. You can read more about this transition on the UFE blog. This meant that with so much going on in the organization, I was able to step up to the plate and be independent in my work even within my first few days, and my supervisors greatly appreciated that.

I also had the opportunity to choose some projects to take on for the summer. I will be creating a donor survey (in order to learn more about UFE’s donors and what we can do to improve future development campaigns) and also designing a new brochure for the organization. I will also be working on fundraising emails, mailings, and more during the day-to-day operations of the development team.

I found this internship through Hiatt’s B.Hired job & internship database. The listing caught my attention because the organization looked like one that I would like to work for and that I could learn a lot from. Economic inequality is an issue that I feel strongly about and on which I have worked in other ways – e.g. with the hunger and homelessness club at Brandeis and with an organization in Lima, Peru that works with people in a poorer community on local development projects – but never on a large-scale political level. And, although my interests lie more along the lines of communications, I knew that development is closely linked and would be another important skill-set to have. I applied for some other internships as well, but after my interview with Jamie I felt that this one would be a good choice.

The office is located in the Financial District of downtown Boston – a very interesting place. It’s bustling with people during the day, especially during the lunchbreak hours, and completely empty and closed up after about 7pm. The UFE office (it recently moved) is now across the street from a lovely little square that happens to be on the Freedom Trail. So, among the suited up businesspeople there are also lots of tourists and guides in colonial-era costumes. It’s quite an eclectic and interesting mix, and I enjoy my short walks for coffee and/or lunch during the day.

I am looking forward to learning a lot this summer – and I have already begun to! Personally, my goal is to gain experience and confidence in a professional environment. Specifically, I am looking forward to the experience of working in a small nonprofit with a complex, multi-level approach to socioeconomic inequalities. This presents a unique set of challenges, especially because of the wide range of actors and interests involved. Professionally, my goal is to learn how development functions are carried out in a nonprofit, as well as how that interacts with other functions, such as marketing and communications, and other operations of the organization. I also hope to gain experience in professional interaction with clients/donors. Academically, I hope to learn about economic inequalities – their causes, how they manifest in US society, and their effects. I also aspire to learn about the various actors and strategies involved in addressing economic inequalities.

I think it will be a good summer!

I only just started my work at AVODAH, and I can already see that my work will directly affect change. AVODAH is organisation which fights to strengthen the Jewish community’s fight against domestic poverty in the United States. We run two a programs: a service corps, and a fellowship. Our corps members are stationed in four US cities: Washington DC, Chicago, New Orleans, and our main office, where I work, is in New York. All of these cities suffer from poverty, and that’s where we can best affect change. Our corps members work for legal aid firms, social work agencies, public health institutions, family agencies, and other social institutions that aim to aid those in need. While they work hard to fight poverty, they also receive leadership training and development, hear from speakers, and they live together in a house so that they can be fully embraced by social justice. The houses serve as centers of thought and support for our corps members to thrive in their work, and living together allows them to grow together in their work, through the Jewish values that they all share.

While fighting poverty through a Jewish lens, we also prepare the next generation of Jewish communal leaders, who appreciate our tradition and want to make change. Our fellowship serves to spread the AVODAH magic among those already in the non-profit work force. Fellows enter a professional development program, that instils Jewish ideas and ideals into the anti-poverty work that’s being done. While all of our corps members and fellows do different work, they all have a common goal: to end domestic poverty in the United States.

I found my internship on Hiatt’s website B.Hired. B.Hired is a job/internship listing built for Brandeisians, and sure enough, I found a job perfect for me and my Brandeisian identity. At AVODAH I am the recruitment intern. I work closely with all the AVODAH staff, and my main responsibilities are threefold: strategizing how best to reach out to individuals who may benefit from our programs; intensive research into contacts at universities, Hillels, and other social justice non-profits; and establishing relationships with these individuals, not only to advertise and recruit for our programs, but also to transmit the same ideals that drive our work and mission, into the minds of others.

I already have been exposed to many different aspects of non-profit work. In the short time I have been at AVODAH I have attended two organisation events. The first event was an educational program on faith based community organising. We learned about how we can band groups together to affect change through common goals and a common faith tradition. The second event was donor relations related, and in preparing for/ working at it I was able to learn even more about non-profit work. I hope to come out of my time at AVODAH having learned about the workings of non-profit management, but even more so, about the many different ways to combat domestic poverty in the United States. I already feel myself contributing to that effort, and I hope my time at AVODAH proves to be both educational and enlightening.

– Ariel Kagedan ’16

From personal experience, I have learned that access to education is one avenue that can completely change the destiny of an individual and a community. Shaina Gilbert (Brandeis ’10) also knew this when she started Empowering Through Education Camp in Hinche, Haiti in 2008. When she started the camp she thought it would serve as a one year event and never expected that through the help of donors, volunteers and the community, it would be running for six consecutive years.

ETE camp is made up of over 150 of Hinche’s most vulnerable youth and is focused on preparing them to become future leaders by strengthening their academic skills, increasing self-confidence, and actively building community and parental support. Through critical classes like Math, Literacy and Leadership Building, academic skills are strengthened. By promoting teamwork and leadership the self-confidence of the students is increased and works to better many areas of their lives. Finally, active community building and parental support is created by connecting them with respected community leaders such as the mayor, and planning community-wide events that allow parents to witness the development and potential of their children through education as well as hosting an afternoon adult English learners class.

For the first part of my internship, I have been working on preparation work for the four week camp to come. The camp is set to begin with an Open House on Sunday, July 6th with the first day of camp beginning on the following day and running until the final Closing Ceremony on August 1st. Prep work has included inventory, data entry, curriculum development, researching cost efficient supplies and grant writing. In order to be ready for the many excited campers inventory and data entry needed to be done to ensure that there were enough supplies such as notebooks, pens, pencils and hand sanitizer. During the month of June, I also worked with Shaina, who is currently a teacher in Boston, to help develop the curriculum that we will be using during ETE Camp 2014. It is important that in order to ensure that ETE Camp continues to run smoothly in years following, financial research for the most cost efficient supplies and grant writing needed to be taken care of. During the length of the camp, I will be co-teaching English classes as well as leading leadership and extracurricular activities. Finally, staff bios were put together for ETE Camp’s website about this year’s staff including one about me.

I found out about ETE Camp through a friend and Brandeis alum who attended and helped fundraise for ETE camp in previous years. When he told me about his experience and how the camp came to be, I knew that it was something I needed to be a part of. He put me in contact with Shaina and after speaking to her about the work that she has been doing I was blown away by her drive and the stories she shared with me about the children who she has worked with. So far my experience just in making preparations has proven to be even better than I had expected and I cannot imagine what it will be like upon my arrival to Haiti on July 4th. I am so excited to meet and begin working with the wonderful and intelligent children of Hinche who will be attending this year’s camp. I have spoken to other volunteers and have heard only amazing things about the passion and love these children have for learning and for life. This will truly be a life-changing experience and I look forward to learning how to develop my teaching and leadership skills as well as what it takes to run a camp such as this one. More than anything, I am looking forward to learning all that the children have to teach me both about their community and about life. I hope and believe this experience will be one of mutual growth and learning and I am counting down the days until take off on Friday, July 4th!

Amanda Pereira