Daily Archives: August 5, 2019

Different Sides of the Aisle by Braxton Jenkins

CoCoDA stressed to me and other travelers on the Friends of CoCoDA Tour that we must be culturally humble when we travel to different communities in Central America. We must understand that we are probably not accustomed to how people live in underdeveloped countries. If we are not aware of this, our interactions may have be negative without us actually realizing it. After returning, I have realized it is almost more difficult to be culturally humble in the United States. That is an incomplete conclusion. I was in Central America (El Salvador and Nicaragua) for 2 weeks and have traveled to Haiti and Guatemala with WAVES for 2 weeks total before this summer. Cultural humility is not easy abroad, but it is simple when I only have to be there for a short amount of time. I have spent the rest of my life in the U.S., and cultural humility is still an intense learning process.

The ethics of service are strikingly similar from country to country. Working with Central American employees and serving people in developing countries is almost the exact same. In the last week of my internship, CoCoDA sent me to Bloomington, Indiana to shadow the founder and president of Whole Sun Designs, a solar panel installation company. I participated in 8 site visits between the president and clients that were pre-installation and close-out meetings. The men I worked with were intentional and visionary about the details of installing the next few projects, planning projects four weeks in advance, and directing the company in the direction they want it to go. The president had high, though reasonable expectations for everyone. I knew CoCoDA functioned like this as a non-profit serving under-resourced people in Central America. I watched Whole Sun Designs do this as a for-profit, and it changed how I thought a business could operate and still reap amazing results. Successful businesses do not have to choose which clients to hold in contempt or treat employees with partiality.

I was surprised at how the president and employees wove integrity and fairness to each other and their customers as integral to the company’s operation. Our conversations in the site visits, which were usually at people’s houses, reminded me of when I evaluated solar panel systems in El Cacao, Nicaragua. We were just as respectful to their homes and ensured we understood how they wanted to use their system. For example, the president could recommend taking a tree down to maximize sunlight on one part of the roof. He would not follow through with it if the client did not want it. People also showed us awesome parts of their property that they had developed. They were proud of it just like homeowners in Central America were proud of their home development. The only difference between serving clients of Whole Sun Designs and CoCoDA is who could afford the system and who could not. That single difference introduces a running lists of nuances that lead can lead to poor service in developing countries for those who do not continuously collaborate with their clients.

Indiana itself has flooded me with varying levels of emotions that are common nuances in life in life in this country. I know how Indiana has treated black people in the past, so I had to be mindful of that everywhere I went. The threat was not as serious in Indianapolis or Bloomington, but I could not get it out of my mind. I stayed at the house of the president of Whole Sun Designs for two nights. I could not believe that we drove for 20 minutes through forest to get to his house. I am from Chicago. I have buildings and streetlights, not open land and trees. The hills reminded me of Nicaragua’s landscape more than anything else! The president’s roommates were very welcoming people; so was everyone else I met. I have been to many cities in the U.S., yet cultural humility seems more complicated to exercise here than abroad. That is probably because I live here and encounter different cultures on a regular basis rather than touring other countries for a week at a time.

I have not yet gotten into the nitty-gritty of commitment to community development, or business development. I am thankful for this summer internship because I have been exposed to methods of doing both ethically. I will not have to shift into my career thinking there are only avenues to success that are cut-throat. Pragmatism, realism, and respect will be enough.

Growing Home by Michele Poindexter

 

During my most recent reflect-in with CAPS, Katie asked us what we have grown into this summer. It took me a while to think of an answer. There are many ways in which I have grown this summer, but thinking of something about myself or capabilities that I have grown into proved more difficult. However, after reflecting about my past internships and how they have ultimately led me to Growing Home, I realized my answer. In these past several years, and especially this summer, I have increased my knowledge, passion, and skills for working in food access and community engagement. I still have plenty to learn, but I have grown into my confidence that I am capable of doing this work and doing it well. As I look forward to my future – I have graduated and will be starting a new chapter of my life soon – this realization is incredibly important for me.

As I continued to reflect, I realized that I could not have grown into this confidence without one very important, consistent aspect. Whether it be on a small farm in Northwest Indiana, a backyard farm in Wilmington, North Carolina, or on an urban farm in Chicago, strong women farmers have been present. Agriculture is historically, and presently, a male dominated profession. It is incredibly labor intensive, requires a lot of endurance, you get really dirty, and you see lots of bugs. For these reasons, and several more, women are not typically seen as capable of farming. Yay gender stereotypes and prejudices!…NOT. With that said, having met and worked alongside incredible women farmers has been such an empowering experience for me. I often feel incapable, downtrodden, and in over my head when I think about working in this industry, but having the influence of these women in my life gives me the strength that I need to push forward and pursue my passions. Then maybe someday, I will be for another young woman what these women have been for me.

As I do move forward, past my life in college, I plan to keep these realizations close to my heart. As I search for a job, I need to be confident in my abilities and in the fact that my gender does not diminish my qualifications for the industry I want to work in. If I do start to get those doubtful voices in my head, I will remind myself of the wonderful community of agricultural and food access workers that I have become a part of. Knowing that I have this source of support and knowledge will, hopefully, renew my confidence so I can continue working alongside others toward the goal of access to affordable and healthy food for all.

As my fellowship officially comes to a close, the two most important things that I have learned are that I am capable and I am stronger with a community. I think those are pretty great lessons to take away from a summer internship.

Creating Unity, Amidst Diversity by Ben Montgomery

I first heard this phrase when I was fifteen and participating in the Ulster Project, a cross-cultural program designed to build relationships between protestants and Catholics in Northern Ireland. The project was created in response to historical conflict between these two groups and the goal was to bridge the divide between these two groups by building relationships and inviting dialogue about differences. Throughout my placement, this phrase has repeatedly entered my thoughts. While at Valpo, life is encapsulated into a bubble, one which I love, but also one that is comprised of people who come from similar backgrounds, speak the same language, and think in similar ways. I have likely never been amidst the level of diversity that I have experienced this summer which is one of the things I have appreciated most about my placement. During my week I am surrounded by people of different religions, nationalities, ethnicities, and languages. Old people, children, Hispanic people, Islamic people, African people, the list goes on. Part of what I like about my placement is the welcoming of this diversity on the path to creating unity. I am working with ICDI, the Interfaith Community for Detained Immigrants. Diversity was important enough to my organization that they included “interfaith” in their title. Diversity is obviously important when working with immigrants as they are people that come from all over the world. The people I interact with were raised with different values, customs, and traditions and the differences are certainly evident but there is something so meaningful about people coming together and having dialogue and working together across those difference to grow to appreciate them. The people who I work alongside, as well as those we are working to help are coming from different backgrounds but we all come together under a unified goal: to remedy a humanitarian crisis and to provide dignity and basic needs to immigrants and refugees in Chicago. This is why the phrase, “creating unity, amidst diversity” has been cropping up in my thoughts all summer and this is one of the things I have found most valuable about working with ICDI.

Not All New Things Can Be Packed Up by Haley Brewer

I love knick-knacks. Probably more than it is healthy — a part of me is so excited to be an old lady just because that’s when it becomes socially acceptable to buy multiple glass cases and showcase your dollar-bin souvenirs like treasures.

With my time in the CAPS program coming to an end, I’ve been in the process of packing up my things and, after going through all my things, I realized how much more stuff I’ve obtained during my time in Chicago.

These items document my summer almost as well as I could have if I wrote it all out. Some of the items include: A postcard from the Art Institute with Nighthawks by Edward Hopper printed on it. A small yellow waving cat I got from Chinatown. A box of chopsticks I also got from Chinatown, albeit on a different visit. A map for the Adler Planetarium. The poetry book Pole Dancing to Gospel Hymns by Andrea Gibson I got from a secondhand bookstore. A photostrip my friend and I got at a music festival in June. A skincare free sample from a booth at the farmers market. A pink sheer scarf and moonstone ring shaped like a heart, both of which my roommate promised were “my aesthetic.” A playbill for Come From Away. A food ticket from Taste of Chicago. Postcards my mom sent this summer. A journal and tin of tea I received as a going away present from my coworkers.

But, after looking through all these odds and ends, I realized there were so many more things I’ve gained this summer that I can’t stuff in a suitcase for move-out. These nonphysical things include: a steadier confidence, as well as a healthy amount of independence. Work experience by the loads. Connections with a career path I’m interested in. Insight into the nonprofit world, and what goes behind a successful organization (hint: it’s very passionate people). And while these things aren’t physical, they just as if not more valuable than the rest of the belongings I’m lugging back to Northwest Indiana.

Today is my last day of work and my last night in the city. This past week I’ve been allowing myself to splurge on my favorite city foods and drinks, as it’ll probably be the last time for a while I’ll have such easy access to it all. But even though I’ll be missing a lot about Chicago and my apartment/internship here, I’m so excited for my last year at Valpo. It’s gonna be a great year, and I’m sure I’m going to pack-rat even more knick-knacks and experiences.