Dealing With No!

The adventure continued for yet another week. One interesting moment that particularly stands out in my mind is being told, NO! I picked up a family of four to transport to the doctor. The family had two small children. The little girl went into her car seat just fine and I told the father the little boy would also need to be put in a car seat. I got back in the van and waited. The Mother climbed in the van with her 3 year old son and they sat three rows back from the front of the van. The father explained that he needed to run back inside so I sat waiting. I noticed that the Mother laid her son in her lap but since she spoke no English I did not comment on the fact he needed to go into the car seat. The Father returned and said we are ready. I told the father once again that he just needed to put the son in the car seat before we would be able to take off. He talked in Arabic to the Mother who looked at me and said, NO! I said back, "Oh, I know it is such a pain to have a little one in the car seat but really he has to go in one! I explained about the law and the Father and Mother looked back at me and said, NO! The Father proceeded to explain the son would cry and does not like the car seat so it just would not work. After three attempts of politely trying to explain the necessity of the car seat, I finally stated to the Father, "I am sorry but you are running late to your doctor's appointment. I will not be able to move the car until the child is in a car seat. We can sit here if you would like but I won't be able to move until he is in a car seat." After a few moments of the parents speaking to each other in Arabic the Father crawled in the back seat and put him in the seat. The little boy never cried and I sighed for relief. This was an interesting moment. I do not believe I have ever had a grown adult which I had to stand up to in this manner. Thankful the conflict ended well and I went on to have pleasant conversation with the family. 

Throughout the past week, I have been focusing on self-care. When I am home and something comes to my mind I write it down and then I dismiss it from my thought. If it is something that is eating at me I remind myself that this is my time to enjoy with my family, friends and myself and tomorrow I will worry about tomorrow's problems. I am also trying to make time each day to meditate and focus my energy on positive thinking. 

Bed Bugs

I was walking into a home visit when my cell phone started vibrating alerting me to the fact I had a text message. I knocked on the door and begin reading the text. I hear the family coming down the hall hollering, "hello". The door opens and I nearly faint as I read the last of the message. "Ally,  this family has serious outbreak of bedbugs. Don't sit down while visiting." Ok, I can do that not so bad right? Ugh, then I realize I have spent the past two days working with this family. I have sat in there house for two days. My coat has laid in their house. I have taken my coat and my purse home. My coat has hung with other coats at my house. No!!! Needless to say, I spent my weekend treating my coat and anything my coat came into contact with for bed bugs. Most likely I did not get them but I could not risk not treating my things and then find out I had them at home. My stuff was but in the dryer on the hottest settings possible  and hopefully any little critters have died. 

This week was a great week of learning. I did my first family pickup from the airport. The family arrived from Burma and there were eight of them. They were a delightful family and I enjoyed being their first United States contact. It was neat to see America through the eyes of a refugee. The drive from the airport to their new apartment was very entertaining. They commented and noticed things I would not have thought would catch someone's attention seeing to the fact it was their first time on US soil. 

I am learning how to communicate without language. It is not always possible to get an interpenetrate on the phone so we are left to point and hope we are connecting with the person and understanding each other as best as we can. It can be a great challenge to gauge the level of understanding the other person is exhibiting for what you are trying to communicate to them. 

Through all of this week I have learned how vitally important networking is. No social work agency is so large that they are independent of all other agencies. In order for an individual to fight for the right of their clients they must enlist the help and support of other agencies as well. Relationship building is a large part of networking. You must remain friendly and calm even when dealing with agencies where the staff are not as friendly. IDHS is an agency I must frequently visit. One lady in particular is very rude. I have thought about filing a complaint because she is condescending to clients and has no patients when they are not able to understand her. The department is supposed to provide translation but their translators are not always working or able to help out.  I have to keep myself in check though and try to very calmly and politely attempt to resolve issues in order to maintain a good working relationship for my clients. 

As someone that is seeking to develop professionally networking is important because it is the groundwork for my career. Networking will help me to find a job. 

Stress Management

This week I begin to feel the weight of interning. On Tuesday, I was assigned to home visits. My home visits were with families who had just arrived in the United States the week before. The first family was quite happy but they had moved in with a U.S. tie (family members who were already established and living independently on their own). The second family had a U.S. tie but they were placed in their own apartment (due to their family members not wanting them to live with them).When the family arrived at the apartment they found the apartment to be acceptable but they did not feel that the furnishings were acceptable. World Relief has a list of supplies which we provide to families. Each member of the family is supplied with a single towel, wash cloth, fork, spoon, bowel, cup, chair, bed, etc.. They are given one pot for cooking and no baking dishes. All the supplies are very, very meager. The family was distraught as to how they were to manage with these supplies. I felt for the family because I am not sure how I would manage with such meager supplies. I was so disturbed by everything that I when I crawled in bed I could not get my mind to stop racing with the challenges my clients are faced with. They are exiled from their country and they must run for their lives to another country where (depending on the country) they are treated as animals. Many of them are denied medical access and the ability to work. In some countries they are forced to live in a certain area of the city which most likely is a tent city outside of the city. It can take up to two years for their refugee status to be approved for entry into the United States. Finally, they arrive here to find a whole new struggle awaiting them. The majority of them are unable to speak English fluently so their work options are few. Some have college degrees or were practicing doctors at home only to come here and work at the airport in food service (where many of our clients are employed).

I am finding that I am four weeks into interning and I am seeing much more and feeling much more. There is so much work to be done in my agency and so few people to do the work. On one night, I stayed an hour and a half past my time to leave in order to assist two clients. The fact I stayed caused me to be late to pick up my own daughter. I realized that night that I needed to set healthy boundaries for myself albeit I am simply an intern. I was in conversation with one of the case workers and found she is considering going back to school or finding different employment. I believe she is completely burnt out with her position. I was asking the Social Worker what she does for self care and she seems to not have anything set in motion at this point either. She is working 7 days a week  attempting to juggle two full-time jobs. Self-care is an area that this agency is lacking in and one which they desperately need to consider. It is a stressful job. They are a commissioned by the government and there is a lot of bureaucracy employees deal with. The clientele is delightful but the majority of the clients are stressed and worried which adds to the stress load of the staff. The agency did have a social hour this past week in which staff members were invited to hear a guest musician play music. I hope they will consider making events like this a common thing and I hope they will require staff to make time to attend.

Unrealistic Expectations

When I started out interning at World Relief, I knew I would be learning many new things. I knew I would be learning about population groups, about working with people, about Social Work practice and many other things. I knew it would be a time of me being stretched and growing but wow, has God amazed me as he has taught and stretched me in my thinking and as an individual. The lessons of my internship are teaching me not only professionally but they are growing and stretching me as an individual.

This week I worked with disappointed families. It seemed that every client I was given was disappointed for various reasons. Most of the disappointment lied in unrealistic expectations. Many of them have expectations when they come to America and when they arrive here they are disappointed. On occasion the surroundings they expect to arrive to are so different than the reality that they become depressed and at times even suicidal as one of my clients this week. Movies set them to believe they are moving to a "downtown" type setting and then they arrive to find that American cities are a far cry from the beautiful downtown area which they think are the whole city. They are shocked and don't understand why that they can't live somewhere nicer but the concept of the housing cost is almost an unattainable concept to grasp. They are promised help with food and cash assistance but the process to be accepted is frustrating and not instantaneous. Family and friends have told them stories of the United States but often times they have immigrated here in past times when the economy was better and finding jobs was easier. The refugees struggle to grasp the fact that while in their home country they were a business owner but when they come here they can't find work. Most jobs are entry level which these individuals have to accept because they speak (in many cases) little English and employers are not interested in the amount of time they spent working overseas. They don't understand why the agency can't do more. In some cases they take it personal as if you can't do more for them personally or you should try harder. It interesting to see the stages that the various families are at in their acceptance of the situation. Some accept the situation quickly and are able to bounce back while other it takes months and you wonder what is going to happen with the family. A social worker told me that with most families it takes a least a year for them to accept the situation and for things to seemingly fall into place and for the family to become happy or adjusted to their new normal. What is amazing is the resilience of the children. They seem to make the quickest recovery in most cases. While they miss home, it is as if they are determined to thrive and survive. It is a beautiful thing!

I am learning more than ever never to judge someone. I am learning to never make assumptions. I am also learning to take time to listen to people. Take time to find out someone's story. What makes that person thrive and survive? What is a day like in that person's world? I am learning earthly things, possessions really don't matter. I am learning happiness can't be tied to things but rather to moments. I am also learning that as humans we can survive and thrive and even when we think we can't go anymore! Each day I go home a little more grateful for what I have. So all these things do not necessarily increase my social work knowledge but they make me a better person.

Shifting gears:

External politics greatly affect my field placement. The President of the United States determines each year how many refugees will be allowed in the United States that year. This directly affects my agency. The agency is run on government grants which help to cover the cost of the refugees coming to the United States and how much money they will receive once they are here. The budget which Congress, the House and the President agree upon affects the funding amounts which the agency will receive. The agency is a nonprofit but it is different in the sense that they are government commissioned (I think that is how you say it) to do this work. The government gives them so much money that has to spent in a fiscal year. It is important for members of the agency and clients to advocate for the rights of the refugees as well as to have their voice heard when budgets are being determined. Federal budgets as well as state budgets have a direct affect on our client base because all of our clients (refugees) receive SNAP and cash assistance from the state. These benefits in addition to health care are promised them when they come into the country. When state funding is cut the amount of the benefits our clients receive are affected. It is important for members of the agency to stay abreast as to current political issues to insure clients are receiving their promised benefits and that they are not being affect in a negative way by state policy.