Goodbye

Today is the final day of my internship! It is with sadness and joy for which I write this final blog. I have learned so much during the past 400 hours over the past 4 months. I have learned how to fake drinking pop, to love Arabic coffee (albeit extremely strong), how to be a better hostess (Iraqis are the best host and hostess), how to smile yet sternly tell someone they had to change a behavior, how to navigate S.S. and IDHS, and how to simply laugh sometimes because their is really no other good course of action to take. I also have learned so much about being a Social Worker. I found that I may have a tendency to not leave work and leave the problems of work at work. I found that communication is truly crucial among an agency and I have seen how politics can play out in the work place. I have also learned the importance of good documentation and timely note taking. Personally, I have developed a whole new respect for vulnerable populations within our society.

I am grateful for the opportunity to serve this population and to work with the amazing people working within the agency. The staff work diligently to serve refugees and immigrants and often their work goes unnoticed. The pay is not that great yet this group continues to come to work and give it their best. The workers here truly have giving hearts. The clients are truly their focus. The story was related to me of an employment counselor who had a client come from Burma. Often times the Burmese refugees have been living in refugee camps in Thailand and they are really beaten down. The client spoke no English and had a new job which he needed to take two buses and a train to get to. He worked the night shift at the chicken factory. It was important for the client to be able to navigate getting to and from work on his own as that workers were not always available to take them. The counselor showed the client how to come and go. It was the first time for the Burmese client to go on his own. The counselor went at midnight when the client got off work and sat in his car on the street near the bus stop. He waited for the client to come out of work and get on the bus. He followed the bus to the next bus stop to ensure the client was able to navigate getting on the bus. He then drove to the train station to ensure the client got on the train and then drove to the stop point to ensure he got off and was able to walk home. He was not payed for this time he was simply doing it because he cared about his client and his well being. You might think that this was a bit excessive but when working with the population you understand. If the client missed one of these points he would have no way of getting help since that he had no phone and spoke no English.

I believe the skill I have most improved in this semester is my ability to navigate difficult situations. I really had to learn how to confront people. Confrontation is not my strong point. I am actually someone who will go out of my way to avoid confrontation but this semester I had to confront clients and co-workers. Can you say awkward? I feel that this is an area I really improved in though.

The hardest part for me was the goodbye with the kids I work with on Wednesday in the afternoon program. I told them I would be leaving two weeks ago but last Wednesday was spring break and we did not get together. As with kids, it had slipped their minds that I would not be back after this Wednesday. I told the kids at the beginning of the time and then I left a few minutes before the program ended to avoid a dramatic ending. The girl I work one on one with became very upset and kept asking me to come to various events to see her at or attend with her. I simply gave her a hug and encouraged her that she would do good in school. I also encouraged her to do well in school because she wants to be a teacher and then I ensured her that someone else would be coming to take my place and she would get have fun with a new aid. Such a hard thing! It made me want to cry but I knew I could not make promises to her that I could not keep.

So I end by saying, "Thank you Lord for this great opportunity!" I learned so much.