the that's-not-really-our-job ally

10/10/07

on my way to work this morning, an ambulance whirred past and ducked out of sight down 26th street. i was at the bus stop on 27th and wisconsin. shortly after disappearing around the corner, the lights were gone. no more sirens

as i entered the building, i saw a man with wounds too puffed to be fresh ( swollen eye, cuts puckering out from their origins) and bloodstains dried on a dirty tee. it was all very surreal, awkward way to begin.

much of my time at ARC is spent on independent projects and contacts; occasionally a suggestion is sent my way. so far she's asked me to do a couple of safety tip sheets for HOPE network newspaper (a resource for metro milwaukee's single moms) and to assemble information on particular TWP material both in english and spanish.

i'm learning a lot of things through this placement, including what people take for granted as far as safety and resources are concerned. the gross misinformation is startling. hence disaster education outreach, and my position.

i've always been thinking about the cultural aspect of nonprofits in relation to their functional mission and target demographic. each organization streamlines their particular energies to serve particular needs. as in for-profits, departments and committees develop to meet each need.

here is where i am encountering confusion. since my partner organization is so well-established, it often seems that each department has fallen prey to over-specialization, leading to compartmentalized discontinuity. this lack of common goal leads to lack of communication which, in my opinion, leads to strange alienation.

for instance, when i tabled an event at wisconsin lutheran college, i met a student named april who was interested in giving blood, perhaps even organizing a blood drive. she informed me that she was o+, and that she'd like to give blood twice a month.

this excited me, as o blood types can help the most people, so i took her contact information to pass along. i mentioned her as well as her professed desire to spearhead a blood drive. my excitement was met with little enthusiasm, as well as a discouraging rebuttal:

"that's not really our job."

ouch. cynical familiarity: 1; youthful optimism: 0.

life maps?

8/06/07

today we're focusing on the metaphor "into the wilderness," which essentially entails telling our stories of trying times, the hopes and fears that came from the situation, as well as the outcome-- how we got "out of the wilderness."

we shared stories with one or two people and discussed the parallels of hope in the potential of each struggle. dave and micah brought up the fact that in traditional story archetypes, the journey is what makes the character an unmistakable hero. essentially, it's not the destination that validates the experience, but the means by which it is achieved.

we also watched a few sections from a film about the importance of story-telling. that led into the planning and creating of life maps. our life maps are intended to show who we are by means of personal backgrounds and life experiences. these things comprise our ethical, social, and familial perspectives.

this is a daunting task. i mainly deal in fiction, and getting into my own life is a bit too real. but, as we were talking about story-telling, shauna asked us to push beyond those comfort zones and just try to be real. so here i go, and i am terrified.