Santiago and some social work
I arrived in Santiago in September 2009, to make my life as a volunteer in a hogar with adolescent teenage girls. I had been working in the field of social work for the last 6 years, in a variety of jobs working with troubled children, teenagers and adults. While I wanted to live and work abroad, I also wanted to also have a purpose. I knew Chile had the biggest wealth gap in Latin America, but I didn't know what that looked like up close. I didn't know anyone's name, I didn't know how a child in a hogar in Santiago`s “worst neighborhood” liked to brush her hair, what colors she liked to paint with, or most importantly, what brought her happiness.
So in coming to VE, I found myself in a new place very quickly. VE volunteers come from all over the world to work with children who may have faced some form of serious trauma. These traumas include but are not limited to sexual, mental, physical and emotional abuse, medical and educational neglect, homelessness, substance abuse, domestic violence, eating disorders, self-harming behaviors, and suicidal ideation. The disorders and problems that the children have in their lives as a result can be exceedingly difficult to deal with from a volunteer perspective. Many volunteers experience frustration, loneliness, and a sense of helplessness when they are unable to achieve an expected response from a child.
After spending a week here, I was graciously asked to prepare a volunteer training session on strategies of working with troubled children. I spent several weeks skimming articles, taking notes and spun in circles. I started to think about different situations from my life, themes, stories, experiences I had with the children I had known. I can picture them all well, smiling faces, sad faces, empty swollen faces, my memory is intertwined with the lives of the people I have known. And with that last spinning thought, I began to prepare my presentation.
During the presentation, I taught a bit about social work and addressed the area that social work is not a cure or a simple answer. Rather, it looks at a systemic approach to social challenges and breaking cycles of abuse, poverty and dis-empowerment . These same people will continue to live their own lives once the system of social work care has ended. Therefore we become a guiding force, we open doors that didn't exist before, we clear broken paths so they can walk towards a better future.
In this process, social workers trudge through other people's darkest and deepest wounds on a daily basis and I quickly realized VE volunteers do as well. Our volunteers need support, understanding, and clear methods to fully grasp the daily conflicts in the work we do here. Many times there is not a good answer, but there is always support and room for growth. So we learned that day to create answers from the questions you ask.In learning to be a volunteer with VE, it is important to remember small steps. I am not here to change the life of the 17 year old girl that hugs me everyday I go to the hogar. I am here to help her smile a little more each day. I am here to plant a seed. I believe Voluntarios de la Esperanza (volunteers for hope) is a good name for us. We do not solve the world´s problems, but we create room for children to find their own answers in life.
In Maria Reina Aldea, a hogar for adolescent girls, the other VE volunteers and I use this idea in different talleres that we plan and implement every week. We work on individuality through the use of creative arts. We attempt to reduce stress and laugh more through playing sports and dancing. We teach team work and cooperation through the use of challenge games. Finnally, every week we bake, we introduce new desserts, sometimes from our own countries, sometimes from others, but whether its the chocolate or the Reggaeton blasting from the speakers that draws the girls in, it has definitely become their favorite.
So I leave this blog with the last tip I left the training at, to remember these small steps... “ in this work you have to be strong enough to know that you will not 'win' every battle; you won't 'win' every child, and you have to know how to let go and re-focus; putting your attention and efforts on those who really do benefit from your work.”
So in coming to VE, I found myself in a new place very quickly. VE volunteers come from all over the world to work with children who may have faced some form of serious trauma. These traumas include but are not limited to sexual, mental, physical and emotional abuse, medical and educational neglect, homelessness, substance abuse, domestic violence, eating disorders, self-harming behaviors, and suicidal ideation. The disorders and problems that the children have in their lives as a result can be exceedingly difficult to deal with from a volunteer perspective. Many volunteers experience frustration, loneliness, and a sense of helplessness when they are unable to achieve an expected response from a child.
After spending a week here, I was graciously asked to prepare a volunteer training session on strategies of working with troubled children. I spent several weeks skimming articles, taking notes and spun in circles. I started to think about different situations from my life, themes, stories, experiences I had with the children I had known. I can picture them all well, smiling faces, sad faces, empty swollen faces, my memory is intertwined with the lives of the people I have known. And with that last spinning thought, I began to prepare my presentation.
During the presentation, I taught a bit about social work and addressed the area that social work is not a cure or a simple answer. Rather, it looks at a systemic approach to social challenges and breaking cycles of abuse, poverty and dis-empowerment . These same people will continue to live their own lives once the system of social work care has ended. Therefore we become a guiding force, we open doors that didn't exist before, we clear broken paths so they can walk towards a better future.
In this process, social workers trudge through other people's darkest and deepest wounds on a daily basis and I quickly realized VE volunteers do as well. Our volunteers need support, understanding, and clear methods to fully grasp the daily conflicts in the work we do here. Many times there is not a good answer, but there is always support and room for growth. So we learned that day to create answers from the questions you ask.In learning to be a volunteer with VE, it is important to remember small steps. I am not here to change the life of the 17 year old girl that hugs me everyday I go to the hogar. I am here to help her smile a little more each day. I am here to plant a seed. I believe Voluntarios de la Esperanza (volunteers for hope) is a good name for us. We do not solve the world´s problems, but we create room for children to find their own answers in life.
In Maria Reina Aldea, a hogar for adolescent girls, the other VE volunteers and I use this idea in different talleres that we plan and implement every week. We work on individuality through the use of creative arts. We attempt to reduce stress and laugh more through playing sports and dancing. We teach team work and cooperation through the use of challenge games. Finnally, every week we bake, we introduce new desserts, sometimes from our own countries, sometimes from others, but whether its the chocolate or the Reggaeton blasting from the speakers that draws the girls in, it has definitely become their favorite.
So I leave this blog with the last tip I left the training at, to remember these small steps... “ in this work you have to be strong enough to know that you will not 'win' every battle; you won't 'win' every child, and you have to know how to let go and re-focus; putting your attention and efforts on those who really do benefit from your work.”
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