Semester Goals:
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Continuation of all previously created afterschool programs and CO events
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Expanding our presence beyond the K-6 age groups into adolescents and adults in the community
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An increased effort to understand San Miguel culture and be respectful of it
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Turn ideas into action
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KEEP IN MIND KALU YALA’S FIRST AND FOREMOST OBJECTIVE: highest quality lifestyle of health and sustainability and using the momentum of our own efforts to improve quality of life for people living in San Miguel and the surrounding region. We must focus on health and sustainability in San Miguel to improve quality of life in the town, while at the same time respecting the current culture of San Miguel and keeping in mind the wishes of the current residents.
My Techniques
Communication
- With fellow directors – consistent check-ups and meetings
- With interns – weekly individual meetings and weekly Community Outreach meetings
- Within Casa Llena – weekly house meetings
Organization
- Have semester and weekly outlines made up by the beginning of the semester that will be consistently updated throughout the spring
- Create project lists and breakdowns of projects
Follow-through
- When I say I will do something – do it (and expect the same from others)
- When projects are started they should be seen through to completion.
Work Ethic
- Be an example for interns
- We won’t get anywhere unless we put in the effort, no matter what the task is
Positivity
- Confidence as a leader and in my abilities to help interns
Community Outreach Projects
- Afterschool programs- soccer, Arbor de la Vida, music program,
- Rio Clean-Up Day
- Casa Llena projects
- Beginning of Community Wellness Initiatives – (follow-up after Anthro study)
- San Miguel Handbook
Project Goals and Task Breakdowns
1. Afterschool programs
Goals: Continue all the programs and have consistency week to week to provide these for the kids. We’ll need to make permission slips, establish dates and times, create notices to put in the school, work cloesly with the school to continue the mutually beneficial relationship,
I would like to find a way to build soccer goals for the soccer field that was half-built but then abandoned midway due to lack of funding. Perhaps work with the Valley Interns to use natural materials.
2. Rio Clean-Up Day
Goals: Continuation of long-standing event, expansion with more community members and age groups, and make it a Kalu Yala-wide event. To do this, we’ll need to establish a day that work for all Kalu Yala interns to participate, create more signs, be more active about spreading the word, and make it more fun by planning more games for the kids while incorporating sustainability lessons
3. Casa Llena Projects
Goals: Make Casa Llena a better home for SM interns, an example of Kalu Yala ideals, a better place for Valley and City interns when they visit, and more than just a stopping place for Kalu Yala visitors and investors. We need to build upon what intern Tucker started Summer ’12. We’ll do this by expanding the garden: allowing us to eat more from the garden and use medicinal plants. We could also expand the chicken coops so we have more eggs. We want to change a lot of the inside with basic organizing, paint, and decoration through upcycling, and update the Casa Llena gate with some paint and a permanent sign.
4. Beginning of Community Wellness Initiatives
Goals: Begin to follow-up on Evan’s study. This is a long-term project, progress will be incredibly slow, but we must try to start something or there will be no improvements. With so many Community Outreach interns coming in Summer ’13 with interests in healthcare projects, to be able to facilitate what they have in mind a lot of planning and groundwork must be laid this spring. Basiccally, I must start work now to make it possible for their ideas to be realized in the future. We can do this through water improvements (with the help of Biology Director Emily who has her Masters in Sustainable Water Systems), working with women and children through health seminars (they really appreciated Max Cooper’s mom doing a Breast Cancer Awareness workshop so maybe we can continue that or try new topics), and start researching possibilities for improving the local clinic.
5. Compile Handbook of San Miguel
Goals: Create a guide to the town- I see it as part ethnography and part travel book, to be a resource for interns and something to show Kalu Yala visitors describing San Miguel culture. We have lots of previous projects to piece together and I’d like to expand on these and gather them all in one place. So far we have: Fall 2011 Intern Victor’s listing and descriptions of San Miguel men; Summer 2012 Intern Jamie’s listing and description of San Miguel women; Spring 2011 Intern Evan’s book of San Miguel plants and the Summer 2012 Anthropology Program study on rural women’s healthcare.