Community Intervention (April 9 - April 13, 2012)

 

During the week of April 9 through April 13, 2012, our SCWK432 class had so much fun and
accomplished so many things. Bridgewater State University should be very proud to have such an amazing social work department, and to have faculty such as Dr. Bailey and Dr. Boutwell, who though about raising awereness for women victims of any type of violence.

The week started with the Clothesline Project, which helped many women and men, express their feelings by writing on a shirt everything they felt as been victims of domestic violence, or rape. Many students from our class, volunteers and faculty members helped make this event an great one to be remembered.

I had a great time volunteering during the Clothesline Project. I learned many things and I also contributed by painting a shirt and writing about my experiences as a domestic violence survivor at home.

Also, the march during Take Back the Night was absolutely amazing. It was empowering to see so many women and men (wearing heels), walking to raise awereness about violence against women. Many organizations were present, and our distinguished President Dana Mohler-Faria was also present.

Many students spoke in an open mic and expressed their feelings, as well as shared many of their own personal stories, which made it more empowering for those young girls and   older women whom are being victims and are not saying anything because they feel afraid.

Many other events such as movies and wearing purple were also other ways to help raise awareness.

These were very important events and I am so glad I participated.



The week ended with the presentation of the Vagina Monologues, which was a production of New Day, a women's crisis center located in Brockton, MA. Many of our classmates participated in this event and demonstrated how enthusiastic they were and how much talent they have.

Of course, there is always something that can be done next year to make these events even better.
"Communities come together to reduce the level of violence that exists." (Evaluation working groups, 1999) Our community worked very hard to put these events together and the results were absolutely amazing.



"Evaluation is a powerful strategy for distinguishing programs and interventions that make a difference from those that don't. It is a driving force for developing and adapting sound strategies improving existing programs, and demonstrating the results of investments in time and other resources. It also helps determine if what is being done is worth the cost." (Evaluation working groups, 1999) This quotation is very empowering because it tells us how important it is to work together and to plan things so that they have an amazing outcome. I believe that everyone worked really good and we accomplished a lot during these events.

A good evaluation strategy could be to create an online survey for students on campus, including social work students and faculty involved, to determine in a scale of 1(poor) to 5(excellent), how effective was communication between students, how organized everything was, how was the information provided, and how well it was explained to our visitors, and also how professional each student was during the events.

Newspapers, online and printed should be read to ensure that all information faxed was accurately published, and if not, make sure next time it will be. It is also important to obtain information from the faculty that volunteered during this week. They will give us some tips on how well we did everything and what things can we improve.

I am so happy to be part of the social work department and be involved in these events. I learned a lot about violence agaisnt women and now as a male, I would never put my hands on a woman, because I respect every single one of them.

I learned that I am able to work with other classmates. I am very organized when it comes to setting up, and I am very enthusiastic and demonstrate empathy.

I absolutely love the article provided by Dr. Boutwell which talks about being active. I absoletly agree that "Active being is listening to myself and listening to my community and physically putting my body where it needs to be." We all need to listen in order to follow instructions and make things easier among our group. It is also mentioned in this article that creativity is important, which I absolutely love. I love being creative and asking my group leaders or professor for tasks that need to be completed, this helps the group and it makes this easier for everyone.

Being a senior in college and as a member of this community, I encourage other SCWK432 students and faculty members all over the school, to please participate in these events because they help raise awareness for violence against women.

Communication is very important. Always express your feelings and yout ideas to your classmates and professor because every opinion matters and maybe yours will be the one to make a change. Also, taking every ones ideas into consideration is important. Provide an equal amount for everone in the group and have a leader who directs the group.


Ten important things to know when working in a group for a Macro setting (This class):

1) Communication
2) Creativity
3) Leadership
4) Participation - Everyone should participate equally!!!
5) Brainstorming
6) Enthusiam
7) Always ask questions!!
8) Organization
9) Advice
10) Contribution

Enjoy SCWK432, You will learn a LOT!!!!!!!



PHOTOGRAPHY CREDITS: Madonna LaRoque