Interventions

Usually regardless of the issue in a community or world wide there is always an idea for an intervention to solve the problem.  However not every intervention as we know works.  If the world were perfect there wouldn't be any issues so thinking of an intervention.  This is where macro practice comes into play because with any given issue there is more than one person or community which is affected and when trying to fix the issue there is always a higher system or person who maybe from outside the community whom you must target and talk to to get anything done.  As always one person can't always make a change and there for as a macro worker you must reach, reach out to those who know, who may help, and who can provide for you to help your cause.

As seen in the Kony 2012 video, Jason Russell is one person who seen an issue but knew that change needed to be done.  He also knew that on his own he would not be able to bring a man, Joseph Kony who had so many people afraid of him down, on his own.  No one liked the guy but everyone in his own country was afraid of him to do anything to capture him and stop him of his "violent crimes against humanity".  What Jason did was a form of macro practice, which is making yourself and views heard and creating followers/helpers to help you to make a difference.  The type of approach I believe that this is, is a community based approach, because the efforts/turnout of this campaign, on may call, depends on those who participate and make it know.  This campaign like any other needs believers and people to get out the word of the issue, it needs supporters who are willing to donate, volunteer, and participate in anything to come that will help get closer to the cause.  This post also shows how any one person can try and make a difference based on their experience and what they've learned and seen.  Before this class I had never heard of Kony or anything going on in Uganda and it goes to show that word of mouth, one person telling/showing another, really creates awareness and even that helps that cause.  because every new person who knows of the issue can help to create an awareness for what is going on and help to spread the word and new efforts of change around.  

When looking back at the readings and video for these past two weeks about aid and giving to those less fortunate I am capable of saving that my donations have always been with those less fortunate in mind.  When donating or even sending something for a family member overseas whether it be my mother, uncles, aunts or I we have always chose to send money to our family members because we know that money goes way further and that sometimes sending them our left over, unfit, worn clothes is not what they really need unless its asked for.  Besides that when a person is traveling I have come to know from traveling myself it is always cheaper to bring money than clothes.  So of course it would be the same with a donation.  Money doesn't weight down your suitcase where as clothes does, money can buy things that are needed clothes can't.  Thinking back to even holidays or birthdays when gifts are given everyone would rather get money than clothes, because that money can help to buy whatever you want, which may very well be clothes, or something that is more expensive that money can help to buy.  It seems as though I am going on with a rant here about those who donate clothes, but it's not it's just that when donating always keep the other person or family in mind, money can go a lot further than clothes.  And like one of the articles or maybe videos said about clothes donation to Haiti is that when sending clothes it costs more money to send the clothes than to send some money and has/does lead to lowering the jobs within that community that the clothes are being sent to.  Sending clothes/goods usually effects that economy, because these items no longer need to be created in a large quantity because it is coming in from overseas.  Example we as Americans have is for instance now when most jobs are going overseas because the same work can get done elsewhere for a lower amount of MONEY.  With macro practice we need to look beyond the community to see where we can find help.  Help can be accepted from any angle as long as it is help that is beneficial.

 Besides the fact that it is expensive to send clothes to any other country it also sometimes maybe a slap in a face, like the article "Haiti Doesn't Need Your Old T-Shirt" where in the picture it shows that the people there are wearing shirts that were donated to them, but are the shirts that are pre-made for the Superbowl, however the shirts that were donated to them were of the losing team.  This is a slap in a face because although they may be a third-world and trying to build up they still know of what is going on around the world, they aren't dumb/stupid and the saddest part is that these shirts are donated to them, free of cost to them, but mainly because the NFL later takes this donation and includes it in their taxes to get a tax break for it.

This leads me to potential problems with aid-based programs/approaches.  One main problem with aid-based programs is that most of them are temporary and do not really assist or help to teach the person of what to do once they are now longer getting help.  Such as RAFT, a Massachusetts Rental Assistance for Families in Transition, a "homelessness prevention service that provides short-term emergency financial assistance and grants to low-income and struggling families who faced an eviction, foreclosure, or who are at risk of being homeless"(2) and they also assist those who are already homeless.  They do this by helping out for a short period of time which is usually $3,000 worth of a period of time to help the person with not becoming homeless at that moment, but the problem comes once that money has run up for that family that temporary assistance is no longer available, because they expect that at this time the family is able to support and care for themselves.  And this is how aid-based approach can be less helpful than a community based approach to helping.  With a community based approach the client/the person works to help the person within their community until the help is no longer needed because the individual, usually, has gotten the assistance they needed and are in a better place/state of mind now.  An example of a place that comes to mind is ABCD, which is Action for Boston Community Development, whose "mission is to empower disadvantage people by providing them with the tools to overcome poverty, live with dignity, and achieve their full potential".(1)  This community program just doesn't go out and help the family instead they looked at what caused or happened to this family that got them in this situation to begin with, it looks for a way to make these people successful for the long term instead of for a short period of time.  And that right there is the difference between an aid-based approach to help a family versus a community approach.  Aid-based looks at the now, how they can fix things now not caring for what happened before or what may happen letter, it tries to get the person out of the situation they are currently in. As to with community approach they look into how the family/community has gotten a certain way from prior situations and how those situations can be changed/avoided now and in the future. A community based approach has more time to devote to a client/family and is more on a personal level.

References:
1.  " ABCD | Our Mission." ABCD | Home. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Mar. 2012. <http://www.bostonabcd.org/ourMission.aspx>.
2.  "Rental Assistance Massachusetts." Need Help Paying Bills, Debt, and Mortgage. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Mar. 2012. <http://www.needhelppayingbills.com/html/rental_assistance_massachusett.html>.

Where has time GONE ?

So this is pretty late, but of course with Spring Break and all I really got thrown off and am now finally getting in the grove of all the work I was not missing. 
But so far with our community intervention program my main task and task that I completed was making T-Shirt posters for The Clothesline Project and then posting them around the school.  Main one that has gotten a lot of attention and feedback on would be the one on the Moakley door (for when you might be heading to the SW dept.) that is double sided and reads on one side "I was MURDERED".  I have stumbled upon people and almost walked over people when going through that door because it caught their attention.  But lately besides that I am waiting to get some feedback on what is needed and can be done for our week of PHENOMENON. 

Hope Spring Break was wonderful see you all TUESDAY !!!