3-D_Kube

Volunteering Reflection #2

Well, I’ve finished volunteering for the semester at CommonBond Communities and I am quite pleased with my experience. As I stated in my last reflection, there were some obstacles that had to be overcome in order to feel comfortable working with the kids. I believe that most of them have been overcome because I feel much more content while volunteering there.

I believe that it is quite evident that I have become more comfortable when I see the kids’ reactions. They are much more comfortable coming up to me and asking for help. At the beginning it seemed like they were reluctant to ask for help and the majority of the time I had to initiate conversation about homework or playing educational games. Their comfort level has however, come at a price. They have a lot of energy as it is but once they felt content with me and the situation, they also became more active. I found that the biggest challenge was keeping them on task and working on homework. Children have a short attention span and this was quite evident. They are with their friends and classmates in the homework center and it is easy to get distracted. On top of that, one could imagine that the typical elementary aged kid does not like homework more or less doing it in the presence of an atmosphere that contains distractions such as their peers. The other volunteers and I found it most productive to work individually with each kid in order to monitor the temptations of wanting to get out of control and horseplay with their friends. Once there is a one on one ratio of kids to volunteers however, it is easy to get down to business and get work done. Another thing that I have come to notice is that kids at this age cannot just jump into homework and be productive. It takes easing into the work to actually get a pace going and get it done. It is very nice that the homework center has a schedule that allows for two hours of working with the kids. In doing this, it is easier to ease into the work and to also allow breaks in doing homework. I think it is essential to break up the time working on homework. This way, the kids do not get sick of the homework center and it results in more productivity in my opinion. I think that someone of their age cannot sit down and really bare down and do work for more than 20 minutes. The homework center breaks up the time by having a snack time at the midpoint. The kids look forward to this so it can be used as a motivating tool. Volunteers might say that if they do a few more problems then snack time will come.

Managing time is very essential to get more productivity out of the children. There are different activities that are used to break up the time. There is the homework, educational games, non-educational games, coloring/crafts and snack time. Snack time, as I said was mid-way through the 2 hour session. Typically, we start out by doing homework and then move on to educational games once their homework is complete. After doing educational games, we usually work into either non-educational games or coloring/crafts. In doing it in this order, things that they like, like coloring/crafts and non-educational games can be used as an incentive in order to get them more engaged in their homework and in educational games as well.

Overall, I am very satisfied with my experience and I believe that I have made a difference. I have volunteered at other organizations in the past and this is one organization where I feel I have made a difference. Also, working for other organizations, it is not always evident that a difference has been made. Through the progression of my volunteering at CommonBond, I feel like I have made a difference. It is apparent in the kids’ learning ability and knowledge. I have built a relationship with the kids as well as with the organization. I plan to continue this experience next year and I am confident that I will enjoy it. I think that the Service Learning component of this class is very well applied to the Architecture curriculum and helps students grow and truly realize that architecture is a service for the community and should work hand in hand in volunteering experiences like the one that I have participated in this last semester.

Posted by kube0035 at 8:37 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Goal 3: Gender equality and women empowerment

The group presenting this goal jumped right into a case study involving gender equality in the Central African Republic. Here for the last 100 years, this country has faced many different economic and especially drastic governmental changes. The Central African Republic has a higher ratio of boys to girls that are enrolled in primary and secondary education. The country itself is relatively small, about the size of Texas. It has a population of about four million. The interesting thing that I learned was that the national anthem of the country preaches about things like unity and dignity when women are not given the same rights as men. Here also, daily life is not exactly modern. The typical home is mud brick and activities take place in open spaces near or around these houses. The people that live here believe that there is no need for privacy. The role of women here is basically to cook while the men will do the more physical work. Roadside stands can be found that sell bakery goods. According to the presentation, the government stated issues depict women as undereducated, uninvolved, underrepresented and do not have much say in what happens. This is all believed to have stemmed from lack of education. Primary, secondary and tertiary schools can all be found in the Central African Republic. There is only an estimated one book for every ten kids and teachers are extremely under qualified. There are 20% more boys enrolled in school and those boys have a 20% higher completion rate. There are presently 37 organizations operating in the country that help its citizens in a variety of ways. However, of these 37, only 2 of these are helping the education crisis and only one involves empowering women. The solutions to these problems as outlined by the group include providing more schools, teachers and supplies. A need for collaboration between the solutions and organizations as well as funding and staffing for these organizations is quite evident. The groups main solution to this problem is entitled “Project Unity�. This project outlines a plan that would separate 90 children into 9 school rooms to get a 10:1 teacher to student ratio. They would also hire new advisors whose responsibilities include curriculum enhancement.

Overall, I think that this presentation was good. The group jumped right into a case study and really dug into its issues. They provided a lot of background information and statistics. From there, the group made a conclusion based on the information provided. This conclusion basically stated that the reason behind the gender equality issue is the lack of education. Following this statement, they proposed a solution to the problem that included providing better education for children. I find it interesting that this UN Millennium Development Goal sort “crossed� boundaries and became about education or more specifically Millennium development goal 2.

Posted by kube0035 at 2:51 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Goal 7: Improving minneapolis slums through sustainability

The problem stated was a 2 part social dilemma. The need was expressed for more low income housing projects in the twin cities. This mainly comes in the form of redevelopment projects, development of vacant land, and preventing the conversion of affordable housing to non affordable housing. In the best description of things it can be more simply put by saying that our current standard of design practices work against sustainability and fall short in terms of quality. Some of the sustainable solutions to the problem presenting itself can be studied in mainly three different categories: economic, social and environmental. This group decided to look into a few examples of present buildings that use green building technology. One particular example that was mentioned that I find most interesting (e.i. I know the most about) is the S.C. Johnson Wax Company located in Racine, Wisconsin. This was a building that was built in the 1930’s by Frank Lloyd Wright but regardless, is still one of the most eco-friendly buildings around. In the first place, it cost less to build the structure and it also saves approximately $100,000 a year. That means that since it was built, the company has saved millions of dollars by using green practices. The main focus of the group was a case study on the Riverside Plaza built in 1971 and designed by our own Ralph Rapson. This is a group of six high rise buildings located in Minneapolis. The group presented 11 proposals to improve this structure. They are: Water re-use systems, Replace incandescent light bulbs with compact fluorescent bulbs, Install vertical recycling chutes in all six towers, Replace old windows with high efficiency triple paned glass Replace deterioration colored panels with new wood panels from sustainable forests, Paint dirty concrete, Passive solar energy, Energy star roof coating, Install new energy star appliances- low water usage, Replace old HVAC system with more energy efficient system and Replace elevators with KONE gearless traction elevators. In the end, the application of these ideas will produce a more eco-friendly structure as well as a more aesthetically pleasing one. I personally think that this was an excellently presented topic and the need for its implementation is very apparent. The case study really presented a wide range of options for making this structure more energy efficient.

Posted by kube0035 at 8:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)