Bridge House: Kim Alexander

Hello everyone,

I am beginning my work at the Bridge House.  I will be conducting interviews with current and former residents to determine their personal objectives.  The goal of the Outcome Analysis Program is to find out the success of the program and to provide this information to organizations for future grants. 

As of today, we are still waiting for final clearence to conduct the interviews.  The interviews will face to face with current residents and, telephone interviews will be conducted for those residents that have already left the program.
I met with Peter Weber last week who is in charge of this project and he conducted training on how to obtain the necessary information.  This is a voluntary interview on behalf of the residents therefore, part of my job is to convince them that this information will help others.

My primary focus will be with the female residents at Grace House which is under the corporate umbrella of the Bridge House.  I am very excited for this opportunity and, I look forward to the interaction with residents.  My personal goal is to be an inspiration to the residents.  I will let you know how everything is going in the coming weeks.

Kim

Carmelite NGO

Hello everyone,

After many days of angst, I finally settled on working with Sr. Jane and the Carmelite NGO. I was a little upset at first because I signed up for this class in hopes of getting out in the community, but after speaking with Sr. Jane, Kelly from Service Learning, and some of my other advisors, I am happy with my choice.

Sr. Jane has asked me to do a research paper on child soldiers that can (hopefully) be published and then disseminated both nationally and internationally. I am currently in the process of researching the general topic, but I think I am going to focus on Burma, as it has one of the highest rates in the world of child soldiers.

I have been passionate about the bringing exposure to the situation in Burma for over ten years when I first read the inspirational work of Nobel Peace Prize winner and pro-democracy leader, Aung San Suu Kyi. For those of you who are unfamiliar with Burma (also known as Myanmar) and Aung San Suu Kyi, I look forward to talking to you more about it over the course of the semester.

If anyone has any suggestions on books, films, or even people with personal experience dealing with child soldiers, I would appreciate any recommendations.

See you all tonight,

Megan