La mierda, el ventilador, y la resulta

Big changes afoot, and most likely for the best. Things at the total communication school have not been going well. Here is a synopsis of the issues:

1) To begin with, it must be made clear that ASORGUA and the COMITE are two entities that have precious little to do with one another. There is a very tangible tension between the two groups, and while it is a Gallaudet interest to collaborate with both, it is a conflict of interest to attempt to integrate them. I shall still be attending ASORGUA meetings on the weekend and hopefully doing needs assessment with them out of my own interest.

2) LP, the director of social work at the COMITE, authorized my internship but did not consult with ID or the school director before doing so. I was functioning under the assumption that he had discussed the role of an intern at the school with them, ony to find out that this is not the case. They have both been kind, but have also made it clear that there is not a structural niche for a student social worker 32 hours a week at the Centro de Comunicacion Total. I empathize with the fact that they were put in an uncomfortable position, but the situation has not been handled very well. Passive agression has ensued and I´ve been made to feel unwelcome on a number of fronts.

3) ID proposed a number of alternatives, which included working at the other Comite schools. She has asserted that there is no place for an intern at the school (I can´t tell you how great it would have been to have gotten this information just a bit earlier). As far as home visits are concerned, policy dictates that I cannot do them alone and ID has expressed concern about me accompanying her. Many of the neighborhoods she visits are astonishingly impoverished and people will not take kindly to a young outsider who looks like me entering their homes. In addition to the safety risks for myself, Imelda says I would be putting her at risk.

4) The kicker is the Guatemalan bureaucracy, about which I´ve gotten to learn a great deal. Note that I am not being sarcastic--it really has been valuable, however frustrating. Ultimately, the only person who has the authority to make any decisions is LP, who is terribly difficult to contact. Before even contacting the other nearby schools, we must go through him, and he was out of the office until this afternoon.

THANKFULLY, I have a phenominal supervisor MW who came in from Antigua today to advocate for and with me at the Comite office. We had an excellent meeting with LP and the new scoop is as follows:

A straight shoot up the PERIFERICO highway loop from Total Communication School is the Comite´s central office in Zone 1. We talked with LP and he was very kind and understanding. His recomendation was that I transfer to SECSA the educational-vocational program for Deaf adolescents. SECSA is located 2 short blocks from the Comite central office. We all walked over there and talked to HO, the director of the program. HO was so warm and welcoming, and has stated that there is room on her team for a masters student. She of course will be discussing things with the SECSA social worker tomorrow, to make sure she is comfortable with it. HO really made an excellent impression on MW and me, and seems more philosophically amenable to the idea of a partnership with Gallaudet.

Monday through Thursday and some Fridays, I will take one highway loop bus to the vicinity and walk 4 blocks to SECSA, which seems to be fairly safe. I will work with the SECSA ¨team¨which includes HO, the social worker, the psychologist and the instructors. The hours are 7am-3pm, which is more than enough to fulfill requirements. On Fridays, the students have vocational ¨practicas¨. This means that a group of teens and 1 teacher go to various businesses and the students work on a particular vocational skill like cooking or cutting hair. I can accompany ¨practica¨days when needed and I will also continue to attend ASORGUA meetings most weekends.

LP says that initially most of the swk practice will be team-based, but that there will likely be opportunity later in the internship to do one on one work with students. If everything is alright with the SECSA social worker, I will begin Weds morning. (Tomorrow I shall go to Total Communication School and inform them of the transfer).

It has come to light that the disconnect between Gallaudet and the Comite is much larger than any of us thought. This of course comes with the territory of pioneering a new internship. Please cross your fingers for me if you´re not using them to communicate. :)