reflection

I wasn’t quite sure what to expect with ong since the midterm was touring the neighborhood community around it. The neighborhood and community around the facility seem a lot less put together and structured compared to the way the organization ran. I can’t really say first hand since I have not lived there or even been to the area more than a few times. It feels like a light bulb just went on in the community and things are staring to improve, renovations, child care programs, new churches, and places people can go for help and guidance. The area is making this big push to improve the environment and help their children succeed in learning and in life.

I didn’t get to work with a student hands-on, but speaking from past experiences with tutoring I know the benefits that come from it. I was really impressed with the amount of discipline the kids had for being kids and the way the staff handled the unruly ones. I was also impressed by the amount of volunteers that arrived in the ten minutes we were there, enough that I did not get a chance to work with one.

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.”- Margaret Mead. This quote was posted on the wall in the entrance of the ong building right above the photos of the volunteers. The first time I read it, it didn’t mean much more than face value to me. Leaving ong and reflecting to myself about the experience drew me back to this quote. The kids that are being tutored are not only being educated but are receiving positive loving relationships from people outside their family. Some of the children may not have good homes where communication, love, and care are given so being able to have a place to get that and feel encouraged about life is just what they need. The volunteers may not see what they are giving these children right away, especially when they are acting out against you, but to the children the volunteers and staff are building a trusting caring relationship with the children, and even their families.

Our Next Generation

research and observation at our next generation

I participated at Our Next Generation during the organization’s homework club time. The facility is a church that resembled a school like atmosphere with artwork and crafts fluttering the classroom and entrance areas. The staff was very organized and there were plenty of volunteers arriving at the same time I went. The age of the students in this homework club program varied from elementary aged students to middle school. Once they were done with middle school they moved on to the High School Connection group that is more geared toward high school students.

Our Next Generation was stared in the basement of a church in the early nineties and then moved to the new facility shortly after that. The program is very much committed to serving the children and improving their education. They strive to help them graduate high school and move on to college. According to the website Milwaukee has the highest child poverty rate in the country and helping these, at times helpless, students improve their attitude and education will slowly diminish this statistic.

I asked Sarah, one of the head staff, about Our Next Generation and if she thought it helped the children. She felt very strongly about the effect it had on the students and improving the attitude they brought to learning. Although they are children and have their normal temper tantrums and stubborn spurts, they respond well to the one on one attention they receive during the homework club hours. The list of children that attend Our Next Generation is always full and there is even a waiting list for students to join in.

The majority of the students were well behaved and understood that the rules needed to be followed with every volunteer and teacher, not just the ones they were used to working with. We talked with a little seven year old girl working on her spelling homework with a tutor about the club. We asked her if she like coming to Our Next Generation and she said “yeah, I really like it when my mom picks me up and I tell her what I did during the day”. She clearly loved being at ong and sharing her experiences with her parents. She was even more excited about her photo being taken, so I let her take a few of her own.

One of the really unique and special moments Sarah mentioned was that there are a few current students in the program that had parents attend Our Next Generation when they were younger. To witness that generation of people go through the program was inspiring and proof of how successful and loved the program is. This program improves life skills, education, attitudes, personalities, motivation, and provides a network of family between the children, their parents and family, and the staff/volunteers at Our Next Generation.

Reflection of the 35th and Lisbon Community

While traveling through the neighborhood around Our Next Generation my first observations were the large amount of churches, variety of day cares and “academies", and yet still quite a few liqueur stores. The abundance of churches and daycare showed that the focus points in this neighborhood are family. There was a lot of construction and I got the feeling that there was a lot of rebuilding and “fixing up” of the area. The more I looked, despite my first impression; I started to see the problems that were trying to be fixed. Groups of people hanging outside liqueur stores, run down stores, bared windows, and low income housing we’re some of the hidden challenges of any community.

We found our interviewee outside the dollar general store right after witnessing a pretty bad rear end car accident. A van driver wasn’t paying attention and rear-ended the van in front of it. The van he hit was full of kids and ended up having to go to the hospital (no serious injuries that we know of). Before he began to interview the man I noted how quick and responsive the fire fighters were in the area and how calm the people remained in the accident. We then went on to interview the two men that came out of the store and were enjoying ice cream cones. We asked them a series of questions about their community, what they would like to see brought to their community, a change they would like to see, cultural changes they have noticed, something unique to the area, and if they could describe their community in one word what would it be? The two African American men we pretty comical and were very willing to answer. They really wanted to see a recreation facility of some sort put up and a Home Depot (their Lowe’s store just closed). They wanted more job opportunities and less crime in the area (the marathon Gas station we stopped at, which is right across the street from the Dollar General, just had two fatal shootings in the last month one just two days before our visit).

The one thing unique to the community is the number of churches in the area and the growing Hmong population. Lastly the men described their community as “rough”.

I put together this photo documentation of the area and community around Our Next Generation and the documented the efforts made by people to help improve and heal the place the call home.