Work related blog

This week has been jumbled, confusing and stressful at work. It is our first week all together, working as a team, and it's going great. We each have very specific specialties that the Maitri staff can utilize which is useful because there is not a whole lot of overlapping of assignments. While our specific tasks were initially confusing and up-in-the-air, we have finally been given some clarity and detail. It feels good to know exactly what my assignment is, but also somewhat intimidating, as I feel like my project is huge...much larger that I had originally thought.

I am putting together the entire Punjab police workshop on HIV prevention. This will target women and children who's husbands/fathers are in the police force. Similar to the problems that the armed forces face, police officers are often stationed near areas where prostitutes frequent, and they often engage in unsafe sex. It is my job to come up with the three phases which should be conducted over a period of one month. The first phase is a survey of demographics and basic knowledge, as well as an educational presentation on HIV. I've put together a powerpoint presentation and a skit for this portion of the workshop. The second phase will be conducted in small groups of women over the course of two days. It is my goal to create a support group for women who may be suffering. Because many of the women and children who are affected with HIV are judged and discriminated against, I am also implementing activities to promote self-esteem and teaching these people their rights as human beings so that they can live in dignity. I have also written two skits and included plenty of group discussion time during this phase. We will also be hiring counselors who have expertise in this sort of training. The third and final phase I have yet to put together, but the purpose is to come up with some sort of analytical findings to measure the effectiveness of the workshop. I'm happy that they have confidence in me and that they are willing to give me such a large bulk of work, I just hope that I can live up to/exceed any expectations that they have. It is intimidating that my original design will be judged by the specialists involved in phase two and that the effectiveness will be measured in phase three. Luckily, I feel like I have support from the other interns and they are being helpful in brainstorming different ideas and topics to discuss.

I also found out that I am going to be working in the classroom quite a bit. Today we worked on a permanent schedule that the students can rely on and a curriculum that will be taught according to the level of student. I think that the structure and organization will do wonders for these kids. Their eagerness to learn astounds me and I realize what a privileged life I have lived. Despite the fact that I faced my own barriers and had challenges to overcome, these children make me realize just how luck I have been .

Time to sleep. Early morning tomorrow. We may be going out of town this weekend, but we have to go to the train station at 7:30 to see if we can get last minute tickets. I'm trying not to get my hopes up, but it would be great to get out of the city and check out another part of India.
Peace.