Found this Photo Project...

This is so cool!. 

Adult Education Programming: A Link between Basic Education and the Job Force.

I am an advocate for adult education programming.

This article was inspiring. The author gives us an overview of the Integrated Basic Education and Skills Training (I-BEST) program adult education model.

Through this program, adults are given the chance to learn and get real-life job training so that they can actually, really, get and be prepared for jobs!

I-Best challenges the traditional notion that students must complete all basic education before they can even start a job-training program. This approach often discourages students because it takes more time, and the stand-alone basic skills classes do not quality for college credit. I-BEST students start earning college credits immediately.

(Washington State Board for Community & Technical Colleges)

Good Highlight:

There are two teachers present. One, to teach the professional and technical content. Another, to teach basic skills in reading, math, writing or English language. Real-world scenarios are touched on as is job-training.
In the NPR article, the author notes that one teacher looks out for idioms while the other is teaching:

Candy would say these phrases like, 'Fly by the seat of your pants.' And I would interrupt, and I'd say, 'Does that mean I'm throwing my pants up in the air and flying?' And she would laugh and the students would laugh because that's what they're thinking," Rogers says. "By my modeling that, it gives them permission that it is OK to ask questions and that's the sign of an intelligent and a good student. 

(NPR, Cardoza)

As teachers, they try to make the learning environment more open. You see, it is easy for teachers to assume that students just "get it" when they nod their heads, or decided that it's the students fault for not asking questions. For the people in this program, many trying to earn their high school diplomas, it is important to reach out and create an environment which allows questions to be asked comfortably (as it should be in every classroom, for that matter). 

Ehhh Highlight: 

Students going through this program are pretty typical of what you'd find in any adult education class across the country. They've often dropped out of high school, have low levels of reading and math, many don't speak English fluently. 

(NPR, Cardoza)

Is this really typical, or is this assumptive? I need some statistics. It is clear that there is a huge population that may fit one or more of these descriptions out there. I-BEST seems to have a nice way of helping out. 

Do I think this is a good learning model? Yes. I'm keeping an eye on you, I-BEST!

Empowering Women Through Entrepreneurship and Education

As a woman, I do not enjoy the routine expense of feminine hygienic products. Let's be honest. I would rather spend that cash on groceries or a movie. However, imagine the availability of these products to be much more scarce and much more taboo. As noted in the articles, many women end up using and reusing rags without allowing them to dry or they find leaves rather than purchasing the expensive lady gear (money better spent on feeding their families)--this is both uncomfortable and has the capacity for longterm health problems.

Arunachalam Muruganantham (in India) decided to create a machine that could be used in rural areas to make sanitary napkins inexpensively and locally. Now, this machine is becoming a big hit in rural areas of India. The availability of these pads have also begun work on unweaving the shame and embarrassment that the cultural's view of the menstrual cycle creates. 

A women's school in one part of rural India now uses this machine to give women the opportunity to learn, but also to help fund their school. Providing education for women is a HUGE deal and the fact that they now have a way to provide for themselves and create a legacy for future women learner's is an empowering and inspirational thing. 

 ...while making their lives and the community better, they also wean themselves off financial dependence on men. (Murphy, 2010)

If you haven't yet seen these articles on NPR, I greatly encourage your perusal! In addition, the story of Muruganantham is now being told through a documentary- I can't wait to check it out. 

Anthropological-Journalistic Account: Tunnel People

For the first few weeks of my Dialetical Practices course, we were given the option to read one of two books. I chose to read Tunnel People (written by Teun Voeten) over Gang Leader for a Day (written by Sudhir Venkatesh) partially due to what I was going through at the time. This year, I moved up to Chicago knowing that I did not know where I was going to live (after several plans fell through). For the past month, I have been living out of a small suitcase and staying in friend's homes and on their couches.

Though never fully homeless to the point of living on the streets (or in tunnels, for that matter), I can relate to the struggle in balancing vulnerability with the need for pride and feeling like I was never whole- never a place to belong, always waiting, no one knowing my situation right off hand. Without allowing myself to be vulnerable I would not have been able to make it thus far. I would not have a roof over my head or friends who've got my back. Being open about my situation allowed the help I needed to find its way to me. [A month couch surfing is nothing in comparison to living on the street for longer periods of time, of course]

The significance of Tunnel Dwelling over homelessness living on the street (or in shelters) is that there is a sense of home and shelter that is not nearly as possible in the varying conditions above [ground]. On the street, you are inevitably forced into interacting with or receiving judgement from passerby. And if you do not believe prejudice exists, just look around Chicago. Walking past homeless on the daily like they don't even exist. Assuming those with "nice" clothes or cell phones are just scamming those who give them change (and maybe some are, but who's to say?) [But that's a bigger can of worms for another time]. The Tunnel Dwellers Voeten lived with and wrote about in his text made their own homes in the tunnels below New York. Their shelters were built from found (and sometimes stolen) materials. They could put locks on their doors (unlike shelters above ground) to keep their personal belongings safe. They had beds and sometimes even electricity.

Tunnel Dwellers were, in a sense, free. Free from the public, free from the system (The Man, if you will, and Marcus would agree), free from taxes, free from the restraints and challenges placed on you in shelters (in by curfew, out by sunrise, possessions searched and often stolen, approached in darkness by other shelteree's, etc).

A few themes....
In our class discussion about Tunnel People, there was emphasis placed on crack and its very nature to lead users down a stumbling path of destruction. I agree, crack and other heavy addictive drugs and behaviors can be problematic and may lead to difficult situations. I recognize that to many of the Tunnel Dwellers, crack played an integral part in why individuals were living in tunnels (or on the streets), how crack users behaved under certain conditions, and how this addiction affected the user's every day life. Crack, though used as a "therapy"(a vice), it was destructive (and dirt cheap).

There was an instance when we discussed the idea of pride, and how there was a lot of it amongst the Tunnel Dwellers. However, we did not discuss in-depth why that would be (which I am disappointed in, seeing as these persons with pride ARE PEOPLE).

If they did not have so much pride, then they would get more help and better shelter. 
Right. Okay.

Food isn't the problem, it's pride. 
Bernard, our main connection with the tunnels has stated. And it's true (for this population, at least). If you do not mind accepting food from shelters, eating things that you may not like, eating is not the problem- in an area of NY with an abundance of soup kitchens, that is.

In my own struggle with "homelessness," pride has been necessary. It is important to remember that you are more than your homelessness (and really, more than what you go to school for, more than your job or lack of one, and so on). However, there is a point to be said that when Pride amplifies past something beneficial (such as remembering that you are a human being with value), it becomes increasingly difficult to obtain any assistance you may need or accept it when offered.

Inflated pride overpowers decision-making that involves the placement of the individual in a position of vulnerability, even if said position gives the individual access to assistance that may positively affect their daily life. 

What have I to say about our class discussion? Boiling down one book into "pride" and "crack" is CHEAP. CHEAPER THAN CRACK IN THE EARLY 90'S.

What I can agree on: 

Crack is Wack. 

Inflated pride overpowers Vulnerability (the latter of which could lead to assistance). 

Adaptions: 

Alcohol is deadly, but graduate students use it to cope with Thesis and student loans. Homeless who use crack (& other drugs) use it to cope with life. [Take a look in the mirror before you crack it]. 

Pride is helpful in moderation (maintaining self-worth).  

Tunnel People is an anthropological-journalistic approach to learning more about a specific population which may involve themes of drugs, illness (AIDS, anyone?), and panhandling, but it is also a view into a life different from one's own. A look at real people with real emotions, trials, and passions. 

Voeten spent time learning about and participating in the ways the tunnel dwellers earned a living (legally, even! Imagine that!), peering into the humanistic psyche of the individuals living in the tunnels, and taking a glimpse at the benefits (yes, they exist) of living in the tunnel, but also the challenges that the dwellers face living in this non-conventional way. 

Additionally, why living up top and finding ways to transition into this more mainstream living style is strenuous- life before dwelling in tunnels, in the process of applying for housing as a dweller, and the result of the transition from street to walled-in apartment. 

My Last Words: 

Tunnel People opened my eyes to a life I have not lived.
I wish I could meet Bernard and be friends.
There are human beings behind the drugs. How about you try crack, get addicted, and then kick the habit? (But don't. We now know the addictive qualities of such substances).
I'm finally moving into an apartment this week, and I cannot be any more excited.

**Check out the other links I've placed in this article. There are hidden niches to homelessness that many forget/do not realize!