you my

yesterday after our AST meeting, a buuuunch of us (hong, rafa, bryan, steph, jesi, ruben, karla, nayeli, melissa, and i) went to eat pho. and i was sooo happy. being able to share their company and to all go together somewhere like that was so incredible. i will remember that for years to come (i'm a sucker for bonding time!!!). i am so lucky to be working with the team that i work with.

brown-eyed girl

back from my first over 21 trip to vegas. still recooperating and not ready to go back to work with the kiddies. missing my vegas friends and the trip in general. missing theboy even though i saw him today. but oh well. that's life, right? =)

what's next?

posing it up with the ya's!

individual. organization. community

poverty is an issue in the united states, as it is in the rest of the world. however, it's not as big as it should be. the middle and wealthy classes get together and make up legislation for everyone, even the poor who are not represented. and then organizations and agencies implement programs that use middle class rules to define everyone, even those who don't fit within those standards. and then we wonder why there are so many in generational poverty. how do you get out when the institutions and groups who are supposed to help you expect of you things you don't even care about? who cares about the future and saving your paycheck when you need food and money for today? you can't expect to force people to believe in achievement, when their most important possessions are people and the relationships that they have with them.

the only way we can start to make dents is if those working with people in poverty build mutually respectful relationships, which listen to and understand the rules that they are working with and the values that are most important to them. only then can any change be affected.

instead of war on poverty they got a war on drugs