Catch-up

I just started this blog in preparations for heading to Ecuador in June :) So to fill everything in:

• I started applying last May, had my interview in June, then dragged my feet through the medical/dental review process because of starting a new job, and finally received my invitation email March 23 and the paperwork in the mail March 27. I accepted March 30th and have been trying to work through the paperwork and preparations since! :)
• I'm currently working as a Therapeutic Behavior Specialist in a residential treatment facility for extremely at-risk youth aged 6 to 14 with moderate to severe behavioral and emotional problems. Most come from urban areas of Greater Cincinnati, but some from more rural regions of Kentucky. My last day full-time is May 10th, then I'm going to travel and visit with friends and family before departing on my Ecuador adventure.

My project:

• Program: Youth and Families
• Job Title: Urban Youth Development, Community Service - It seems like a pretty broad job to me, I could be doing many different projects within this field. The general assignment is to work with at-risk youth and families while helping communities to develop programs to assist them
• Departure: June 15, 2009
• Goals:
• 1) Youth Stewardship: provide Youth with increased opportunities for education, enrichment, and self-esteem enhancement (training youth in "Life Skills" or vocational skills, improve leadership capabilities, improve literacy through afterschool programming)
• 2) Efforts in Community and Organizational Development: work to increase the capacity of local community organizations to address needs of youth and families (training community leaders, improve efficiency of programs, develop community-based activities, provide support for improving economic conditions through business education etc)
• 3) Prevention: assist youth and families in becoming better equipped to deal with life's challenges (training community members in: HIV/AIDS prevention, sex education, women's rights, children's rights, family violence, parenting, drug and alcohol abuse, and conflict resolution)

As far as location, I won't know exactly where in-country I will be going until part-way through training, but my pamphlet says that most sites are in "marginal urban neighborhoods" in small/large cities. Pretty vague but I'm starting to get used to not knowing much haha

Well that's all I have time for now!