Field Studies Report from Mexico

I Failed to post this earlier but this is my summary from ProMexico that discusses alot of my experiences there, just incase anyone cares to take a look. My other final project was a powerpoint i did for the politics course, which i cant put on a blog. Anyway Enjoy!

ProMexico Field Studies Report

Lauren MacKenzie

December 8, 2006

The ProMexico semester abroad program of Fall 2006 involved a Field Studies course amongst the other coursework requirements. The field studies portion of the Semester program took on the equivalent of the usual ProMexico function of a volunteer project in a developmental or cultural arena. Along with my experiences with ProMexico, my time spent in Oaxaca involved two organizations, Banco de Alimentos de Oaxaca (BAO) and Diverti Granja.

My project set up started in mid-September with the Banco de Alimentos de Oaxaca (BAO), which is the local food bank for the city of Oaxaca, Mexico. The non-profit BAO is still a relatively young eight years old, however it is an effective organization. The current director, Sylvia Palacios, met with me on several occasions and discussed the details of the organization and the possibility of a project with the BAO. While learning how the BAO functions daily, and on a longer-term basis, we discovered that they were not prepared to have a volunteer of my sort.

The BAO is run smoothly covering the basic services locally that are monitored and aided by the national organization of food banks called the Asociacion Mexicana de Bancos de Alimentos (AMBA). Unfortunately, based upon where the BAO is organizationally, the director Sylvia Palacios was unable to form a project or goal that I could help accomplish. I think logistically, the BAO is functioning at a high level having met their initial goals, however, organizationally I believe the BAO is ready to move forward and create new goals.

After moving on from the BAO, I met with the ProMexico staff to brainstorm new project ideas through discussion and use of the partner organization summaries that are available to program participants. It was an unnerving period, however, a new project was found with a small local organization called Diverti Granja. The main project currently for Diverti Granja is the ever-expanding petting zoo that is designed to educate children about animal rights and disabilities.

I worked with Victor Hugo and Emily at Diverti Granja from October to November 2006 until ProMexico was pulled out of Oaxaca due to the political situation. The first two weeks my role at the zoo was primarily as a supporting worker, helping feed, check and handle the animals to maintain their sense of comfort of with people. I also helped with a tour of elementary school children on their visit to the zoo. Due to the situation in Oaxaca during this period, there was a significant lack of school groups visiting the Diverti Granja, which are usually the main clientele.

After the initial orientation, the organization decided on a more substantial project for my time at Diverti Granja. This project was to be the creation of information cards on each of the different animals. As a result of ProMexico being pulled out of Oaxaca early, the information cards have not been completed yet. However, they will be completed early in 2007 and sent back to Diverti Granja for their use. They will be one-page cards with photos of the animals and information including a map of origin. They will also be bilingual with one side in Spanish and the reverse side in English. Hopefully these cards will be another good resource for the zoo to use to continue to develop their organization.

I believe Diverti Granja has many opportunities for new volunteers because there are a variety of projects that Diverti Granja needs help with. Some must be done locally, but others have more flexibility and can be completed internationally. However, due to the juvenile status of the organization there is a lot of groundwork still to be done in order for Diverti Granja to actualize their ideas and goals. This would include developing a long-term plan, fundraising, further publicity, and development of the educational aspect of the program.

Diverti Granja would greatly benefit from developing partnerships with other organizations locally and internationally. Locally, working more closely with CORAL, a well-established organization would help Diverti Granja develop a financial plan and educational focus for the future. By creating an exact plan, Diverti Granja could have a better sense of their goals, and what they are actually capable of doing. This would be a benefit for them since the organization will continue to make contact with foreigners through ProMexico volunteers; hopefully including connections to animal and human rights, disability education, and sensitivity training groups. There is a wealth of knowledge, resources and connections that these volunteers bring to Diverti Granja from the international community. These exterior influences invaluably develop their programs and will serve as fresh inspiration to the others.

I hope that my work with Diverti Granja will make a difference in the long run, however, that will depend upon the amount I continue to work with the organization in the future. I do not feel like my work, as of yet, has affected the organizations future. I think I feel that way because my project with Diverti Granja is basic, but I am aware that it is important for the esthetic and development of the overall organization. It is not satisfying playing a minimal role with an organization because aspirations are high and there is a lot of work to do. I can imagine it is frustrating for Victor Hugo and Emily of Diverti Granja, as it would be for anyone in a similar position with a non-profit organization.

The field studies project, through ProMexico, Diverti Granja and the Banco de Alimentos de Oaxaca, was an invaluable experience personally and professionally. However, it is overwhelming, empowering and inspiring in many ways. I have dreamed of living abroad working for a non-profit organization feeling that cliché of ‘making a difference’; now, I have begun to think I would like my career to be more focused on the balance of political forces, as much as I appreciate what happens in the daily struggle of a non-profit organization. Professionally, learning by example and learning by doing are effective ways, and from my experiences with three different non-profits I learned a lot about the realities of non-profits. It is daunting as I move forward after all that I have learned from this experience because it will continue to influence my future and the way in which I understand, interpret and interact the professional world I hope to enter.

The most important aspect of a non-profit, that I have discovered, is goal setting. It is not a one-time event that takes place, but needs to reoccur at regular intervals to evaluate where you stand on original goals and set new goals. Through sports I have learned that personal goals are important but with this field studies experience, it became clear that professional goals for an organization are even more important. Organizations’ goals are shared amongst the executive and members; they affect the perception of the organization by the public, donors and therefore need to be precise and measurable to demonstrate progress. Without goals there is no way for an organization, or individuals within it, to have a sense of direction and to function under a mandate.

Working under a mandate is vital to human resources and therefore the longevity of the organization, which is the second most important thing to a non-profit organization. The value of a person is immeasurable, especially to a non-profit, because they are often volunteers or highly underpaid. This value is not only applicable to professional life, but to personal life, it demonstrates the point that it does not matter what you do, but how you do it. It is impossible to truly comprehend, in words, what I have learned from this experience.

Learning from the mistakes and strengths of yourself and others is not an easy task because it forces you to be critical of everything you have experienced. However, hopefully the result is a productive one, which I believe this has been. I have learned from being critical of myself, the two organizations I was involved with, and ProMexico. In terms of ProMexico, I believe the staff works incredibly well at being accessible and still professional to the participants that arrive.

In the case of my project, I believe that they were ready to listen to my goals and ideas, and then help find a suitable project for me. However, I believe that the success we had was due to the amount of time we had to work on a project for me. Its unrealistic to expect the staff or even the participant to know exactly what project would be ideal; it creates a lot of pressure on all parties involved when considering the limited amount of time a participant is on site for and the amount of money they are paying for the experience. It would be helpful for participants to receive a copy of detailed organization summaries before arriving on site. This would help the participants to clarify expectations and to formulate a plan, or at minimum an idea, of what they would like to do for their project. More guidelines are needed for participants prior to arrival, but this should exclude the staff making the plans for the participant unless they are very clear about what they want. There needs to be time to adjust to the culture, language, family-stay and life on site before an appropriate project can be found by participant or staff. This is why I would recommend ProMexico encouraging a long stay on site of at least a month to best benefit the participant, the non-profit organization, and ProMexico’s relationships with the community.

My fall 2006 spent in Oaxaca with ProMexico as a semester abroad student, doing my field studies course, consisted of just over three months of experience with the non-profit sector. There are more things I would like to have seen and done in Oaxaca for my field studies project, however, there are things I will continue to do now that I am no longer affiliated with ProMexico. It is an experience that is continuing past my allotted time with ProMexico; the full value of the experience is incomprehensible but the lessons learned from my field studies project are a huge part of it.