This week was mainly about tying up loose ends with our service learning, including having a group meeting, on Facebook chat, to discuss what else needs to be done, preferences for our presentation, making sure the correct dates were written down for events, etc. Another thing that was discussed within this meeting was our uncertainty about how to get our community leader sign our service learning hour logs, and who was to be the point person for that task. One of the pitfalls from this week is that within our only meeting as a group this week, not every member of our group attended this meeting. While discussing dates and times for this meeting, every group member agreed on the time that was designated, committing to be online. That unfortunately did not happen, but the majority of the group members followed through with their commitments on being online to be able to tie up loose ends before our hours were to be due.
One factor that comes along with globalization is migration, where recent immigration from regions like Central America specifically, is most likely to “fill the ‘3D’ jobs—dirty, difficult, and dangerous. They are underpaid and overworked, and employers can use their status as immigrants to exploit them further.” (Kirk and Okazawa-Rey 378). This is relevant to our work in Animal Safehouse because a lot of women, especially undocumented women that are in an abusive relationship, face marginalization from our immigration policies here in the United States. Their immigration status can not only be exploited by employers, but from their partners. Abusers can use their immigration status as a way to maintain power and control over the victim. The majority of undocumented women do not report domestic violence because of fear of being deported, losing their jobs, or being separated from their family. There is a lack of support for these survivors, where they already face extreme poverty and exploitation from employers, but also from the law lacking to provide sufficient aide for these women.
This week has mainly been about the after effects of activism, where one has to evaluate, or in this case reflect, and hold each person accountable. Personally, since this week there was no tabling, human interaction based on this topic has been mainly with other group members. Even though as a group another meeting was discussed to be able to plan our final presentation, I feel as though another meeting would be necessary to debrief our activism as a whole, and on an individual level. I feel as though discussing what worked, what didn’t work, and acknowledging individuals who followed through with their commitments is necessary. Being able to hold not only other people accountable for their actions, but ourselves as well, specifically in a group setting, I feel, is a necessary place to learn effective means of communication.
Word count: 477
Works Cited
Kirk, Gwyn, Okazawa-Rey, Margo. Women’s Lives Multicultural Perspectives Fifth Edition. McGraw-Hill , February 2009. Print. 378.