#ud research

[jocmoore]

Today was a busy one filled with lots of community. I attended a fantastic church called New Life Covenant, and the new mayor of Chicago stopped by to speak about the recent, senseless violence that has plagued the city. He spoke in a way that made the huge city of Chicago feel smaller, more closely connected and, thus, a place where everyone is accountable for the crime anywhere in the city. I liked that sense of community.

Then, I went to Taste of Chicago, a huge five day "feast-ival" in Grant Park. On the way there, I met Peggy (pictured above), who describes herself as "a 60-something year old with a 30-year old's heart". In a particularly uncharacteristic move on my part, I spent my entire time at the feast-ival with Peggy, allowing her to show me the ins and outs (i.e. where to get free stuff) and listening to her hilarious adventure stories. 

Seeing the mayor speak and spending the day with Peggy both reminded me of this idea of "community" that my fellow Plastino Scholar, Becky, has been blogging about. This semester I took a "community development" class, which has done wonders with the way I see cities. That knowledge, combined with Becky's fantastic descriptions and definitions of communities abroad, definitely contributed to my decision to spend the day with Peggy, a complete stranger (and utter sweetheart). I'm not so naive that I don't recognize the inherent "stranger danger" that lives in cities (especially Chicago). And to be honest, I'm not sure if Peggy's kindness was an example of community or of...well...kindness, but either way, it made for a great day.

PS, check out Becky's blog here: http://beckychasesnature.tumblr.com/ as well as Mark, the other Plastino Scholar completing summer research: http://markrucci.tumblr.com/ !!

[jocmoore]

Some pictures from my Chicago adventures, sprinkled with a few selfies. This city has the strangest sculptures/monuments and the most beautiful parks!

[jocmoore]

As president of IJM at UD, it's my job to take the opinions and goals of the other officers and members, and combine them with my own to create a vision that is both inclusive and unique; one that is specified for IJM at UD yet accessible and relatable to anyone. This year, (though I'm still thinking through the details), our vision is to get back to the "why". It's so easy (for anyone, all of us!) to get caught up in the logistics of running an organization that we unknowingly stray from the original purpose of why we started or joined the organization to begin with. It is the "why" that drives literally everything, and if we lose sight of that, we unwittingly render ourselves useless. 

This Saturday, I was invited by Caleb Probst (pictured above) to tag along with him to one of his human trafficking training. Caleb, the Educator at CAASE, typically works with high school students (especially high school boys), teaching them what trafficking is, the forms it takes, and what can be done about it. But he occasionally gets asked to train adult professionals on the topic. This weekend, his audience was a group of adults taking a 40-hour certification class on domestic violence. They collectively seemed to already have a solid base knowledge of what trafficking is, and both they (and I) learned a lot about the legal definitions and classifications.

From seeing Caleb teach about it and from having the opportunity to teach a lesson to the girls at GEMS with Sophia, I realize that this is the primary way that I personally find my way back to the "why": teaching others. Educating others about what trafficking is forces me to re-educate myself. My heart sinks as I recite the startling statistics, simply because the statistics are still true. And my eyes brighten when the person I'm talking to is surprised/appalled/angry/sad because it means that there is now one more person who can help end it. Talking about human trafficking brings to the forefront of my mind the ever-burning passion within me to eradicate the world of the crime altogether.

Part of my three-fold goal for this summer experience is to get an idea of where I belong in the anti-trafficking "business" (for lack of better words). I can't say for sure, but I can certainly see myself as a Sophia or a Caleb: educating others.

[jocmoore]

What's a CAASE?

So, I realize that I haven't actually given much insight into the organization that will characterize the second phase of my Plastion experience. Allow me to remedy that:

CAASE stands for the Chicago Alliance Against Sexual Exploitation, and was founded in 2006 by Rachel Durchslag (I know, yet another Rachel!). CAASE's mission is to address "the culture, institutions, and individuals that perpetrate, profit from, or support sexual exploitation." They do so through legal services, policy reform, prevention and community engagement. It is these latter two thrusts that I find most interesting (prevention and community engagement).

While many organizations focus on how we can prevent our girls from being trafficked and/or prostituted (better education, improving economic situtions, reinforcing positive female images, etc.) CAASE takes a novel approach by focusing on the roles males play in the issue; namely the pimps and johns. CAASE has a spectacular curriculum for high school boys, teaching them from an early, crucial age the importance of treating women like people, not objects (check it out here!). They also have a wonderful initiative titled "End Demand: Illinois" which I spoke about briefly and will probably post about later.

CAASE is also a great resource for a community that wants to learn more about the issue and/or take some concrete actions against it. They actually have toolkits for all different sorts of groups: religious (Jewish, Protestant, Catholic, Muslim and Orthodox Christian), college students (whoo!), high school coaches, parents, teachers, writers, mental health practioners, even massage therapists!

Being here is a completely different vibe than being at GEMS. For one thing, GEMS is a drop-in center, which means that girls were always in and out, creating a lively, (rather loud) environment filled with laughter, conversation, crying babies and music. CAASE, however, is not a direct-service organization, and (consequently) not a drop-in center. This creates a much quieter environment, as you can imagine. I am interested in seeing how the staff here stay connected to the purpose when it is not right in front of their faces, the way it is at GEMS.