Tuesday
Resource Person: Nick Claussen
Institution: Athens Jobs and Family Services
Position: Community Relation Coordinator.
Type of Program:Provides County Homes, Family Services, Child Support, Age, blind, disabled services and health services, employment & education services.
Funding Source: Federal, State and County
Mission:As the employees of the Athens County Department of Job & Family Services,
we have been charged with the most serious and important responsibility in government, that of helping our fellow citizens who experience the despair of poverty, hunger, homelessness, and ill health. We believe that our programs represent the conscience of society and that our strength lies in seeking a decent life for all.
Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation:Planning are based on statistical data, monitoring are done by and the evaluation is done by information gathered by NHANES.
Role of Nutrition Professional:it is unfortunate there is no nutrition professional at AJFS, in the presence of a professional, people would have been educated on eating habits and how to get the most from the little food they have by proper combination of foods.
I have been fortunate to work for 10 hours at the Athens Jobs and Family Services (AJFS) Fall 2009. This was part of a requirement for Economics of Poverty, a course I took at the Economics Department. Some of the issues that were raised in class were not new to me as I took time to speak to some of the workers there. I helped two gentlemen employed by AJFS to move food around Athens County food shelters were these foods are distributed. This was done on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I also had the opportunity to hand food out to people on Tuesdays and Thursdays at AJFS.
I must admit the SNAP is doing a great job in serving the needy but the little time I spent at AJFS indicates that the number of people patronizing their services have increased drastically. I had the pleasure of talking to the Director of Administrative Services, Warren Haydon who confirmed it with some figures. Some people had to be referred other food distribution points.
I must admit that the absence of a dietician at AJFS is not pleasant but the staff of AJFS are faced with issues of how to get people fed. I do not think an empty stomach will be willing to hear talks about eating right when the fellow has nothing to eat at all.
I guess the resource person was not that informative as we all expected but I think we all know how it feels like to be in front people. I will suggest to our instructor to consider Warren Hyadon as a resource person for next year if the course will be mounted and Warren is still at AJFS.
Thursday
Resource Person: Rory Lewandowski
Institution: Ohio State University
Position: Ohio State University Extension Educator, Agriculture and Natural Resources.
Type of Program:Youth and Community Development, Agriculture/Natural Resources, Family Nutrition Program and Family Consumer Sciences
Funding Source: Federal, State and County
Mission:Ohio State University Extension helps people improve their lives through an educational process using scientific knowledge focused on identified issues and needs.
Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation:Depending on what issues that a community raises, a plan is drawn to tackle the issues, whilst the monitoring is done by the community and the extension officer and evaluation is done through interactions with community for them to express their views on what they think have changed since their interaction with extension officers. whether their confidence has increased since then.
Role of Nutrition Professional:Educating families on the importance of eating right and the activities that are to be undertaken to achieve it. Especially the dinning with diabetes program requires a nutrition professional for it to be successful.
I have never left class with some much unanswered questions like that of Thursday’s. First of all, the resource person was as prepared as our instructor and I must confess I was impressed. Now back to the subject matter, sometimes I cannot help it but compare my country with America since at the end of the day, I will go back home and share my fortunate experience with my countrymen. I have always had the notion that extension is all about agriculture. That is finding ways to educate only those involved in agricultural practices.
After listening to Rory talk about their involvement in family and consumer sciences, youth and community development, I could not help it but think throughout the lecture what my country is doing wrong and what will become of it if such activities are incorporated into our extension program. I am sorry to be boring you with my country’s problem but Thursday’s lecture kept me thinking. The extension program is doing a great job, especially with the youth programs as the future of America depends on the youth and it is my hope that the current economic situation will not have an effect on their funding. Certainly the policies that are put forward by the government will determine the efficiency of the Ohio University Extension.
Saturday, April 24, 2010
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Week 3
Tuesday
I will call Tuesday’s class the round table class as we sat in a circle to discuss the poverty stimulation experience the previous week. I was delighted to hear some colleagues mention how fortunate they are after their experience at the stimulation. The instructor also drew our attention to the fact that the stimulation has provided an avenue for us to rethink before we go out judging people while performing our duties.
With the number of people being food insecure increasing to 14.6%, there is a possibility that ailment associated with food insecurity would also increase as people may continue to skip meals or purchase food with less or no nutritional value. With 27.2% of Southeastern Ohio population being food insecure, it is my hope that the advocacy for community gardening will catch up with people so they can complement their earnings from the gardens with the ones that are provided by the American government and philanthropists.
Thursday
There is a saying that “practice what you preach”. Since some of us will find ourselves in the future informing people about the importance of gardening, Thursday provided first timer like me the opportunity to see how community garden looks like. I finally found the site after driving around for about ten minutes. I guess it gave me the opportunity to explore some part of Athens.
Paddy, the assistant manager of the garden was very informative. I believe a community garden leads to a united community, as Paddy informed that people take turns to share the equipment at the garden. Having been shown our plot, my group members and I are ready to get into action. It was a sunny day and I believe we all left the community garden with something useful to the body. Guess what? VITAMIN D!
I will call Tuesday’s class the round table class as we sat in a circle to discuss the poverty stimulation experience the previous week. I was delighted to hear some colleagues mention how fortunate they are after their experience at the stimulation. The instructor also drew our attention to the fact that the stimulation has provided an avenue for us to rethink before we go out judging people while performing our duties.
With the number of people being food insecure increasing to 14.6%, there is a possibility that ailment associated with food insecurity would also increase as people may continue to skip meals or purchase food with less or no nutritional value. With 27.2% of Southeastern Ohio population being food insecure, it is my hope that the advocacy for community gardening will catch up with people so they can complement their earnings from the gardens with the ones that are provided by the American government and philanthropists.
Thursday
There is a saying that “practice what you preach”. Since some of us will find ourselves in the future informing people about the importance of gardening, Thursday provided first timer like me the opportunity to see how community garden looks like. I finally found the site after driving around for about ten minutes. I guess it gave me the opportunity to explore some part of Athens.
Paddy, the assistant manager of the garden was very informative. I believe a community garden leads to a united community, as Paddy informed that people take turns to share the equipment at the garden. Having been shown our plot, my group members and I are ready to get into action. It was a sunny day and I believe we all left the community garden with something useful to the body. Guess what? VITAMIN D!
Monday, April 12, 2010
Poverty Stimulation
This evening's poverty stimulation was an interesting one and brought back some memories that have shaped my life.
I found myself in a family were I was a 56 years handicapped woman. Things were so tight that we could not manage to eat for two weeks, could not pay our mortgage (become homeless) and could not afford to pay for my medication.In a real life situation, I would have been hospitalized or dead without the medication. This is the predicament the poor go through. When Ghana went through a period of hunger during 1983, I remember seeing my mum going out of house every now and then with a plastic bag containing her clothes to be sold so she can put food on table while my dad waits to be paid accumulated salary.
My siblings and I had to take turns to skip school in order to sell ice cream. Not only does Poverty disrupt family quality time but steal the life out of people.
However from the American perspective, I believe there is hope for the poor as there are avenues for the poor to seek assistance. During the stimulation, I lost my wallet and ended up with $100 card to pay utilities and $20 cash. If it were back home, there would have been no one to talk to for assistance.
I think tonight's stimulation is an excellent experience to those of us who have not seen or experienced poverty.
I found myself in a family were I was a 56 years handicapped woman. Things were so tight that we could not manage to eat for two weeks, could not pay our mortgage (become homeless) and could not afford to pay for my medication.In a real life situation, I would have been hospitalized or dead without the medication. This is the predicament the poor go through. When Ghana went through a period of hunger during 1983, I remember seeing my mum going out of house every now and then with a plastic bag containing her clothes to be sold so she can put food on table while my dad waits to be paid accumulated salary.
My siblings and I had to take turns to skip school in order to sell ice cream. Not only does Poverty disrupt family quality time but steal the life out of people.
However from the American perspective, I believe there is hope for the poor as there are avenues for the poor to seek assistance. During the stimulation, I lost my wallet and ended up with $100 card to pay utilities and $20 cash. If it were back home, there would have been no one to talk to for assistance.
I think tonight's stimulation is an excellent experience to those of us who have not seen or experienced poverty.
Saturday, April 10, 2010
Week 2
This was an interesting one. When it comes to matters of food security, discussions on it can go beyond class hours. I guess some of us, if not all of us, have experienced food insecurity at one time during our life stages. I did during the 1983 hunger in my country. Memories of that cannot be forgotten as I saw my mum sell almost all of her clothes to make ends meet for my siblings and myself.
I believe this is the same situation Erin Brockhovich found herself in. In her case, she was a single parent and had absolutely nothing to sell to feed her family. However, from an African perspective, someone who is so poor will not have a car. A poor person in African would use her car for taxi to make ends meet. However, after almost a year and half in America, I have come to realise that having a car in America is a necessity not a luxury. Like any other mother fighting for survival, Erin Brockhovich exhibited a motherly instinct by skipping meals just for her children to be fed. I believe this is what most mothers go through hence the increase rate of food deprivation amongst single mothers.
Food insecurity has been a dilemma for a lot of nations, most notably the developing world, but the developed world are also drawn into this dilemma. In 2009, Nord et al. revealed that 14.6% of American households were food insecure. They lacked access to food for an active, healthy life (Anderson, 1990). This level of food insecurity was the highest level in the US since its initial measurement in 1995. In the Appalachian Ohio region, food insecurity was reported to be 27.2% (Holben and Pheley, 2006), and undoubtedly has increased given the current economic situation.
The 60 Minutes documentary shown in class on Thursday virtually spells it out.
I had the opportunity to handout food at the Logan Food Bank in fall and when our team get there at 8:00 am, the line was almost a mile long (car queue) and we were informed that the line started at around 3:00 am. When we left the vicinity at about 11:00 am, the line had increased and with the amount of food left, we released not all of them would go back home with food. I could not help it but think about what will become of the families that could not manage to get food for the day as we were informed that the food distribution is done once a month.
I believe the community gardening initiative is the best action in the right direction in minimizing food insecurity in Athens and its surrounding counties which have high incidence of poverty. According to Athens County Department of Job and Family Services (ACDJFS) in 2006, half of Athens County households earn at least $25,000 less than the nationwide median household income of $40,956. This figure illustrates the poverty level in Southeastern Ohio. It also raises the question of the impoverished ability to not only access food (ACDJFS Report, 2006).
It was good having a fruitful group discussion on Thursday and I am glad to have two group members who have some gardening experience and I look forward to learning with my group members.
I believe this is the same situation Erin Brockhovich found herself in. In her case, she was a single parent and had absolutely nothing to sell to feed her family. However, from an African perspective, someone who is so poor will not have a car. A poor person in African would use her car for taxi to make ends meet. However, after almost a year and half in America, I have come to realise that having a car in America is a necessity not a luxury. Like any other mother fighting for survival, Erin Brockhovich exhibited a motherly instinct by skipping meals just for her children to be fed. I believe this is what most mothers go through hence the increase rate of food deprivation amongst single mothers.
Food insecurity has been a dilemma for a lot of nations, most notably the developing world, but the developed world are also drawn into this dilemma. In 2009, Nord et al. revealed that 14.6% of American households were food insecure. They lacked access to food for an active, healthy life (Anderson, 1990). This level of food insecurity was the highest level in the US since its initial measurement in 1995. In the Appalachian Ohio region, food insecurity was reported to be 27.2% (Holben and Pheley, 2006), and undoubtedly has increased given the current economic situation.
The 60 Minutes documentary shown in class on Thursday virtually spells it out.
I had the opportunity to handout food at the Logan Food Bank in fall and when our team get there at 8:00 am, the line was almost a mile long (car queue) and we were informed that the line started at around 3:00 am. When we left the vicinity at about 11:00 am, the line had increased and with the amount of food left, we released not all of them would go back home with food. I could not help it but think about what will become of the families that could not manage to get food for the day as we were informed that the food distribution is done once a month.
I believe the community gardening initiative is the best action in the right direction in minimizing food insecurity in Athens and its surrounding counties which have high incidence of poverty. According to Athens County Department of Job and Family Services (ACDJFS) in 2006, half of Athens County households earn at least $25,000 less than the nationwide median household income of $40,956. This figure illustrates the poverty level in Southeastern Ohio. It also raises the question of the impoverished ability to not only access food (ACDJFS Report, 2006).
It was good having a fruitful group discussion on Thursday and I am glad to have two group members who have some gardening experience and I look forward to learning with my group members.
Saturday, April 3, 2010
WEEK 1
Tuesday 03/30/10
I did not know what to expect from the course outline not alone talk about gardening. I believe the inclusion of gardening in this course provides an avenue for me to experience how it feels like to garden before I go out preaching to people the importance of gardening. Coming from a continent where most of the people live under $2 a day, I believe the $2 a day exercise will provide an excellent experience. I would not like be someone who goes out to talk about poverty to the poor and is dressed in a tuxedo.
I believe the instructor’s method to put us into groups to get to know each other provides a means of flexibility were it will be easy for us to approach each other when it comes to the course. I have attended some classes were students are total strangers till the end of the class. I am not advocating for friendship amongst students but an avenue were the class environment is such that it makes it easy to approach a class mate for clarifications.
I cannot wait to get things started, especially the gardening experience.
Thursday 04/01/10
Thursday’s workshop was an excellent experience for me. T o hear the entire speakers share their expertise on gardening was an eye opener.
To hear Dr. Holben talk about sustainability drew my attention back home where there is so much talk on “sustainability that sustainability this” and nothing has been sustained for decades now because of bad governance and policies. Food insecurity is on the increase because in African and especially in my country because of our inability to sustain our food system. There are always breaks from production to consumption in the food system. I believe as those in policy making indulge in their own political gimmicks, gardening provides an excellent avenue for the ordinary individual to minimize food insecurity.
Master gardener Cheryl’s presentation was enlightening and encouraging. The diagrams on the types of gardening she provided simply illustrated that anyone with a smallest space can garden if he/she puts her mind to it. Her diagram illustration of the positioning of a garden was just amazing. I never thought such considerations were needed for gardening. What comes to mind is just the plot of land, manure and seedlings.
Dr. Art Trese’s presentation drew my mind back to my secondary school days where I was thought agricultural science. Of course I had all the theoretical foundations with less practical. I believe the soil or the environment provides most of solution to food insecurity. To extend what I will acquire from this course back home will definitely pose as a challenge as people have no regards for soil conservation in their efforts to combat for insecurity. This has been the concern of the neo-Malthusian. People need to know the importance of soil in combating food insecurity and I believe Dr. Trese’s presentation said it all.
During the course of the presentation, I had a strong feeling that if I put myself to gardening I would be an excellent gardener and this was ascertained by Dr. Trese’s affirmation that soils ‘C’ and ‘D’ were the best soils. And guess what, I gave the highest scores to soils ‘C’ and ‘D’.
I cannot wait to have my first gardening experience.
I did not know what to expect from the course outline not alone talk about gardening. I believe the inclusion of gardening in this course provides an avenue for me to experience how it feels like to garden before I go out preaching to people the importance of gardening. Coming from a continent where most of the people live under $2 a day, I believe the $2 a day exercise will provide an excellent experience. I would not like be someone who goes out to talk about poverty to the poor and is dressed in a tuxedo.
I believe the instructor’s method to put us into groups to get to know each other provides a means of flexibility were it will be easy for us to approach each other when it comes to the course. I have attended some classes were students are total strangers till the end of the class. I am not advocating for friendship amongst students but an avenue were the class environment is such that it makes it easy to approach a class mate for clarifications.
I cannot wait to get things started, especially the gardening experience.
Thursday 04/01/10
Thursday’s workshop was an excellent experience for me. T o hear the entire speakers share their expertise on gardening was an eye opener.
To hear Dr. Holben talk about sustainability drew my attention back home where there is so much talk on “sustainability that sustainability this” and nothing has been sustained for decades now because of bad governance and policies. Food insecurity is on the increase because in African and especially in my country because of our inability to sustain our food system. There are always breaks from production to consumption in the food system. I believe as those in policy making indulge in their own political gimmicks, gardening provides an excellent avenue for the ordinary individual to minimize food insecurity.
Master gardener Cheryl’s presentation was enlightening and encouraging. The diagrams on the types of gardening she provided simply illustrated that anyone with a smallest space can garden if he/she puts her mind to it. Her diagram illustration of the positioning of a garden was just amazing. I never thought such considerations were needed for gardening. What comes to mind is just the plot of land, manure and seedlings.
Dr. Art Trese’s presentation drew my mind back to my secondary school days where I was thought agricultural science. Of course I had all the theoretical foundations with less practical. I believe the soil or the environment provides most of solution to food insecurity. To extend what I will acquire from this course back home will definitely pose as a challenge as people have no regards for soil conservation in their efforts to combat for insecurity. This has been the concern of the neo-Malthusian. People need to know the importance of soil in combating food insecurity and I believe Dr. Trese’s presentation said it all.
During the course of the presentation, I had a strong feeling that if I put myself to gardening I would be an excellent gardener and this was ascertained by Dr. Trese’s affirmation that soils ‘C’ and ‘D’ were the best soils. And guess what, I gave the highest scores to soils ‘C’ and ‘D’.
I cannot wait to have my first gardening experience.
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