My Summer Experience

Now that I think about it these weeks of ssp passed us by pretty fast. Having fun while getting paid should be the name for this summer. SSP has been a good experience for me, I tried many new things and met some new friends that I want to keep in contact with after all of this. I liked working on my project because of the theme which was exercising the community. It was fun going through the process in making steps for health successful, I talked to many people in the community to advertise my walk and I was happy that they all agreed to help with my project. Now even though my walking group didn't turn out as planed I still think with more time and hard work it is still possible to exercise the community even if they don't know its important. Maybe the future ssp members could pick up on my work and make great improvements. I wish that we still can meet up as a group later in the future, just to have fun. I'm very glad that I participated in ssp and I will remember this whole experience for the rest of my life.

This picture looks like we should have our own tv show like Friends.

Sugar

I think the story was very good. The story made me think about how a doctor has to really know how to do his job in order to really help a person. In the story a 6 year old girl's parents brought her to the doctor and told them something was wrong with her. Jumping around, staring blank into space, (something you would think a 6 year old child does from time to time). The doctor looked at a normal child and was ready to send her off with some Tylenol and call it a day. It takes more then that. When becoming a doctor you have to know the right questions to ask and symptoms a person might have. A person can look at someone and not know what's wrong with that person. A doctor on the other hand has to really look at a person and ask questions about him/her. I think this story really gives me good idea how things really are in the doctor's office and make me think about the things they have to go through.

Today's reading

This afternoon we read two short stories, "The Unknown Assailant"and "Sugar".Which made me think about does the type of person someone is really effect how a doctor does there job? During our discussion the question of "would you treat the person who got shot and the shooter with the same amount of care?" And my personal opinion was that I would because it would be my job, and I'm not the one in charge of punishing that person. Also since I'm interested in medicine the story "Sugar" lets me know that even if your patient doesn't look like somethings wrong with them that you act upon them as if there was because you wouldn't want to be responsible for a bad outcome.

Wild out Wednesday

Yesterday was fun and exciting, first we had that very interesting sex education presentation from team Woodlawn. Good job team Woodlawn for acting so professional durning the uncomfortable moments with the banana and the condom. I wish we could have cooked at Common Threads. Dancing Merengue was very fun and I wish that Whitney and Imari would have been there. i love the whole idea of Common Threads and what they do. Everyone there had a great attitude towards their work and I think that was important. Maybe if I have time I would like to volunteer with them in the future!

Hey sspers, I letting everyone know that my first walking group is coming up Friday at 8PM and Saturday at 9AM. So i'm hoping that anyone that can come does!

scared whit

This is a story written by Whitney, I just posted it for her.



So it's been a long day. It was 10:05pm when I got in the house from outside. I was on the other side with the LAFA's. Every time I go back on my side with the GD's. They would always talk about me going over to the other side. They don't like it. I never really cared what they thought, I have friends over there and would keep going to go see them. By the time 10:40pm hit, I heard gun shot's. I was thinking about it. When I came back on my side my friend Mike said he was going to stop me from going over there, but I thought he was just talking like always. I didn't think today would be the day he would be for real.The gun shots weren't from my side. They were from the other side. I got my cell phone and called Jason. I heard yelling in the back ground, he said he was going to call me back, these n****'s wont war!! After that phone call I wasn't sure what to think. I was so scared I wonted to go back out but, I wasn't sure if that would be a good idea. I called my best friend Domo to make sure she was safe.She was. I heard the guys from my side of the block on the other side shooting at the LAFA's. I know they all jumped in Ham,Mike,and Sparks car to go over there. Clarissa (Jason sister) texted me and said I should try and get Jason to come in the house before he got hurt. I called his 15 times in counting. He wasn't picking up. I knew he knew that I was calling to get him to go in the house. He wasn't trying to hear it. When 11:40pm hit that's when every thing got crazy. I heard a lot of car chasing outside. This was from my block all the way to the other side. I heard the cars stop 2 blocks away. Then I heard yelling. I could hear Mike yelling at Ham saying "HERE THEY COME!!" Then I heard more cars rushing down the street and gun shots,Then driving off. After that I could hear people from the other side yelling out of their car,"YEAH Y'ALL N****'S DON'T WONT THAT ON Y'ALL HEADS!!" I was scared something bad had happend to Mike,I didn't hear him yelling any more. I texted his cell phone. He didn't text back. I left that a lone. Then at 12:12am I heard guns just going off. Non-stop. (-thinking to my self-No one stops to reload their guns anymore?)through all this, I wonted to hear why I didn't hear any police sirens and the police station is 6 blocks from the other side. That's why I hate cricket police. They don't care about anything. Then I didn't hear anything any more. It's 12:56am. I"m texting and calling every body I think that would have been in this. (From both side's). No one is saying anything back, or calling me back. I heard 2 cars around the corner from my house. My niece sleeps in the basement with her mom. She heard what I heard in the back yard. But I didn't get up to look. (Getting hit by a bullet that doesn't be long to you isn't anything to play with). She looked out the back door window and yelled "THERE'S SOMEBODY OUT THERE!!".I went to the room next to mine and cut off the lights and looked out the blinds slowly. I could see about 5 boys climbing over me back yard gate. I had never seen them before. I didn't know who they were. They started banging on the windows. They more my niece yelled, the more they banged. She stopped. When my mom called my brother and told him what happend he said come over to his house. When my mom felt it was safe to leave out she got us and we all hopped in the car and left. We didn't get there till around 2:30am. I didn't go to sleep till 3:40am. When I woke up at 6:30am to get ready for work my next door neighbor called my mom's phone and said our house might have been broken into. We left my brothers house at 8:40am and got back home at 9:18am. We looked around the inside of our house, we didn't see anything that could look like someone broke in. My mom rushed me to get dressed and off to work.

Essay

I came across this interesting essay in the NY Times about the history (and future) of diabetes in the United States.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/20/health/20essay.html?_r=1&hpw

Team South Chicago Cooks

Last week, (or maybe the week before that) Team South Chicago decided to cook lunch together. We were fortunate enough to have access to a kitchen in the clinic that had previously been used to teach healthy cooking classes. A few days before we were to cook, we looked through a diabetes friendly cookbook and found a delicious stir-fry recipe that we wanted to try out. After a long morning of working on our projects, we went grocery shopping for the ingredients in the afternoon. To our surprise, an entire meal for seven people ended up costing less than $20! Talk about smart shopping! Cooking together was a great experience. Luckily everybody had some previous experience in the kitchen so we split tasks: washing/chopping vegetables, marinating the meat, and cooking at the stove. Alex G. cooked the broccoli, Whitney took care of the peppers, and Imari handled the meat. After almost a half hour of hard work, we ate our creation and loved it! In fact, people were stopping in the hallway to investigate where the delicious smell was coming from. We were also lucky enough to have Nubia visit us and she agreed-we were definitely amazing cooks!

Having Fun!

Basic yoga

So two weeks ago SSP as a whole group took a yoga session. The instructor whose name is Cecily was very calm and relaxed at the beginning she asked rhetorical questions that took people awhile to comprehend she wanted us to just take mental notes for ourselves. I really enjoyed the soothing sounds that was provided it was like nature and some other things. Alex, Iysha, and I found it to be quite hysterical when out of nowhere Cecily began to shout and swing her arms at a fast speed. But apparently Tevin's the "yoga man," and Toussaint was so relaxed he fell asleep! I enjoyed the experience but was kind of bored because I would have like to try some more difficult poses.

(This is me wishing we could have tried harder poses!)

Grand Rounds

A few weeks ago the SSP-ers attended Grand Rounds. Grand Rounds is a weekly conference held at The University of Chicago Medical Center. Every week, different experts present about their research. This week, Doctor Schumann asked a few people from SSP to speek Getting ready for Grand Rounds was normal. I didn't feel nervous about presenting, but I did feel like I might miss something that I needed to talk about. I didn't think that there was going to be that many people that I didn't know. I felt kind of happy when I made all of the doctors laugh. Benny, Passion, and Becky also all did a great job with their short speeches, they didn't fall under pressure and presented very well. I was surprised of how mad the man in the back of the room was. I forgot why the man was so mad but I think the way he expressed himself was inappropriate for the moment. My final thoughts about Grand Rounds is that the lunch was very tasty and I can't wait to see Whitney and Imari with their speech in front of a room full of doctors.

Imari's project proposal

Background:
Topic; Survey/pamphlet
People with diabetes were the main reason why this idea was formed.
Diabetes is an important issue because many people seem to over look it because they feel it’s not as severe as other diseases, but its known that many people actually have type 2 diabetes. And it’s known that people with diabetes need a lot of health maintenance and that’s where my project comes into perspective.
The purpose of making this pamphlet is to inform this neighborhood about the good restaurants, gyms, clinics, etc around Commercial Avenue. This is important because it can motivate people that have been meaning to live a healthier life and shine a light on what’s already provided in their neighborhood. Also it would provide information about the best and closest options.


Objective:
What I’m hoping to get done is to come up with a survey and hand it out. From there evaluate people’s responses and make a pamphlet.

Plan of action:
My plan is to use the information from the survey to help me choose a couple of places to research about. Then after that visit some of those local businesses and ask some questions that aren’t advertised. Also talk to Doc. Jones and ask her for her ideas and suggestions. Finally put the pamphlet together.

Schedule:
Week 3- Make and complete survey.
Week 4- Hand out survey and see what I get from that.
Week 5- Research/ talk to doctor Jones.
Week 6- Put pamphlet together.

Trash Wars

Today, Alex, Imari, Whitney, and I donned disposable gloves, armed ourselves with big trash bags, and headed north on Exchange to battle litter. By the end of the block on which the Chicago Family Health Center is located, my bag was already sagging with the weight of various plastic bottles, ripped wrappers, an empty bottle of Grey Goose, plastic grocery bags, discarded flyers, and postage stamp sized bags that Alex optimistically suggested may have once contained jewelry. I was not really surprised by the amount of litter we encountered because we have walked many time around these blocks and seen the neglected sidewalks in the neighborhood. I was surprised, however, by the rate at which my bag filled. The trash bag, which had seemed cavernous and unlikely to be the limiting factor for the length of our service project, was ripping from the weight of its contents as we turned left on 90th street. I was lagging behind at this point which was a good thing. I was content to pick up stray wrappers (someone in the neighborhood consumes a terrifying quantity of blue raspberry taffy) and leave the larger items for Imari, Whitney, and Alex to fill their bags as quickly as possible.

As we made our way back to the clinic (having walked around one square block), we had four nearly full bags of trash, one for each street we had walked down. It made me wonder how many bags it would take to clean up the entire neighborhood. Any guesses? I'm going to count how many blocks are in South Chicago at some point soon!

During our service project, I was struck by three things. First, most of the trash we were picking up was food wrappers. We were seeing another effect of fast food culture in our community; fast food leaves behind a trail of paper and foil while fresh foods can biodegrade. Second, one of the students made the perceptive observation that the litter could have been avoided if there had been public trash cans available. Usually, I think that litter is a product of laziness and apathy, but in this case, I think she was right! There were no trash cans on these blocks, so there was no other place to put trash. Lastly, a lot of the trash we saw was actually inside people's front and back yards. Even if they weren't responsible for the trash in the first place, they had let all of it pile up. I think that is indicative of the pride people have in their community. If someone doesn't care enough about their yard to keep it looking nice, then it gives silent permission for other people to treat green spaces like big, grassy dumpsters.

Group Presentations

This past Thursday, South Chicago along with Woodlawn, and Greater Grand Crossing all had to present presentations. South Chicago's was about the basics of diabetes, Woodlawn's was about STDs and safe sex, and Greater Grand Crossing's was about stress. I think that each group did a good job talking about their topics and informing us what to do or not to do. Each group's topics were very important to anyone's neighborhoods because they were things people apparently overlook. Although a few of us were nervous or embarrassed, we presented our subjects with confidence. I personally was very nervous at first because talking to or around people I really don't know does that to me. I was mainly afraid that I would mess up, but once I laughed all the nerves went away. Overall, I always find it more fun when everyone's together because some people are very funny and cool to be around.

-Imari

Working in the Garden

I wasn't too excited about working in the garden because of how it appeared. There wasn't a sidewalk or a clean walking path to stand on. To top it off, how it looked was crazy. I wouldn't have known there was a garden there. It looked unorganized, so I wasn't so excited about working there to begin with. Once the girls (Imari, Whitney) and I started pulling weeds, we began to realize that it wasn't the most difficult work. It was dirty, but a soil-like dirty and not a harmful potent dirt. Imari, who had a big problem helping with the dirt and bugs was doing great. She was doing more work than anyone could have imagined her doing. Whitney was also doing a good job, and even though she didn't like bugs or insects, Whitney got in the dirt and tried her best to avoid them. With the five of us all working slowly, we all got a lot of work done for the community garden and for Miguel (who takes care of the garden). Overall, we didn't mind helping with the garden, and for me, Imari, and Whitney, it wasn't what we expected. I guess in some kind of way it was fun helping out the community. But I wouldn't want to volunteer to help again if there are other cleaner options.

-Alex G.

A Fun Diabetes Video

Kidshealth.org has an excellent video about diabetes that we watched today. Diabetes is a huge problem as we learned today (and will hopefully teach the group tomorrow!)

http://kidshealth.org/misc/movie/cc/diabetes/index.html

Enjoy!

on the way to the garden

Last week we went to help out in a community garden run by the South Chicago Art Center. It's a pretty incredible garden, tended to by a really enthusiastic and energetic man named Miguel.

But a quick story about what happened on the way to the garden. Before we started working, we had to pick up some tools to work with from the art center. We were hauling these dirty shovels and garden tools when we walked by a group of kids sitting on a porch. One of them yelled out to our students, "Are you going to work in that garden? Tell them we're not slaves anymore." It was both awkward and funny. We all kind of laughed it off and moved on, but how should one react to a comment like that? Is there a sense of maliciousness behind the humor, or was it just a joke?

Tour + Meal + Kickball = Good Day

Yesterday we were privileged to get a tour of the South Side of Chicago by the one and only Wallace Goode, Director of the University Community Service Center at the University of Chicago. The entire group loaded into a big yellow school bus early in the morning and began our journey by exploring Kenwood. Wallace pointed out the homes of President Obama, Louis Farrakhan, and Muhammad Ali (whose house is currently on the market for $1.6 million).

From there, we traveled through a number of communities such as Chinatown, the South Loop, and Pullman. Throughout the bus ride, Wallace did an excellent job at presenting the group with new and interesting facts about the rich history of the area. One interesting thing we learned was that the Chinatown was originally in a different location, closer to Fullerton, but eventually moved to its present location near Bridgeport. During this portion of the trip, we also became more cultured citizens of Chicago and learned what the stars and stripes on the Chicago flag symbolized: two blue bars for the two branches of the Chicago river, and four stars for four major events in Chicago history – the founding of Fort Dearborn, the Great Chicago Fire, the Columbian Exposition, and the Century of Progress Exposition.

In the South Loop, Wallace highlighted the affects of gentrification-just a few years ago it was not a frequently visited area but with the addition of housing developments, a Whole Foods and a Fancy movie theater (and Starbucks of course!) things were quickly changing. In our journey, we also visited South Chicago (yay!) where Wallace showed us a huge lot that once housed a steel plant but was now unused partially because of the contaminated soil. It was disappointing to see such a huge plot of land that was not being used for the community. For most of us, it was the first time we had been so far south and exploring Chicago with the group was a great experience!

Overall, touring the South Side was educational, entertaining…and hunger-inducing. (You try riding through the delicious smells of Chinatown as lunchtime approaches.) Thankfully, we ended our tour at Yassa, a lauded Senegalese restaurant in the neighborhood of Grand Crossing. Deliciousness ensued in the form of plantains, jollof rice, lamb, chicken, fish, couscous, cabbage, and SPICINESS. For some of us (Imari, Alex G, and Zakia) the amount of spicy heat was culinary perfection. For others (Deanna and Sam) it was pushing it – we liked it, but it also made our eyes water. A lot.

Now that our bellies were full of the delights of West Africa, we were energized to play a rousing game of kickball on the Midway back at the University of Chicago. Two teams, each with SSPers from each of the three sites, were created and a showdown between Team Jacob and Team Awesome took place. It took a little while for everyone to get in the schoolyard groove (remembering the tricks of those games you played in the third grade is no easy task!), but eventually we got into the rhythm of forced outs and RKIs – that’s “Runs Kicked In” for all of you kickball neophytes. Zakia, Deanna, Alex, and Imari were all on the victorious Team Jacob and give their apologies to Sam and Whitney, members of Team Awesome, for the stomping they received.

We ended our day with a name game among all of the SSPers, and then said our goodbyes. We’re so glad that the South Chicago Team is now all together and raring to go!

–Zakia and Deanna

Whitney's pictures from Chinatown

“Dancing Dragons”
The dragons in Chinatown were very colorful. They almost looked as if they were dancing and were turned to stone. I really like the designs that were carved around them. The overall appearance was very pretty to me. It looks as if they were real.



I like the bird because I really like the animals and I could picture the real colors of the bird other than the actual greenish color it was made from.



I liked the dog in Chinatown because that’s my sign and I really really love dogs.



I like the picture of the alley because I like the shadows on the wall. It has so much going on, and it makes me want to follow all the lines to where they end.

What I learned this week was people’s names and how people should know about their health. I also learned that you should get check-ups more and stuff. With the big group I learned how to do a presentation and what not to do when giving one and how to not be nervous. Also, I learned to try new things.

if you have time

There is an interesting column today by David Brooks (a u of c grad for you summer linkers) about changing people's behaviors and Alcoholics Anonymous. It's a short, interesting article that I think it relates a lot to the heart of the various SSP projects, and healthcare in general.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/29/opinion/29brooks.html?src=me&ref=general

here is the longer article that he references in his column

http://www.wired.com/magazine/2010/06/ff_alcoholics_anonymous/

Around the neighborhood

I took this photo because of Whitney's facial expression and posture. It tells the observer that she is feed up or frustrated about something. What I like about the outcome of the picture is how she's in between the two beams. Which shows up much darker compared to where she is. Also I feel that it’s unexpected for someone to take a picture in front of a wall that’s chipped. But maybe that’s what makes it different and unusual.

I like this picture a lot because I have an interest in graffiti. The green and white spray paint goes well with the natural background. The fact that they out lined each word with the opposite color is probably what caught my attention. Also the way the rust out lines the gate but not the complete thing makes the picture stronger.


The reason I took this picture was I wanted to show everyone what I saw from the outside of the gate. Which were the different piles of dirt? My purpose for that was because you can see that they each would hold a different texture, but yet they are the same. Also I liked how the trees in the far back add a little color and life into the picture.

hummus in one word

Our kids tried hummus for the first time last week. As you can tell, they loved it. Here is how we all described it one word:

Disgusting - Alex G

Unpleasant - Imari

Delicious - Zakia

Savory - Deanna

Tasty - Sam

Chickpealicious - Alex C

Whitney is unfortunately unavailable for comment, but I have a feeling that she would express similar sentiments as Alex G and Imari.

photos of south chicago

Good Girl Gone Bad

I liked this photo because if you look around the backround has a ugly dirty theme with no type of color except for the girl with the matching clothes and umbrella. i also saw that it looks like she came from the light and is now entering or stepping into the darkness.

Waste of Talent

The graffiti on the train is very artistic. if you look closly you can see a face in the letters, there's different bright colors, and like most graffiti there are words that can't be read at first sight. I call this picture "waste of talent" because by the looks of it this person that sprayed this on the train has talent but instead puts it on a train where people won't pay attention to it.

Crazy Stairs

If you just focus on the stairs and nothing else in the backround, these stairs can look like they are going nowhere and I don't know I just like this picture because it looks weird. I also noticed that the red paint is wearing off and the wood is showing, that cool.

SSP Blog!

Welcome to the South Chicago Summer Service Partnership 2010 blog! We will be sharing stories, reflections, and photos from our summer in the South Chicago neighborhood. We hope you will enjoy reading about our experiences this summer as we learn about the neighborhood, each other, and ourselves through community service. Our team consists of Sam, Alex C., Deanna, Zakia, Imari, Whitney, and Alex G. We will all be posting regularly!