ALYSSA NELSON 11 /22 /2013

Growth on the Waterwith

Immigrant/Refugee Women

EdLd 647: Organizational & Systems Change

Setting and Characters Involved

Mankato, MN population 40,119 people (2012)

Immigrant and Refugee women population

People involved: Mohamed Alsadig Jessica O’brien Sara Sinnard Erin Meyers

Change Wanted to Make and Why it was needed.

I wanted to become more involved in helping the immigrant and refugee Muslim women of Mankato, MN gain more independence and confidence within themselves.

The change was needed because the Muslim women are the back bone of their families and could greatly benefit the Mankato community . Many women do not leave their homes making adjustments to the area difficult.

Vision

I had a clear vision of using Bent River Outfitter and my knowledge of the local woods to instill independence and confidence in Muslim women living in Mankato, MN. Nature is one of the best places to redefine yourself as a person.

I communicated with others by meeting with them one on one at coffee shops. My goal for this semester was to make myself visible to those involved with the immigrant refugee community. I strongly communicated that I was willing to learn and be involved.

Bent River Outfitter

Skills Needed

Some skills required to implement this change included intellectual, communication, adaptability, organizational, empathetic, and the ability to network with others.

Everyone involved was very capable in these skills. They all showed signs of passion and willingness to organize and adapt to their surroundings.

Incentives

The only incentive for me to implement this change was personal growth. I felt a desire to benefit others and reveal the power and benefit of the outdoors. I have since become more aware of what and how this community is addressing the immigrant/refugee population in Mankato.

I did not provide any incentives in this change project.

Resources

This change project required people and spaces to meet to implement and continue to implement the change.

I emailed and talked on the phone with the people and set up locations within the area to meet and discuss.

Action Plan

The action plan for this change was to get involved, meet people already involved with immigrant/refugees, and begin working with the immigrant/refugee women population in getting them to be active outdoors.

This plan was devised by myself.

I lived with minority women from Jamaica, in Montana this past summer. Through taking them on hikes and introducing them to a completely brand new activity it not only helped them adjust to the new lifestyle in Montana but, I also saw first hand the amount of confidence it gave them. I brought this idea to Minnesota and talked to my friend Mohamed about my experience and plan. Talking to Mohamed got me involved with Jessica O’Brien and Erin Myers. Continued next slide.

…….Cont.

I attended Consortium meetings, held meetings at coffee shops, and dedicated my time to volunteering to organizations within the community. One of the organizations that I will be volunteering for is the Walking in Two Worlds Program through the YWCA with Erin Myers. This winter I will also be joining Sara Sinnard in working with at risk female teens in local high schools.

Big Sky, Montana

What Happened

Finding people to contact and meeting people involved with the immigrant/refugee population went really well for me.

Truly becoming involved and working with the immigrant/refugee population has been a challenge. I feel that it takes a lot of convincing to the people already involved that you are sincere. The main reason I ran into conflict was because I ran out of time. I would have tried to make my change during the spring semester it would have been more productive due to nicer, warmer weather. I really had to rethink my change plan due to the changing seasons.

Cont….

Things went well because my friend Mohamed was very willing and helped introduce me to a lot of the key people involved in the Mankato area.

Things also went well because I had the action plan to remind me of why I was doing the change project.

Current Situation

My project was partially implemented, and I am going to

continue my change project to see further growth with it as the year progresses. I was able to join two organizations to volunteer for that support immigrant and refugee women. The process of bringing the women on hikes and hopefully river trips will be made easier by becoming involved with the women during the winter. The future growth of trust and experience with the women over the winter months will help make the change project complete next spring.

Thank You!