Casa...
11/09/05
I watching BONES last night- the new show on FOX…it’s a good show, I don’t watch it all the time but I know every time I tune in I won’t be disappointed. Last night’s show touched on kids and foster homes and the dreaded ‘system’.
It really reminded me of my time at Casa Pacifica…I must have seen about 200 kids come through that place- their stories may be similar- but they’re all unique…when I started working there I gave myself six months before I would look for another job- after all I had a 45 mile commute, the pay wasn’t great and the hours weren’t either- but I ended up there a little over four years. Given the turnover I witnessed almost made me Methuselah…(except that would be Sloyan)
I’d like to say I saw pure evidence of evil over there- after all, who would abuse, neglect and abandon all those kids…but I also saw the hopelessness, desperation and anger (amongst other things) in many of the parent’s eyes- and I know we all have the potential to do to these kids what they did. It’s just that we are capable of managing our pain, guilt, and our negative emotions and not reflect it upon those around us. Most of us are able to take it and use it and learn from it.
(Now, of course, there were some parents who were just totally evil)
But I did see real evidence that when people want to, they are capable of really greater doings. The hours suck, the pay suck, the kids spit on you (amongst other things). But the people I worked with (most of them) didn’t let that get to them- they knew these kids needed a safe place and they gave it to them. And they did it with style.
Now this is seeing it through eyes after having worked there…while I was there were times I would like nothing else to work somewhere else- after all you could only take the horrible stories of what happened to these kids for so long…but I’m reminded of the time I went to Hong Kong- all the expatriates there (and their kids) all work six figure jobs and have bad ass titles like head engineer, international representative, and really impressive stuff…when I told most of them I worked for a children’s shelter they mostly wouldn’t know how to respond to that- white collar folk don’t know what to say to those in the social services…but one lady smiled and immediately told me that I was an asset to my community.
That made me smile.
I’m proud of my four years at Casa Pacifica. I hope that I was able to make at least a slight difference in those kid's lives.
Check them out at www.casapacifica.org
I watching BONES last night- the new show on FOX…it’s a good show, I don’t watch it all the time but I know every time I tune in I won’t be disappointed. Last night’s show touched on kids and foster homes and the dreaded ‘system’.
It really reminded me of my time at Casa Pacifica…I must have seen about 200 kids come through that place- their stories may be similar- but they’re all unique…when I started working there I gave myself six months before I would look for another job- after all I had a 45 mile commute, the pay wasn’t great and the hours weren’t either- but I ended up there a little over four years. Given the turnover I witnessed almost made me Methuselah…(except that would be Sloyan)
I’d like to say I saw pure evidence of evil over there- after all, who would abuse, neglect and abandon all those kids…but I also saw the hopelessness, desperation and anger (amongst other things) in many of the parent’s eyes- and I know we all have the potential to do to these kids what they did. It’s just that we are capable of managing our pain, guilt, and our negative emotions and not reflect it upon those around us. Most of us are able to take it and use it and learn from it.
(Now, of course, there were some parents who were just totally evil)
But I did see real evidence that when people want to, they are capable of really greater doings. The hours suck, the pay suck, the kids spit on you (amongst other things). But the people I worked with (most of them) didn’t let that get to them- they knew these kids needed a safe place and they gave it to them. And they did it with style.
Now this is seeing it through eyes after having worked there…while I was there were times I would like nothing else to work somewhere else- after all you could only take the horrible stories of what happened to these kids for so long…but I’m reminded of the time I went to Hong Kong- all the expatriates there (and their kids) all work six figure jobs and have bad ass titles like head engineer, international representative, and really impressive stuff…when I told most of them I worked for a children’s shelter they mostly wouldn’t know how to respond to that- white collar folk don’t know what to say to those in the social services…but one lady smiled and immediately told me that I was an asset to my community.
That made me smile.
I’m proud of my four years at Casa Pacifica. I hope that I was able to make at least a slight difference in those kid's lives.
Check them out at www.casapacifica.org
posted by Catterpillarboy at 5:03 AM
1 Comments:
Louie Doesn't cry...hey- isnt that a Cure song?!
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