Graduate School of Social Work and Social Research (GSSWSR) student Elyse Tierney spent several weeks this summer working with the nonprofit social services organization Fundación Tierra de Esperanza in Chile. In the interview below she talks about the experience, which was made possible by GSSWSR Assistant Professor Carolina Hausmann-Stabile.
How did the opportunity to go to Chile come about?
During my first semester last year I was in two classes with Carolina. During one of our classes she shared that she was involved with
research in Mexico and Chile. At the time I was looking for summer opportunities to practice my clinical Spanish while working with a
Latin American population so I approached Carolina after class to see if she knew of any opportunities I could apply for. Carolina was
immediately helpful and told me all about the work that Fundación Tierra de Esperanza does in Chile. She set up a luncheon with representatives of the organization when they visited campus in the fall and after speaking with them and learning more about the foundation's work I decided to accept their offer and work with them in Chile for four weeks.
What did you do while you were there?
My first week working with Fundación Tierra de Esperanza I attended their Encuentro Científico Internacional. During the Encuentro I
participated in a group of psychologists, professors, researchers, and social workers discussing the implications of polyvictimization for
children and adolescents. At the end of the week we presented our plans for further research and important areas of inquiry and listened
to the plans from the other groups which focused on mental health, autoregulation, and suicidal conduct.
The Encuentro was extremely helpful because I made contact with employees of the Fundación from multiple sites all over Chile which
helped when I traveled to Antofogasta to begin my project with the Fundación. My primary project while in Chile was to begin the process
of systematizing their juvenile justice work intervention program. I interviewed the key members of the Fundación implementing the program as well as representatives from Chile's child welfare system and Finning, Caterpillar's worldwide equipment distributor in Antofogasta. The Fundación has partnered with Finning to train individuals in the juvenile justice system in welding. Individuals who graduate from this program graduate with a certification in welding, along with soft skills training, assistance in applying for jobs, and a three-month follow-up at the job they are accepted for. During my time working for the Fundación I compiled the foundational information needed to begin the process of manualizing this intervention to better further it´s implementation in the future. Compiling the information was quite a challenge but it was incredible to see how committed each member of the team was to its success and improvement.
What did you gain from this experience?
This experience was an incredible challenge with incredible reward. I was part of a project that has the potential to greatly improve the lives
of many incarcerated youth and I feel incredibly proud of the work I did. I also had the opportunity get to know my coworkers while there.
The camaraderie within the Fundación is remarkable. I benefited greatly from the support of coworkers who helped me with small things
like readings someone´s handwriting to large things like understanding Chile´s advanced approach to promoting children's rights. We also
spent a good amount of time watching the World Cup! Overall working for Fundación Tierra de Esperanza was an incredible experience and I feel lucky to have learned from the many people I worked with while there.