The Little Engine that Could

Queridos compañeros de DASCorps, (any takers on translating my greeting?)
I apologize for disappearing for a while, but things have been pretty busy with Latinitas. I have, however, been behind the scenes keeping up with the field reports and I’m really glad to find out that everyone seems to be doing fairly well in their new environments. I’ve noticed that most of you have been provided with these great work spaces and as you can see in the pictures I’ve posted above, our WHOLE OFFICE would probably fit inside one of your great work spaces! Lol! But I really don’t mind it because even though we have limited personal space we have so much room to build camaraderie with the interns and volunteers, plus it’s a lot easier to check on their progress since their computer screen in literally less than a foot away from mine!

Moving on from the subject of our cute little office, the school year has commenced and that means that our after-school clubs and fall internships have begun as well. We had our Fall Club Leader Training on August 20th and I must say that preparing for it was much more challenging than actually leading it. I am really glad my supervisor and some of our summer interns were still there to help. The training consisted of five club leaders (3 of them are in charge of one after–school club and 2 of them are in charge of two clubs, all around different areas of town) and we went over an 80 page packet explaining numerous things such as, the mechanics of the club, how to be a good mentor, club leader duties, different methods on how to motivate their girls to express themselves, etc. I will conduct bi-weekly meetings with these club leaders to check the progress of their clubs and to assign them media related activities/lessons to do at their clubs throughout the semester.
As for our fall interns, we only have two, a Public Relations and Marketing Intern and I am working on bringing in at least two more. Except that I feel a little apprehensive about bringing in more interns because my supervisor is the one who usually assigns them their projects and she is out on maternity leave right now, given that she just delivered a cute baby boy on Friday. That is the reason why I have been so swamped this month, because since our staff consists of only her and I, we have been trying to go through most of the essential tasks and information as fast as possible before she’s out for month and half. So as of this past Friday (Sept. 3rd), I have been the person everyone turns to... and I must say that kind of pressure is pretty intimidating! Although, I have to add how impressed I am at my supervisor’s incredible ability to accomplish so much up until the last day of her pregnancy, I mean she really did not leave anything pending and she even made a list called “While I’m Out” which consists of useful phone numbers, tasks, events that are scheduled for the following 2 months, intern and volunteer projects, etc. She has truly done a tremendous job at preparing for her temporary departure. Let’s just hope I can keep it that way!! Wish me luck everyone...stay tuned for this month’s field report maybe I’ll be able to talk about all the wonderfulness I accomplished on my own!
PS. I also forgot to mention that on August 31st Latinitas was interviewed live on an NPR affiliate Spanish station called Radio Bilingue, and guess who they interviewed...Me! The interview questions dealt with the basics like who we were, why we were important, when we started…etc. They also interviewed one of our teen writers and she did an amazing job at expressing all of the great things she has learned and accomplished since she has been with Latinitas.
Here is brief description of Radio Bilingue:
Radio Bilingue is the first Spanish-language radio network to broadcast news over the public radio satellite system in the United States. Our national program Linea Abierta reaches hundreds of thousands of listeners nationwide and is the only Spanish-language news show aired on the national public radio network. The program is aired in Chicago, Los Angeles, San Diego, Tucson, and dozens of other cities, as well as numerous rural areas across the country. Furthermore, Radio Bilingue has a decades-long tradition of providing in-depth coverage to special events involving Latino civic participation.

Ok then friends, ta-ta for now :)

Love, peace and elbow grease!

Comment from Ben Sheldon on September 9, 2010 - 12:14pm

Though your offices may be small, they look much better decorated than my own (which isn't any bigger). I love all those photos on the walls and how colorful it all is. I'm glad that you don't feel totally lost with your supervisor out on leave so quick into your service---it sounds like she set you up pretty good. Congrats on getting the radio interview too! Do you have a copy of it?

Keep up the great service! :-)

Comment from Marisol Guzman on September 9, 2010 - 9:30pm

Thanks Ben! I actually do have a copy of the interview...do you want a copy?

Comment from Megan Andrews on September 13, 2010 - 4:19pm

Sounds like you are doing a lot of good work! I'd love to hear your interview too if you can easily email it or something.

Comment from Michael Ewing on September 13, 2010 - 6:08pm

Querida Marisol,

Is there a podcast of Radio Bilingue? I would love to check it out!

Un abrazo,

Mike (Miguelito) Ewing

Comment from Marisol Guzman on September 13, 2010 - 10:11pm

Yeah here is the link to the actual radio show that covered our interview. In case it wasn't obvious before, all of it is in Spanish and I must also add that after listening to it for myself....I sucked!!

http://archivosderb.org/?q=es/node/4837

Comment from Marisol Guzman on September 13, 2010 - 10:25pm

OH and Miguelito,
Im not sure if there is a podcast for Radio Bilingue, but there might be one for Linea Abierta, which is the segment we were on. Here is the direct link to their website:

http://www.radiobilingue.org/