My advice for my replacement is "have patience with everything at La Casa Hogar." I've been told about a million times in my life that patience is not one of my strongest virtues. I know that it is true, but if you don't have patience with the work here, you will become extremely frusturated. The problems that Yakima, Washington faces are enormous. If you are not able to break them down and face challenges individually, you may not be able to work here. You have to celebrate the individual victories and appreciate the qualities of the Mexican women that will never change. Everything happens in baby steps at La Casa Hogar-and true to form the women of La Casa Hogar will throw a fiesta at the completion of each of these baby steps.
I think I will leave La Casa with a little bit more organization. Eventually, they may fully adapt the curriculum I have worked so hard to produce and continue using the outcomes I have developed. I think they will find someone else to write the newsletter, create the brochures, organize events, and do all of the other tasks I have been working on. I like to think that my biggest legacy will be simply that they will remember me. They will remember the blonde "gringa" that would speak Spanish with them and had the patience to teach them new skills. They will remember the girl that always spoke up at staff meetings with opinions, but lacked any culinary skills and did not have any children at the ripe old age of 23.
Posted by Amanda Lasik at July 7, 2005 03:10 PM