Harambee Intern Guide Book

Harambee Intern Guide Book

Things an Intern working at Harambee Needs

Introduction

Hello, let me introduce myself briefly. My name is Anne Lee. I graduated from college, UCSB, in 2006. At which point I joined AmeriCorp and got connected to an organization called TechMission. Through TechMission I found a local organization called Harambee Ministries. My one-year commitment turned into a two-year commitment and it has been a journey and an experience I will never forget. After this past two years, I decided to go back to graduate school and pursue my Masters in Education and Teaching Credentials at Pepperdine University. I am looking to teach in a low-income, urban city once I am done with my schooling.

I have designed this book to help you, the intern, as much as possible so you can be utilized in a productive way and you feel that you are getting the most out of this experience. This guide-book is intended to help you with getting to know Harambee, to hear some real life experiences from past interns, help with planning and organization, and give you ideas on how to improve wherever needs improvement.

What is Harambee Ministries?

Harambee Ministries is one organization but in many parts. There is an elementary school or Harambee Preparatory School, an after-school program, a Pre-school, Junior Staff program, and Summer Camp. These are the parts of Harambee that is visible but there are other parts that most people do not see like the Board of Directors, the donors, other meetings, fundraising, and planning that goes on behind the scenes.

Why Harambee?

In 1982, the neighborhood surrounding Harambee Center had the highest daytime crime rate in Southern California. The corner of Howard and Navarro, where we are located, was called “blood corner” because it was where the most drive-by shootings and failed drug deals occurred. Residents were held captive in their homes and there was little hope for change.

We believed the only legitimate way to become change-agents in this community was to become a part of it. Led by our founder, Dr. John Perkins, we moved into the community and became neighbors. For 20+ years we have served a 12-block target area, working with African American and Latino children and families.

“Harambee” means “Let’s get together and push” in Swahili. We seek to nurture and equip leadership that will wholistically minister to the community by sharing Biblical truths, in order to achieve the re-building of urban neighborhoods through relocation, reconciliation and redistribution.

Harambee Programs

Our programs are emulated by peer organizations nationwide. Interns from around the world study our method of urban ministry. Awards received include Best Practices in Children’s Ministry (from Teaching Like Jesus Ministries) and the John Anson Ford Award (from L.A. County Human Relations Commission).

Our programs include Harambee Preparatory School (established in 1995), Afterschool Program (est. 1983), Junior Staff (est. 1989), Summer Day Camp (est. 1983), Harambee Institute (est. 2005), and Harambee Pre-School (est. 2006).

Harambee Ministry: Mission

Our mission is to provide a safe place where children and youth can learn and develop into indigenous leaders for NW Pasadena and beyond.

Harambee Creed

We are what we make of ourselves.

We will no longer fit into the mold that has been prepared for us.

We will strive for completeness in Christ that will compel us to stand

Against the social and economic injustices of our time.

We will identify and understand our heritage.

Thus affirming our family.

We will broaden our educational and technical skills.

We will learn to use the economic system to free our people

From the poverty cycle.

We will never discourage, but always encourage, our sisters and brothers.

Then we will join hands and move together to change our society.

Harambee! Harambee! “Let’s get together and push”

Harambee Pledge

I believe in a man with a progressive spirit.

I believe in punctuality in it’s fullness.

I believe in the curse of ignorance anywhere it may be found.

I believe in the prevailing of righteousness-

So help us Lord.

Amen

Experiences

We will hear from a few interns/volunteers that have come through Harambee.

Anne Lee (Creator of this book)

My experiences are countless and invaluable. I have experienced things from upset parents, bad attitudes, gang shootings, to improved grades, banquets, and mentoring. I came to this ministry as a complete outside, even though I grew up all over Los Angeles. I have never felt so immersed and part of a community other than my own. I always considered myself to be open and diverse, having friends of all races and backgrounds and feeling like I knew a lot because I’ve been all over the place. When I first came to Harambee, it was nothing like I expected; from the location, the to the building, to the people. I just let God use me in this ministry. Teaching classes and becoming an authority figure to students that didn’t see me as one was a true test. I learned that I was not so patient as I thought I was, I learned that students are much more starter than they say or appear to be, and in the end I learned that I really did want to be a teacher. Through my experiences of working with students, and parents, and teachers and co-workers, and other people, I learned better communication (not perfect, just better). The friendships, connections, workings of an organization like Harambee, and the million other things are such a blessing.

The two years also brought times that weren’t so easy, that needed some encouragement and prayer to get through. It’s hard when there are conflicts or things don’t go right, when something is expected of you that you’re not expecting, or when the students just frustrate you to the point of destruction. All of this, plus more, is part of the experience. My first year, I felt completely alone. I was the only intern and so much was expected of me. However, looking back, I feel so proud that I was able to do so much on my own.

I now leave with life-long friends, a community that I feel part of, all the work I have put into the ministry, and a sense of accomplishment. I will remember all the adults as well as the children as I move forward with my life.

Anonymous

My experiences here at Harambee were for the most part pretty good. I made some new friends, and I took on leadership roles. Sometimes, all the work and effort that I put in was draining and a lot of times I wanted to quit or just give up. The lack of information and preparation made me frustrated when I had to do things that no one mentioned earlier. I knew the job wasn’t going to be easy but dealing with children and certain types of people all day long was tough. But it is all about the children and helping them out even with my little experience and helping them improve their grades was great. I felt good and my students really showed improvement and growth. Sometimes you have to ignore the discouragement and ignorance and keeping doing the right thing and do you came to do.

A Few Tips

Ø  Come in with an open mind. Any biased, judgement, or anything you have seen or heard about a certain group of people or community, throw out. You’ll be surprised.

Ø  Come expecting the unexpected. Don’t come in with certain expectations or think you know fully what your getting into. The only thing you should expect is the unexpected. You might think your serving in one area when you’re really serving in another. Just be ready to serve.

Ø  Be ready to Communicate. Your voice should be strong and if it isn’t there might be some problems. Be able to voice to supervisors and others your concerns, problems, questions, and anything else. Being silent may just frustrate you on the inside.

Ø  Keep your schedule open. Many times in ministry, you can’t predict things. Things may come up and there are times when you just can’t say no. Make sure not to plan All of your weekends, you might be disappointed.

Ø  Always be prepared. Never let the work get ahead of you. During the day, you will be on a schedule so always give yourself time to prepare. If there is work to do be done, just do it, even if it means starting it on your own. A supervisor can always come and check it later.

Ø  Don’t let the children get the best of you. Working with children may be difficult and some children might get the best of you. Never take what they say personal and remember every child has a story. Patience is key.

Ø  Have fun. You will meet a lot of new people from different states; they will be your peers and make sure you get to know them. It’s more encouraging to know you are not alone. The staff is friendly and the children are pretty fun when they want to be.

What to Expect

I can’t tell you a list of specific things to expect. Some of it should be covered in the Tips section. However, I can tell you briefly in general what to expect. Expect to do a lot of work. This may sound bad but it’s not. I say this because you will be serving in different areas of the ministry not just one. Serving in each area may make your workload seem big but it is manageable. You will have other interns to help you and the tough part is just getting started. Expect taking a leadership role and make sure to expect to use every part of yourself and all your talents.

Forms And Documents

There are a lot of forms, documents and other paperwork that you will be dealing with. I have been on the end where I had to create templates and document forms to input certain data on the computer. To make things easier for the next intern, I have saved these documents and you can now use them as templates and just fill in the template with the data. All of the templates will be saved on the computer and there also a cd-rw with this guide book that has all the information as well.

Here is a list of data you will be dealing with:

v  After-School applications

v  After-School sign in sheets

v  After-School student and parent data

v  Junior Staff applications and sign in sheets

v  Harambee Monthly reports

v  TechMission outcomes

v  Volunteer Hours

v  In Kind donations

v  After-School Homework data

Lesson Plans

For the after-school program, there will be some lessons you will be teaching. There is Character First and CEF good news.

Character First

Character First is an education series that we use to build character. There are nine ‘characters’, one for each month and there are various stories, crafts, activities, games, and an animal that go with each character. An example of a character is “Attentiveness” and the animal that goes with it is the deer. The after-school teachers usually rotates each week and once a week the teacher will teach a part of that character’s lesson. They will also come up with the craft or activity to accompany that lesson.

CEF Good News Club

CEF is a part of the day, each week, where the teacher will teach a bible lesson or a lesson with biblical foundation from a specific booklet. The teachers will also rotate in teaching these lessons and the craft and activity to accompany the lesson.

The ‘characters’ for the Character First lessons are different every year. You will have last years characters and the different lessons that were done on them on the CD. However, you will receive a new book from the school with the new characters for the upcoming year. This book will have lessons, stories, and craft ideas. What I did from last year is to help give you some more ideas and see how things were done.

Along with the Character First lessons, there is also CEF Good News lessons. This lessons go with the bible story in different CEF books. You will use new books so your lessons will be different. But to get an idea of craft and game activities that were done, you may look at the CD.

Resources / Phone Number/Contact / Address / Website
Angel's Teacher Supply / 626.584.0855 / 600 E. Colorado Blvd. / http://www.edumart.com/angels/
Chew's Educational Books / 626.799.1363 / 1333 Annandale Ter.
Barnes and Nobles / 626.585.0362 / 111 W. Colorado Blvd. / www.BarnesandNoble.com
Vromen's Bookstore / 626.449.5320/Chris Vreeland / 695 E. Colorado Blvd / www.vromansbookstore.com/
Office Max / 626.449.5676 / 721 E. Colorado Blvd. / www.officemax.com
Target / 626.584.1606 / 777 E. Colorado Blvd. / www.target.com/
Big 5 Sporting Goods / 626.795.3111 / 3719 E. Colorado Blvd / www.big5sportinggoods.com
Smart and Final / 626.568.8446 / 401 N. Fair Oaks Ave. / www.smartandfinal.com/
Food for Less / 626.791.7412 / 1329 N. Lake Ave / www.food4less1.com/
First Student (Laidlaw) / 800.300.9599 fx310)527-6435
Curriculum Center / 626.798.1193
2007 Summer Field trips / Phone/Contact / Address / Website
Bahama Lanes / 626.351.8858 / 3545 E. Foothill Blvd
Los Angeles Zoo / 323.644.4200 / 5333 Zoo Drive / www.lazoo.org/
IMAX- California Science / 213.744.2019 / 700 State Drive / www.californiasciencecenter.org
Pacific Park Santa Monica / 310.260.8744/Susan / 380 Santa Monica Pier / www.pacpark.com/
Pacific Paseo 14 Theaters / 626.568.9650/Mgr-Kevin / 336 E. Colorado Blvd.
Pasadena Ice Skating / 626.578.0801 / 310 E. Green St. / www.skatepasadena.com
Victory Pool Park / 626.744.7550/Pearl / 2575 Paloma St.
Rose Bowl Aquatic Center / 626.564.0330 / 360 N. Arroyo Blvd. / http://www.rosebowlaquatics.org/
2008 Summer Field trips
Wild Animal Park (Free) / 760.747.8702 / Escondido, CA 92027
Natural History Museum / 213.763.3218 (group sales) / 900 Exposition blvd. / http://www.nhm.org/
Olvera Street / 213.628.1274(reservations) / 845 N. Alameda St
Griffith Observatory / 213.473.0800 / 2800 E. Observatory Rd / http://www.griffithobs.org/
Pacific Park Santa Monica / 310.260.8744/ Susan / 380 Santa Monica Pier / www.pacpark.com/
Field Trip Ideas / Phone / Website
Cabrillo Marine Museum / 310.548.7546 / www.cabrilloaq.org/
Eaton Canyon / 626.398.5420 / http://www.ecnca.org/
The Arboretum / 626.821.3222 / www.arboretum.org/
Getty Museum / 310.440.7300 / http://www.getty.edu/museum/
Aquarium of the Pacific / 562.590.3100 / http://www.aquariumofpacific.org/
Wildlife Waystation / 818.899.5201 / http://www.wildlifewaystation.org/
Ripley's Believe it or Not / 323.466.6335 / http://www.ripleys.com/
Farmer's Market / 323.933-9211 / http://www.farmersmarketla.com/
Kidspace Museum / 626.449.9143 / www.kidspacemuseum.org/
LA Children's Museum / 213.687.8800 / www.laavenue.com/childrens.htm
Golf N Stuff / 562.868.9956 / http://www.golfnstuff.com/location/norwalk/index.htm
Discovery Center / 714.542.2823 / http://www.discoverycube.org/

Resources