Share the Well: When it rains it pours and opens doors

It's monsoon season and it shows about 5-7 times a day. It's quite peaceful in fact. The sound has become one that I look forward to. It's one that I hear and I instantly release all my tension and smile. I love how it brings people closer as they share an umbrella.

I've officially started my field placement and my classes. I am doing my field placement at this NGO called CHILDLINE. CHILDLINE is a toll free crisis hotline for children who may be being abuse, are on the streets, or need any form of support. The hotline extends to case work, where social workers respond to cases- by going to houses and sometimes removing children from the home. I will not be working the hotline, but rather the majority of my work will be doing trainings on children's rights with police departments and schools. I will also being doing a research project possibly on street children and/or outcomes of the clients involved with CHILDLINE. One to Two days a week I will be working with the clinical office where I will respond to calls to figure out how to keep children safe and secure.

I just got back from a field visit with Childline where me and two BSW students checked out two locations where children are placed after being removed from their families due to abuse or other domestic issues. The kids were adorable, and I loved playing with them. This one to the right was a handful- my friend Sooraj said that he thought he was probably a good example of me as a kid.

I am taking two classes: Urban and Rural Community Development and Social Work with Children. I'm excited about both classes- the students are great and so are the professors. Classes are very different here. We are not assigned a whole list of readings to do and books to purchase, but rather we learn through lecture, independent research, group work, and field experience.