Social Work&Social Justice In Africa

As my vision continues to come to fruition post graduation, I have a divine opportunity to expand my skills and scope of social work by traveling abroad to Cape Town, South Africa. There I will walk, talk and be in community with those who serve as Social Workers in Cape Town. I will also serve the people of the towns learning from and with them. We plan to hike and camp out in the wilderness exploring the different towns and being one with nature. This experience will expand my scope and horizon as it concerns the field of Social Work. It will allow me to have a boarder understanding of what Social Work looks like and expand my definition of what it means to be a Social Worker; thus equipping me with the necessary tools to better serve the young people that I am called to serve. While this experience is one of the most significant and beneficial experiences of my life I can’t do this alone. I believe with all of my being that it takes a village and right now I need my village. I know that I stand on the shoulders of those who have laid out the path before me. However, to benefit from this life giving, self-altering and skill equipping experience I need my village to help me raise $5000. This cost covers my entire South Africa course and enable me to reap the benefits of international travel and learning. “Everybody can be great...because anybody can serve. You don't have to have a college degree to serve. You don't have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love.” ~Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Eight years ago after attending a court hearing for a young man, who violated his probation, I decided that the service of a Social Worker is what I am called to do. It is my passion to positively touch the lives of young people that society has written off; in return this has called me to this work of restorative justice. I realized after working as a case manager in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania for almost seven years that I needed to go back to school to pursue a Masters degree in Social Work to help heal the divide and attempt to fix a broken system. I am currently a student at the Iliff School of Theology pursuing a Masters in Divinity degree and a student at the University of Denver Graduate School of Social Work pursing a Masters of Social Work degree. Post graduation I will create a non-profit organization that will serve two purposes. First, it will be designed to holistically reintegrate formerly incarcerated youth of color back into society. I focus on our youth of color because there is a disproportionate number of them placed into our prison systems. Creating a residential facility that will equip the young people with life skills will help them to survive and become successful adults in society while reducing the recidivism rates. This non-profit will provide the young people with opportunities to gain their high school diplomas, two or four years of undergraduate studies or a trade school. They will also complete an internship with a place of business that coincides with their interest; which in turn would hopefully result in full-time employment without involving their criminal background. They will have a life coach, which will teach them how to create a resume, interview for jobs and balance a checkbook. In addition to a restorative program for formerly incarcerated youth of color, I plan to establish my non-profit as a place for young people of color to be sent to instead of being sentenced to time in prison. If you can and if you will, whatever you are able to give means a lot and will help greatly because every cent counts. I also would like to solicit your prayers as I go forth and fulfill the ministry that I’ve been called to do.