Lee's Blog

Many interactions in one day

This morning I had the privilege to lead mini workshops around immigrant integration at schools with 60 principals in our school district.  There were 3 groups, broken down into elementary, middle and high school.   We had very rich conversations in all the groups about the benefits of having diversity of languages and cultures, the challenges, the cultural differences in education, the racism, and more.  One principal talked about immigrants being more concerned about how their kids are behaving as opposed to how well they're doing in math or science.  A few mentioned challenges around the physical discipline used by some Latino parents that is illegal here.  Some mentioned the elevated level of trust in the school which leads to decreased levels of active participation.  Many mentioned the rising level of fear around immigration as well as the economic downturn and how those are creating barriers to participation.  The level of enthusiasm and insight of the principles was encouraging, and I could tell that many of them truly get it. 

Later on the day I went to Longmont to teach my dance class of 60 people, which was fabulous as always.  I love making people sweat, smile and be goofy. 

From there I rushed back to the office where we trained a wonderful group of 35 new volunteer teachers.  The energy in the office was great, and it always exciting to see a new group of faces, some of who will have life changing experiences with Intercambio. 

Overall today I interacted in some positive form with around 200 people, and to me that is the sign of a good day. 

October is Dancing Month

This Thursday I participate in Dancing with the Boulder Stars :)  It's a fundraiser for the YWCA of Boulder, and they match 8 local celebrities with 8 professional dancers and we all perform at the Boulder Theater.  I think I'm the first local "celebrity" they've picked who's had dancing experience, so expectations will be high.  I'm excited about our performance and I don't think we'll disappoint.

October 24th is La Fiesta!  It's back in Boulder this year and we have an amazing entertainment lineup.  And the Intercambio show is going to be fun!   

The dance aerobics classes I'm teaching and co-teaching are going well, including the new one at the YMCA in Longmont that has been drawing 60 people!  I love helping to inspire people to exercise, have fun and be goofy.  One woman in her 50's who attended last Tuesday said that we brought light to a dark town and gave her life again. 

Intercambio is going well, including the pilot program in Boise which is very exciting.  The Denver office is still struggling financially but they'll make a breakthrough soon.  Several programs are now using our volunteer training and curriculum, and feedback on the immigrant guide has been very positive so far.  I'm also excited about the "Living in the US" workshop I've put together using the guide.  The ones I did in Denver and Boston were very successful, and I'm looking forward to doing more in Boulder and Maryland next month. 

More to come soon. 

What Every Immigrant Needs to Know

I just returned from a great 10 days out east in Boston, NY and Maryland.  In Boston I did a workshop on the immigrant guide for a very diverse group of immigrants at the Hotel Training Center. 

We discussed how to use the guide as well as specific topics within the guide.  Some participants had specific questions about topics like applying for a credit card and Parent Teacher Conferences.  I also met with English Now in Bethesda where I'll do a similar workshop in November.  I also met with folks from Congressman Jared Polis' office on Capitol Hill to discuss adult education funding, as well as with an amazing woman Margie McHugh from the Migration Policy Institute. 

The new guidebook in Spanish and English titled "What Every Immigrant Needs to Know" provides practical information on 170 essential topics about living and succeeding in the   We sold out of our first batch of English guides and have printed a new 2nd edition, which is simplified for non-native speakers and includes a glossary of critical terms. In the 3 months since the guide was originally printed we have distributed copies to English schools, bilingual therapists, libraries, refugee transition agencies, economic assistance agencies, and parenting organizations in 12 different states throughout the U.S.  It was also featured recently in a newsletter from GCIR.  

An order form and more info about this extremely low-cost ($1-3 per copy) comprehensive guide and about Intercambio's services can be found at Intercambio's website.

We also have some exciting replication opportunities in the works, including a former volunteer Christina McAlpin who has begun a pilot program for an Intercambio affiliate in Boise Idaho.   If you know of an agency in your area that is interested in implementing one-on-one English classes at homes, using a newly structured 12-level English curriculum, or improving their volunteer training let us know. Intercambio is expanding its services and sharing its effective materials throughout the country and in Belgium and Mexico as well. We are also interested in learning from other agencies that have had success in the areas of language education, building cross-cultural understanding and integrating communities.

Immigrant guide is done

After working on it on and off for the last 15 months it's finally done.  The title we agreed on is What Every Immigrant Needs to Know - Practical information for living and succeeding in the United States.  I now have 10,000 copies of it in our office, my car, and my garage.  My goal is to sell 500,000 this year.   Ambitious but doable.  I'm very pleased with how it turned out - the cover is colorful and catchy and the rest is simple and easy to read.  It has a ton of information, 170 topics, condensed into 48 pages.  I haven't been this excited about anything since we first started Intercambio.  The potential for this guide to be utilized heavily throughout the country is real, and I feel like whether I reach that potential depends on the marketing efforts.  I have no doubt the product is needed, affordable and high quality. 

Today we mailed about 150 samples to places like Mexican Consulates, Police Depts, Housing Depts, Refugee resettlement Agencies, Unions, ESL programs, Health Depts, Libraries, and more.  We've researched about 10 different cities throughout the country so far, but I want to do much more. 

I'm also excited about a conversation I had with someone from Ashoka last week about potentially becoming a fellow with them.   Ashoka is an amazing nonprofit that works with social entrepreneurs throughout the world. It has been my dream for the last few years to somehow be a part of that inspiring network of people who are creating new ideas that result in lasting change.  It's a longshot that they'll accept me, but it's still exciting.  They seemed intererested in my broader vision for the immigrant guide, which is to modify it for different countries in order to build cultural understanding on a global level.  Most of the gloabl cultural conflicts stem from people simply not knowing where the other side is coming from and not being aware of cultural differences, and this guide makes those differences transparent and real in a respectful way.  We'll just wait and see what happens with that. 

Lots of other exciting stuff to write but it'll have to wait.  It's 12:30 and my eyes are starting to close.  Buenos nachos.   

Intercambio in Belgium

That's right.  Intercambio is sort of international now.  A few months ago a group of 20 Belgians who work with immigrants visited us at our office and we discussed the work of Intercambio.  A few of them were inspired enough by what we do to replicate the way we coordinate our one-on-one classes there in Antwerp.  I shared some materials with them not thinking they'd actually follow through, but I just received an email a few days ago saying that it's now up and running!

That was just the start to a great weekend.  For the last two weeks I've had about 25 people in the Saturday dance aerobics class and the vibe keeps getting better and better. Ayad, a friend form Iraq, said that the dance class is the most effective form of immigrant intergation he's experienced here, where he doesn't think about his race or ethincity and he's just having fun with a super diverse group.  That really made me happy. 

I got invited by the YWCA and Boulder Chamber to participate in the Boulder version of Dancing with the Stars, where I'd be matched up with a pro dancer and choreogrpaher for 6 weeks or so.  I'm super excited but not sure I can do it because the date is right around La Fiesta.  I hope it works out. 

Today I played indoor soccer and hung out with a bunch of our old and current students there.  Before that I helped my friend make a music mix for her elementary school dance troup.  Before that I made Arepas (like Colombian tortillas) with a couple of Colombian friends following a mean round of frisbee golf and a little jacuzzi time.  This morning had breakfast with Rossana and Steve.  Rossana does very interesting cross-cultural work throughout the world and she is the one who developed many of the social interaction sections of the immigrant guide. 

Yesterday I presented at a volunteer training in Longmont and consulted with a woman in Littleton who is also planning to use part of the Intercambio model with an organization there called the Littleton Immigrant Integration Initiative, which is also exciting.  Rachel, our new Academic Coordinator and I hung out at Reyes' house for a little after that and his super cute son who speaks awesome Spanglish.  Then I hooked up with Brett/Benito to check out some cool designs he drafted for the next round of Intercambio shirts.  Hung out for a bit with Shawn, who has been sick for the last couple weeks after eating a sketchy chicharron in Rancho Grande Mexico.  He's getting better now though.  His business Laci is doing well and I'm really proud of all the great stuff he's creating and learning.  After that Maria, Rachel and I went techno dancing, which was funny, and then for happy hour sushi, which I've been craving for weeks. 

I'm excited for MLK day tomorrow and to go ice skating again with the Intercambio crew on Friday :) 

Still partying

Happy 2009 everyone!  Despite some scary times ahead I'm excited for this next year.  We rang in the new year with a great party at our house and some dancing until 4am.  It was nice to spend new years with a bunch of good people who were all having a good time.  Had some more parties today, including a brunch at Linda Smith's house.  She is an ex-volunteer who started up a cool nonprofit, Reading Village, working with literacy in Guatemala.  I hope to make it down there to volunteer with them sometime this year. 

Photos of new years and the baptism party.

It was also nice to randomly run into other Intercambio volunteers and ex-vols at the party.  I also got to talk to some folks who've done work in the Amazon with indigenous people.  We talked about the difference between European and U.S. global philanthropy, and how European support tends to be longer term general support while U.S. international funding tends to be more short-term project based.  We discussed the logistic difficulty of communicating with people because of lack of technology down there.  Peter who works at Global Greengrants told a funny story of how we was a godfather for a family in Peru, and the family got internet and email.  He sent them various emails and they never responded.  Years later he reunited with them in person and said that he sent them emails but he assumed that they never received them.  No, the mother said, they received the emails but they didn't have Peter's email address to respond to. 

I met an Iranian Jew there, a really nice guy with interesting perspectives.  I chatted with Alice Swett, a cool woman who referred Rachel, our awesome new Academic Coordinator, to Intercambio.  She works with a program, YOAB, to get youth involved in philanthropy and leadership. 

A few hours after that party I went to a Mexican Baptism party where I was the only white person of about 300 folks.  The actual Baptism took place yesterday, and the party is a regular party, with a live band and dancing.  An abundance of kids were running around like crazy, some nearly getting stepped on near the dance floor.  It's a little chaotic but cool for them to be free, running around playing with other kids, many who are family members.  I saw a few of the kids who come to the office with their parents for the dance class and who were in the Boulder Magazine picture with me.  Most of the guys have sombreros, fancy belts, and cool boots.  I saw a bunch of people I know and was excited to see, and most of them are somehow related too.   The dancing is funny, everyone has their own style and there's lots of movement around the dance floor, and people bump into each other like pinballs.  And after each song there is silence - no applause.  I'm always almost the only one applauding for a song just out of habit, but just as I start to clap my hands together I realize.  I didn't dance much because I didn't really know who it'd be okay to dance with.  Pretty much every woman over the age of 18 was with their husband, and I don't want to give husbands the impression that I'm trying to steal their wives, which I'm absolutely not.  Usually at parties like that there are women who ask me to dance, but not tonight.  It was still fun and I love watching and listening to the music, although I think I'm deaf in my right ear temporarily because it's so loud.  Ivan, my friend who invited me, said that the parties in his hometown are just like ther are here, only they're bigger there and they dance outside on the dirt and kick up dust.  It's a privilege to be able to experience events like that here. 

On Friday I hung out with some of the CU students who helped start SWAP, which is like Intercambio on campus linking workers with CU students teaching English.  Claudia just got back from Chiapas, Mexico and was telling all about the Zapatista movement there.  Sierra is home for a break before going back to Costa Rica, where she's using Intercambio's books to teach some English classes on the side. 

Finally, I'm happy with the support Intercambio received at the end of the year.  We received some new foundation grants and new individual donors, which makes up for the Foundations and individuals who are decreasing or eliminating their gifts because of the market. 

2009 is going to be another interesting, exciting year.               

Reflecting on 2008

I'm grateful to have completed another great year of life.  Lots of good stuff happened in Lee's world 2008. Obviously there were challenges and sadness too, but those were outweighed by the good this year.  Most important is that I feel really good about the relationships I have with friends and family right now.  I feel like I'm working to become more understanding, friendly and honest every day and it's working.  I've learned a lot about being a better person and about how I most enjoy life and fulfill my personal mission of inspiring human elevation. 

The new friends I connected with this year are amazing, as are the old ones I continue to connect with.  I'm really frickin lucky to surround myself with the people in my life.  Some great friends moved on and some others moved in.  And the family is good and positive.  Yeah, that includes you mom :)

I achieved some dreams of completing my first publication that will evolve and play some important role in increasing global peace (170 Essentials to Know as an Immigrant in the United States), and I became a multicultural dance aerobics teacher and am spreading fun, physical fitness and damn good music.  It was even a great year with soccer, our team advancing and no major injuries for me.  My body is more flexible and can now touch my toes without bending my knees for the first time.  I continue riding and getting joy from my cruiser bike almost daily.  Today I rode along the creek which is super beautiful with the ice and snow lining the sides of the flowing water.  Being able to stop along the creek a couple days a week to watch and listen to the water is a great privilege.

I had another amazing trip to Peru in June, one of my better trips ever with the wonderful combination of translating between doctors to bridge gaps of crucial medical knowledge, hanging out with the kids at La Canoa, and partying at night.  And Mexico was awesome too, and I was able to absorb a bunch of culture, fun and grease in 5 days. 

Intercambio keeps thriving, and we managed to continue growing and improving during a time of much internal transition and an economic collapse.  2009 will be challenging, but only because we have huge goals for continuing to strengthen locally while spreading the model and mission nationally.  We just have to work a little harder and smarter.  And Vinny and I finished our video with the help of People Productions.  The fiesta and fiesta dance were as fun as ever, we had lots of other sweet Intercambio events including the rec center events, volunteer appreciation, Halloween, the potluck dance party, the tax workshop in Longmont that turned into a cumbia concert, and many others.   

Even politics turned out good at the end of the year.  We have an intelligent, reasonable, and cool President who has an incredibly hard job now but is a great guy to get it done.  The economic situation is going downhill, but I already wrote about that a few weeks ago. 

I could go on, but in general I'm happy to wrap up what was another great year of life.  Thank you to all who are a part of my life.  Once you're a part of someone's life you're a part of it forever. Now I'm ready to party on Wednesday :) 

Thanksgiving conversations

If you want to read about my recent thoughts on immigration, election and the economy, check out the previous entry.  This one is more about my time home, which I haven't had time to process in writing yet.

I had a blast at home in MD during Thanksgiving.  I got to spend good time with family and lots of friends.  Our family gave thanks that we get along for the most part, which I'm realizing is a true blessing as I get older and see how more and more people are messed up because of dysfunctional families.  I owe a lot of my happiness to my family for being supportive and cool with me.  Grandma ain't doin so hot, but she was happy to be with us and didn't say anything crazy or ask my mom again if she was pregnant.  I'm not sure it's Alzheimers, it's like she's in a half-asleep reality, talking to us while she's dreaming or thinking about something else.  Everyone else was good though. 

3 nights at home I hung out with friends.  2 of those nights we spent time in a TV-less room at my house, and one night at a friend's apartment with the TV on.  Absence of TV made a big difference in the level of communication we engaged in.  At my house we had super intense conversations about how if you've ever been put under for surgery you don't remember anything, and how death might be kind of like that (yes I am sober while writing this and yes I think about death quite a bit.  I don't fear death but I am fascinated and very curious, but not curious enough to try to speed up the life process).  We talked about different types of conversation.  For instance, there's small talk, talk with probing questions, joking around talk, recapping things that have already happened talk, talk where one person is sharing knowledge with the other, talk about future, etc.  Usually we just talk without thinking about what kind of talk we're talking.  Talkety talky talk.  Some words become funny if you say them a lot.  We talked about how humanity still needs work, but how we've come a long since days when torture was more common, and people did messed up stuff to other people a lot more than it's happening today.  I still find it weird that mistreating fellow humans is a strong instinct that remains within many people.  But again, it seems like we're on the right path in reversing those instincts.  That's the kind of stuff I love talking about. 

In front of the TV we talked about football and Wii (the real-life video game thing which I have mixed feelings about because it does cause people to exercise which is good, but there are other ways of doing real exercise). 

On a totally different note, a few hours ago I met with a group of CU students who are working on the SWAP program, which is Intercambio on campus at CU where CU students are teaching English to the immigrant workers.  It's a very cool program and they've set up 100 classes already.  I'm their adviser for a project they're working on to make that program sustainable on campus, and I love working with them.  They have great energy and a positive change-the-world attitude, which most people call naive but I call smart.  You gotta think big to achieve big, and I want to encourage them to think big.  It's working for me so far.  I also think about how my volunteer experiences at the Univ of Michigan at the prisons and mental health facility really shaped who I am today, and how this experience is maybe shaping them a little too.  I feel a duty to provide University students with life-changing opportunities like teaching and connecting with people from different cultures, because people created similar opportunities for me. 

I gotta get back to working on the immigrant guide now.  It's so close to being done and I'm getting more excited about the potential for it to be used by millions of people.  This excitement is alos adding a little pressure and stress, which I think is good sometimes.  Thanks for reading :) 

Scary times

A lot has happened in the last 2 months.  Politically, the economy tanked and we had a monumental presidential election.  The global reaction to the election of Obama has been extremely positive, and it was amazing to witness the election at my house with a bunch of Latino friends who recognize that they have something in common with Obama.  Other countries have increased their faith in our country, not just because a majority of people were able to look beyond Obama's skin color, but because he is intelligent and he realizes that we need to communicate with other world leaders if we want to improve foreign relations. I'm excited to travel outside the country and the for the first time in a while feel proud to be American.

So now Obama has a tough job.  I just read that in November over 500,000 jobs were lost.  In addition to reading about loss of jobs, I've talked to lots of people who are at companies that are laying off people.  Where are all these jobless folks going to work?  Are people going to downgrade from middle-class jobs to lower-class ones?  I don't think so, but what other options are out there?  Most companies that are going through layoffs aren't in a position to hire.  And it's not exactly an easy time to start up a new business, so we won't see a lot of new jobs popping up other than federal efforts to reconstruct our roads, schools and to make things more energy efficient.  That is one solution that will help, but it will still leave many people unemployed, needing to cut down their expenses, which trickles down to industries at every level.  So unfortunately I think the economy looks bleak.  I hope I'm wrong, but I just don't see how it's going to start rebounding within the next 5 years or less.  I'm very curious to see what happens.

At Intercambio we just sent out our year-end appeal, which usually brings in a good chunk of our annual revenue from individuals.  This will be indicative of the impact on us.  Some nonprofits will thrive because they truly need it immediately, such as shelters and food banks.  But how will nonprofits that provide more sustainable, long-term services like Intercambio fare?  We've already had one major foundation freeze their funding for everyone (a $30K grant to us) and another small foundation cease their funding of us because of a shrinking portfolio.  However, some individuals are recognizing that now is the time to be as generous as possible. 

What will happen with immigration?  Now would be a great time to implement an amnesty and collect money from the millions of undocumented immigrants who would be more than happy to pay fines of a couple thousand dollars in order to receive documents.  That could provide tens of billions of dollars during a time of need.  Should that money go to bail out companies that pay their CEO's $40M a year?  That's a whole other question, and that kind of crap needs to change soon.  Our social security system might be hurt by an amnesty though because now many immigrants are paying into SS and never receiving a dime because they're working under a different name or #.  We'd have to actually pay them this money that they earned.  But more importantly it seems that the government just hasn't figured out the logistics for how an amnesty would actually work and set forth reasonable quotas for the future.  I hope Obama and McCain work together to make something happen soon, because this is one issue where McCain actually has good ideas.  Or at least he did a few years ago when the McCain-Kennedy bill was proposed. 

I'll keep doing my part and just wait and see what happens.   

A big week

This Friday is La Fiesta, and it's always an intense week where I freak out and think that it's not going to be as big as it could be and that I'm forgetting something critical.  I'm also just excited about it, especially for our performance :)

This is Vicky's last week at Intercambio after nearly 5 years and that is sad, although I try not to think about it.  Hiring is not my favorite thing in the world either, but I'm sure we'll get someone good.  I'm very happy with our staff right now. 

The immigrant guide is almost done for real now, and I'm hoping to get it to the printer by next week.  We'll start sending out samples as soon as it's ready. 

Intercambio National Headquarters is becoming more of a reality despite fears I have because of the economy.  We have a few really nice pledges that almost get us to the point we need to be to break off.  If and when that happens I'll need to find ways to stay connected to the local community as well because I love this place and the people I know here. 

Excited for my family to come in town and to see their reaction (especially my mom) during the performance. 

I'm finally optimistic about the election and the way things are looking for Obama, but still really frickin nervous and I get nauseous when people joke around and say President Palin.  No way. 

Gotta go get ice cream for Vicky's going away party tomorrow.