DukeEngage | Duke Center for Civic Engagement

The vision:          Like other eager students hoping to make an impact in the world, I found Duke Engage to be a perfect venue to perform my act. But exactly how could I make a difference, I asked myself last fall? Knowing I could not participate in a group project due to summer study abroad conflicts, I conceptualized projects of my own. What could I work on, I pondered? Medicine, nutrition, sports? …All interests of mine, I decided on the latter two prospects and entwined these two ideas into one feature presentation—an undertaking that would combine my interests in health and fitness, with a relevant crisis— the up-and-coming epidemic of childhood obesity—and then pack in undertones of psychological thought (another affinity). Fantastique! I had formulated a suitable project assignment and now I just have to figure out the logistics. Essentially, the focus of my venture is to teach children about nutrition and well-being while at the same time engage in physical fitness activities, in order to succeed in the all-encompassing mission of fighting childhood obesity.

Who am I:           My name is Shelley Lanpher. I am a rising junior at Duke University (class of 2010). I love sports, teaching children, and food. What I am going to be when I grow up is still undecided—perhaps a doctor, or a positive psychologist, a businesswoman or an architect. Whatever it may be, my main goal is to be a renaissance woman, skillful and successful in a plethora of pursuits. Being involved in Duke Engage has definitely contributed to this goal for I am getting my hands wet in an assortment of waters. And thus I am much obliged to be a part of this life-changing experience.
Background training: I have had experience teaching health in Duke’s First Aid for Children Today (FACT)- a division of the Red Cross, and I have had ample opportunities teaching physical fitness whether it be at a basketball camp for young girls or baseball to children in the villages of the Dominican Republic.

Execution:         I was lucky. Things fell into place. I had connections to a nurse who worked with a program entitled “Just for Kids!” After assessing its merit I decided to use the lesson books for my teachings. I knew of a perfect site to host my Duke Engage program: Crispus Attucks Community Center, in downtown York, Pennsylvania. I live in York and have volunteered here before in the Early Learning Center. The Crispus Attucks team members are very dedicated to their jobs and aim each day to enhance the lives of the children in the community. The kids who come here no longer have gym class in their schools during the year and so I thought they would be a perfect clientele. I added a physical fitness component to the Just for Kids! curriculum and now was on my way to planning my ideal program.

I teach two classes here: 1st through 3rd grade, and 3rd through 5th grade. I selected this range as my target age group not only because of availability reasons but also because it is important to teach children about the value of nutrition, emotions, and physical activity at an early age. Aiming to get these children to continue thinking about these topics outside of the classroom, I got each of them a jump rope, a water bottle, a headband/wrist band, and a Food Journal to bring home and use at their own will.

Triumphs:           Drawing food pyramids. One girl opening up her Food Journal, and proudly showing me that she had recorded down all the foods she ate for each meal that week. Kids telling me they use their jump ropes at home each night. Gathering supplies without me even asking for help. Joy of hearing “Miss Shelley, Miss Shelley!” Excitement of Crispus Attucks staff upon hearing about my project vision. One child saying “I really like coming here when you’re here Miss Shelley.” Eagerness to do jumping jacks, arm circles, and running laps around the gym. Witnessing progress.

Help along the way:
Mrs. Carol – guided me at all steps along the way. I was in main contact with her while still at Duke and we were able to figure out scheduling of dates, times, locations, etc. Without her help I would not be able to carry out my project at Crispus Attucks.

Mrs. Ann – introduced me to the Just for Kids! program. Consulted her for suggestions and advice. I was honored to finally meet her one weekend at a conference.

Dr. Caren – My Durham contact. I went to her for initial advice about running a program aimed at awareness and prevention of childhood obesity. I hope to work with her again in the future at Duke.

Ms. L and Staci – these two teachers have been accommodating, understanding, and always ready to lend a hand. Ms. L’s dedication to and patience with the kids as taught me many life lessons and Staci’s willingness to get involved—e.g. taking command of the jump rope competition—has showed me how to be a better leader. Their own tales of challenges leading to successful outcomes have given me great hope and inspiration. I thank them.

Struggles & limitations:          Stories like: “My mom ripped the first page out of my Food Journal..she needed it for her shopping list.” Broken water bottles. Whining. Discipline. Varying reading levels. The loner. The bragger. The show-off. The quiet speaker. Scheduling conflicts. Limited days. Fighting over markers. Forgetting to wear a watch. Time.

To be added soon:

The journey:  meet the kids

The future

additional pictures.

*Please feel free to leave a comment, share an opinion, offer some advice. I would be glad to hear your input.

I get a lot of "what is Oxfam doing in Australia" and "oh that sounds like a vacation" sort of comments about my project.  Well, as for the first, go read up on the Close the Gap campaign and you'll see why it's important that they're here.

Concerning the second, it's only a vacation in the sense that I'm in a civilized location, and that I like what I'm doing.  But I haven't exactly been to the opera house or seen a kangaroo yet (that's for July!)

When I began writing my proposal for this project, I had broader aims than a Duke Engage experience.  The idea for this actually came to me when I started work on another, more personal endeavor.

I run an international group of artists and designers called Evoke (www.evokeone.com).  These artists often charge upwards of $500 an hour for design work, yet they submit to our exhibitions for free.   What if there was some way for an artist to submit a piece to an exhibition, use the design to promote a charity, and build their portfolio in the process?  It's a win win situation.  Charities spend MONUMENTAL amounts of money on promotion - you hire a bad designer, people don't take you seriously.  You hire one that's really good, your money isn't being used right.

I sent out cover letters to a number of organizations about my idea, and got generally very favorable replies.  However, everyone wanted to see a portfolio of some sort, and see what we could do when working pro-bono.

This was a sticking point, as I didn't have a portfolio for the group.

So, why not go to some place for Duke Engage where I can develop said portfolio?  It just so happens that a lot of my fellow designers in Evoke are located in Australia.  This made it a very convenient location to begin work.  Going to Africa and printing nice posters is rather futile when people need food - they don't need a cool image to tell them they're hungry.

I'm a big fan of the "do what you can now" philosophy.  And I think my project here is doing that.

After meeting with the likes of Stefan D'Alessandro and Justin Maller (BIG design names) in Melbourne, I can see that other artists are backing me up on this as well.

I'm working with Oxfam to retrain their inhouse designers so they don't have to subcontract as much.  At the same time, I'm laying the foundation for a group I would like to launch in the fall.

Will it work?  I don't know.  I'll give it a good shot.

Cheers,

Ted

I arrived in Urubamba, Peru expecting to immediately work with our partnered NGO, ProPeru, in installing and explaining water filters to people living in rural pueblos. Between the sixteen of us embarking on this Duke Engage experience, I never expected to completely eradicate water-dwelling parasites in a town, but I did expect to remain relatively busy at least attempting to do so. Living in the fast paced culture of the United States, one in which people drive, talk on a cell phone, change radio stations, and eat all at once in an effort to crunch time, I am used to having a variety of goals which I wish to accomplish daily, weekly, monthly, etc.

The Peruvian concept of time though, greatly differs from the one found in the U.S and translates into spending more time to do less. The phrase of “time is money” definitely does not apply here as it is not unordinary for a person to arrive an hour late to a meeting (or not show up at all). Time here also has greater importance in relation to people, with most shops, offices, and schools closing midday and reopening late afternoon so that people can return home and have family lunches. It’s also customary to not only stop and greet a friend/acquaintance on the street, but to have a decent conversation with them, regardless of how late you may be running to work or the amount of things you need to accomplish in those next thirty minutes.

As you may imagine, this concept of time, which devalues the amount/length of work, can be very frustrating, especially for a person like me, who mentally budgets out time for tasks during the day and expects to accomplish those tasks within a given time frame. For those of us involved in the health aspect of this Duke Engage project, our normal working hours fall between 9am and 1pm, giving us only four hours a day. This may be an acceptable amount of time if only the ProPeru staff had not acclimated fully to the Peruvian concept of time. It has been frustrating to come into the office and read journal articles about the filters we will (hopefully) install, or watch presentations concerning water quality in the area when we could have reviewed and learned this information prior to our arrival. Our group came to Peru expecting to work and wanting to help others, but so far it seems like most of our time has been spent in preparation of what is yet to come. Those in the Duke group which build stoves with working chimneys in towns where they still cook with an open flame in their kitchen always return home late, usually after seven hours of work, due to a culture of tardiness which seems to thrive here. As already mentioned, time spent in community/companionship with one another is given great importance, but I have still not fully acclimated to this cultural belief. During a “mini” project Saturday, which was to finish by 1pm, our group was required to stay longer after being offered a lunch by the community in thanks for working on the school. Many of us had made plans for what was to be a free afternoon, but found it necessary to accommodate our hosts´ request, wait for a lunch that was never to come, and completely disregard our plans in an effort to follow cultural norms.
 

This slower, differently valued Peruvian time system has definitely been the source of much frustration during my first 11 days here, but slowly I am trying to accept this new concept. I definitely do see the value of spending more time with friends and family, then focusing on my own goals or expectations for the next 7 weeks, but the difficulty of doing so is great. On the upside, I have much more time to reflect on my experiences here. I have taken an entire 11 days before writing my first blog post. 
 

No matter where I go, Duke lacrosse follows me.

When I announced that I would be attending Duke in my senior year of high school, the standard reply was, “Well, don’t date any of those lacrosse players! Heh heh heh!”

I’ve heard this (and similar comments) so many times that I thought I had become used to giving my automatic answer – a shrug and a forced smile.

But I think it’s time that I stop shrugging and start talking.

Last Thursday, a friend and I were coming back from the gym and a rousing game of basketball. An older man (a sickly, bad-natured fellow) joined us in the elevator, where he began scrutinizing my friend, who is a very cute girl. But then he commented on her t-shirt: “Duke lacrosse? That’s a dangerous shirt to be wearing.”

She smiled politely and said, “Proven innocent.”

The disagreeable man sniffed and said, “Yes, but not proven innocent of having black female prostitutes at a party.”

At this point, I should have spoken. I should have ranted. I should have made those last moments in the elevator extremely uncomfortable for him. I should have said what was on my mind: “What difference does it make whether the strippers were black or white? They weren't prostitutes, so why are you calling them that? Why do you care about Duke lacrosse? Why couldn’t you have kept your extremely inept opinions to yourself? Why did you buy into all the media hype? Why do you continue to perpetuate a false accusation that ruined the sports careers and college experiences of several boys? Why don’t you go throw yourself into Lake Pontchartrain?”

Instead of saying this, I shrugged and forced a smile while he left the elevator.

Unfair media coverage convicted the players when evidence couldn’t, and members of the media who look back on that runaway train of a story can recall mistakes they made in the coverage (for the article describing the New York Times’ coverage of the lacrosse case, click here – the ombudsman for the NY Times wrote a very good article about the lax case coverage, even though I don’t agree with some of his points).

What I’m trying to say is that the Duke lacrosse team deserves a fair chance to get back the season they lost to an untrue accusation and unfair media coverage. (Honestly, the New York Times ran a front page article about the accusations instead of relegating the story to the sports page – and then every other newspaper followed suit). They don’t deserve the comments that some white supremacist made in an elevator on Loyola campus in New Orleans – and the next time I see him, I intend to tell him that.

No more shrugging and smiling.

Today was the first day for us at the language teaching center. Our teacher, Vijaya, was very nice and helped us get started on our understanding of Hindi and Telugu. In Hyderabad, many people speak both Telugu and Hindi, including the students at the Safrani Memorial School. Away from the bustling streets full of rickshaws, minibuses, and motorbikes, we learned how to say hello, our names, and other bits of conversational Hindi and Telugu that we used later in the day at the school.

Safrani Memorial School is a K-10th standard (grade) school that teaches underprivileged children in the local area. Most of the students have subsidized rates for fees and books at the school, and some even get funding to pay for their uniforms. Every student at the school must wear uniforms: red plaid shirts with shorts or skirts. Since every student is dressed the same, no one knows who is rich and who is poor. The school has a preschool on the grounds, but is mostly geared for K-10 students. Also on the site is a loom, where weavers practice their ancient craft spending months to create intricate rugs. In recent years, their craft has been threatened by mechanization. The efforts at the Safrani School are to help preserve the art of hand weaving and preserve their livelihoods.

At the school, we started by playing with 1st grade children in the class. With three kickballs and two rings, the kids were ecstatic. Organized chaos ensued as students played outside while we ran with students. We also played tag, watching as thirty boisterous children chase after Mathavi only coming back with her in tow. After 30 minutes, we began to bring the children in with a mix of English and broken Hindi.

After playtime, we went into the classroom to interact and watch the children work in the classroom. Some of us just saw as children chanted multiplication tables, read about Antarctica, and learn about family structure. What amazed all of us was the boundless energy of the children, often tiring us out by the middle of the day. They were extremely eager to participate in class, raising their hand and seeking the teacher’s approval.

With school done, our group went to an ethnic shopping center to find saris, shawls, and pearls. Professor Prasad accompanied us in our initial shopping foray into the wilderness that is Indian bargaining. While Prof. Prasad got Rs. 200 for shawls, the girls in the group were greeted with an “excellent” price of Rs. 1800 for the same shawl. Nothing like the special rate for foreigners!

As the night wound down, we sat in the living room, talking about everything from the Chronicle (Jiajia) to DSG (Bethany). Even 10,000 miles away, Duke is always in our mind.