I am now back into the swing of normal life and over my jet lag but i am really missing being away, i enjoyed it sooooo much, it was such an amazing experience! Over the last couple of weeks i have gotten in touch with the contacts that i made while i was away to thank them again for what they did for me. I am planning on keeping in contact with as many people as i can so that we can share valuable information and i can keep up to date with what is happening over in the States.
This week i have also completed and sent off my press release and a list of the journals i think will be interested in publishing it, i am still waiting to hear back on this one but i am hoping a few of the 5 journals i have approached will publish it. I am still attempting to sort out my pictures as i didn't realise how many i had taken! Over the next couple of weeks i am planning on starting my report which is due to be submitted in February next year.
Since being back i have also been approached by a Safer Schools Police Officer i know and asked to do a presentation in some schools in North London on what i found out about gangs. Many of the schools he works in have issues relating to gangs and he feels that the young people in these schools would benefit from my input. I am really looking forward to this new opportunity and hope that more exciting opportunities follow the more i get to know and network with more people in this field....
About Me
- Donna Marsh on Gangs
- My name is Donna Marsh and I currently work as a Registered Mental Health Nurse in a Prison working mainly with young offenders with mental health problems. I have worked with young people for the past 7 years and find this client group very interesting. With the rise of knife and gun crime in England, I have many dealings with gang members and find it fascinating to find out why young people join gangs and engage in this kind of gang activity. Due to this, I have also been involved in the making of a DVD to raise awareness of knife crime in the UK in conjunction with the prison and a local school, this has been distributed to schools and Young Offenders Institutes across the country.
My journey
Thursday 9 September 2010
Sunday 29 August 2010
My safe return
I made it home safe and sound on Saturday afternoon to be met at the airport by my relieved parents. I was sooooo knackered after the 10 hour flight but in true Donna style I didn’t sit down, I unpacked straight away and headed for Tesco to pick up some essentials. I was so tired I didn’t even realise that I did not have my purse with me until I got there and had to drive home and get it! Food shopping done ,I came home and went through my suitcases; I had bought sooooo much back I had to buy some more coat hangers for my new clothes lol!! I then attempted to sleep on Saturday night but it just was not happening, I managed to get about 3 hours sleep and was up at 4.30 doing my exercises on the Wii Fit, then doing the hovering and pruning the hedges at 7.30 am. I bet the neighbours thought I was crazy; I was like a woman possessed!! Lol!!
Monday was a bit of a shock to the system going back to work, but I somehow managed to get up at 6am every day and do the Wii Fit before work, it paid off too I lost 3lb of holiday tummy!! This week has been abit of a blur though as I think I have been jet lagged through most of it but am just about getting myself sorted out and have received a letter from the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust welcoming me home and asking me to draft a press release which I will be attempting to complete this week as well as emailing them my photos. I am also planning on sending my thank you letters out this week too to all of the people that made my trip such a success. I am so glad I have tomorrow off work to chill....
Monday was a bit of a shock to the system going back to work, but I somehow managed to get up at 6am every day and do the Wii Fit before work, it paid off too I lost 3lb of holiday tummy!! This week has been abit of a blur though as I think I have been jet lagged through most of it but am just about getting myself sorted out and have received a letter from the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust welcoming me home and asking me to draft a press release which I will be attempting to complete this week as well as emailing them my photos. I am also planning on sending my thank you letters out this week too to all of the people that made my trip such a success. I am so glad I have tomorrow off work to chill....
Thursday 19 August 2010
Homeward bound....
WOW!! What a journey the last 6 weeks have been not to mention all the time leading up to this with all the planning and preparation that had to take place. I have thoroughly enjoyed every minute of my travels and am so grateful to the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust for allowing me to fulfil my dream of taking on this research. I have had some ups and down along the way but the majority of time was plane sailing! I managed to achieve most of the goals that I set out to accomplish and visited such a variety of different organisations and facilities to get a wide range of different perspectives on the magnitude of the gang problems in the states that I visited. Everyone I spoke to was so willing to help and show me their organisation and in many cases had contacts with others that I attempted to visit but unfortunately I did not have time to see them all.
It amazed me to see that in many areas that I visited the gang problems were generational and many of the young people’s mothers, fathers and in some cases grandparents were gang members. These young people are often the hardest to reach as it is so much a way of life for the whole family and there is no positive role model in their life to show them a different path that does not involve violence, drugs and guns. This is where many of the agencies I visited stepped in to be that positive influence to help to guide and support the young person and show them that they have the potential to achieve whatever they want to if they put their mind to it.
All the states that I visited had different gangs that were the most active in their area for example in New York it was both Black and Mexican gangs, Miami were mainly Haitian and Mexican and in LA it was mainly Black gangs. However more or less everyone who I have met has said the same thing about why these young people get involved in gangs in the first place: it starts in the home!! Your surroundings, the way you are bought up and education play a major role in shaping your future. Many of these young people have been bought up in violent, abuse homes with absent parents who are working too hard to notice what their child is doing, is involved themselves or on drugs then they are unable to provide the child with the right guidance and discipline as they get older and the child then looks for another role model and finds it in a gang and so the cycle begins...more needs to be done to educate this parents into the signs to watch out for in the child so that they can spot if the child is involved in gang activity as it is surprising how many parents have no idea! They also need to be guiding in how to spent quality constructive time with their children as many of the gang members who I have spoken to whose parents are involved in this world said that the only time that that parent had to spend with their child was when they were out on the streets so they in turn became and gang member in order to get closer and feel that love from their parents.
It has been a fascinating journey but one that I have learnt much from not just about gangs, how they operate and why the young people join in the first place but about myself. This for me has also been a journey of self discovery and I feel that I have learnt much about myself along the way such as being comfortable to talk and hold my own in a crowd of people I have never met before, feeling confident in meeting and speaking with gang members and professions and often talking about quite sensitive issues. My confidence has grown so much over the last few weeks. I have also learnt that I can actually read a map and navigate myself from place to place; I don’t know what I would have done without Google map!!! I will be very sad to say goodbye to America but have the feeling it won’t be long before I return again....
Thank you so much to everyone who has supported me through my journey I really appreciate all of your love and support and I will continue to blog when I get home to keep up to date with my progress.
It amazed me to see that in many areas that I visited the gang problems were generational and many of the young people’s mothers, fathers and in some cases grandparents were gang members. These young people are often the hardest to reach as it is so much a way of life for the whole family and there is no positive role model in their life to show them a different path that does not involve violence, drugs and guns. This is where many of the agencies I visited stepped in to be that positive influence to help to guide and support the young person and show them that they have the potential to achieve whatever they want to if they put their mind to it.
All the states that I visited had different gangs that were the most active in their area for example in New York it was both Black and Mexican gangs, Miami were mainly Haitian and Mexican and in LA it was mainly Black gangs. However more or less everyone who I have met has said the same thing about why these young people get involved in gangs in the first place: it starts in the home!! Your surroundings, the way you are bought up and education play a major role in shaping your future. Many of these young people have been bought up in violent, abuse homes with absent parents who are working too hard to notice what their child is doing, is involved themselves or on drugs then they are unable to provide the child with the right guidance and discipline as they get older and the child then looks for another role model and finds it in a gang and so the cycle begins...more needs to be done to educate this parents into the signs to watch out for in the child so that they can spot if the child is involved in gang activity as it is surprising how many parents have no idea! They also need to be guiding in how to spent quality constructive time with their children as many of the gang members who I have spoken to whose parents are involved in this world said that the only time that that parent had to spend with their child was when they were out on the streets so they in turn became and gang member in order to get closer and feel that love from their parents.
It has been a fascinating journey but one that I have learnt much from not just about gangs, how they operate and why the young people join in the first place but about myself. This for me has also been a journey of self discovery and I feel that I have learnt much about myself along the way such as being comfortable to talk and hold my own in a crowd of people I have never met before, feeling confident in meeting and speaking with gang members and professions and often talking about quite sensitive issues. My confidence has grown so much over the last few weeks. I have also learnt that I can actually read a map and navigate myself from place to place; I don’t know what I would have done without Google map!!! I will be very sad to say goodbye to America but have the feeling it won’t be long before I return again....
Thank you so much to everyone who has supported me through my journey I really appreciate all of your love and support and I will continue to blog when I get home to keep up to date with my progress.
A perfect end to a perfect trip
Wow what an amazing week I have had. Seen so much this week! I spent some time sightseeing and doing my last bits of shopping (can’t believe my suitcase is still within the weight limit....just!! lol!!). I first went to Long Beach to meet one of my contacts who works for the Boys and Girls Club. This club works with children from 6-18, providing a safe and secure environment for them to come and participate in various self esteem and confidence building programmes. This club also runs after school programmes to help children with their homework aswell as running other education based programmes to teach the young people about various computer programmes, gender specific issues around safe sex, and drug and alcohol misuse and health and fitness programmes. Unfortunately I was not able to see one of these programmes in action due to the fact that it is the summer holidays and these classes are normally run in term time but it was very interesting to speak with the leaders of some of these programmes as they said that many of the young people that attend their classes are involved in gang activity and have very difficult often abusive home lives so coming into such a programme gives them a safe and secure environment for them to be able to gain skills for the future.
I then spend some time with the Hollywood Division of the LAPD (Los Angeles Police Department). This was very interesting, I went on a ride-along with them for a few hours with the Gang Unit and I was shown where most of the gang activity in Hollywood takes place and which gangs occupy which areas. It was fascinating to me because I had always thought of Hollywood as very glitzy and full of celebrities but I was shown a very different poverty stricken side of it that day and it was a very eye opening experience. During my time with the Gang Unit we stopped off at the Summer Nights Programme in Lemon Groove. This is a programme that started 3 years ago throughout the summer holidays to bring the community together. It runs from 6pm until midnight and is a place for all that live in the community to come and hang out together, the children place sports and there is music and entertainment laid on. It has a really good atmosphere and appears to be very successful. There are also 3 Gang Activists who are themselves ex gang members that attend on a nightly basis to speak to gang members and try and help them out of the life violence and gang activity. I had the chance to speak to these men and they said that each one of them have been gang members for a number of years they themselves found it very hard to leave that lifestyle behind them and stated that even though they are no longer ‘banging, you can never fully get out of the gang’ which I found very interesting. They now work with youth in an attempt to try and break the cycle of the gang violence.
Over the weekend I went on an amazing tour called LA Gang, wow it was great!!! We were given a tour of South Central LA by 4 ex gang members who have come together to raise awareness of the growing gang problem in these areas. We went all around the area to Watts, The Watts Towers, LA County Jail, Florence Avenue and Firestone Sheriff Station all being historical places relating to gang involvement and the riots in the early 1990’s. It was an extremely interesting day and very interesting to hear from the ex gang members some of whom had done up to 24 years in prison. These men now visit schools and other areas to try and educate young people on what the gang lifestyle is really like and tells them the grim reality of if they continue with the life style that they are leading it can only end two ways: jail time or death!! After the tour we went to the Graff Lab where young people from all over LA and at times the world come and graffiti on the walls of a disused area that has now been purpose designed and cleared by the County so that they can graffiti without any repercussions. The graffiti stays up for up to a week and then it is painted over by another artist. The place was fascinating, I really enjoyed it there and the graffiti is amazing! People were also rapping and street dancing there too it was amazing to watch. There was a guy there doing a massive mural of Michael Jackson and he gave me one of the paint brushes he had used that the signed which was cool!
I then visited the very well known Homeboy Industries, what an interesting place that was! They recruit ex gang members to work there and have a bakery, restaurant and merchandise shop. It was a fascinating place where they provide so many services from legal advice, counselling, mental health support to tattoo removal, all free of charge. They even have and did have while i was visiting, a group of young people from the boot camp in LA that come still hand cuffed and shackled to get their gang tattoos removed! It was amazing to see. I also met and had a brief chat with Father Boyle who started the programme 23 years ago, he has now written a couple of books about his journey one of which i bought and he signed while i was there which was great.
My final and probably my favourite in LA was the 77th Precinct Gang Unit. Wow what an amazing day!! I got to spend the whole shift with the team and went everywhere they went, it was incredible. We had a debrief first to see what was going on and the officers in charge explained that 3 raids would be taking place and told each person what their role was then at the end went through what to do it shots are fired, dogs are shot and the directions to the nearest hospital, OMG I was scared at that point!! We went out to the car and on the way the sergeant explained to me that if shots are fired at the car I had to get down in the car in the area that was bullet proof! OMG WHAT WAS I LETTING MYSELF IN FOR!!! Luckily no shots were fired but all of the police were armed in some cases with more than one gun! It was so exciting to see. One man was taken into custody and we headed back to the station to debrief on what had happened and improvements that could be made. Afterwards the sergeant showed me around the area and where all the gang members hang out and where the enemy lines are. Got to speak to a couple of gang members who were in the area, one of whom had a tattoo of his gang on his eye lids, how painful would that have been!
After my ride-along the sergeant took me to the LA County jail for a look around, it was 11 pm and we just turned up and they gave us a tour. It was brill but could not believe that they inmates were still out and about at that time of night and some of them were even being transferred, it was like it was the middle of the day, so different to where I work! Another very interesting facility that holds around 5000 inmates within the prison that is also attached another prison for mental ill prisoners holding around 1500!! Fascinating!! A great ends to my time in LA.
I then spend some time with the Hollywood Division of the LAPD (Los Angeles Police Department). This was very interesting, I went on a ride-along with them for a few hours with the Gang Unit and I was shown where most of the gang activity in Hollywood takes place and which gangs occupy which areas. It was fascinating to me because I had always thought of Hollywood as very glitzy and full of celebrities but I was shown a very different poverty stricken side of it that day and it was a very eye opening experience. During my time with the Gang Unit we stopped off at the Summer Nights Programme in Lemon Groove. This is a programme that started 3 years ago throughout the summer holidays to bring the community together. It runs from 6pm until midnight and is a place for all that live in the community to come and hang out together, the children place sports and there is music and entertainment laid on. It has a really good atmosphere and appears to be very successful. There are also 3 Gang Activists who are themselves ex gang members that attend on a nightly basis to speak to gang members and try and help them out of the life violence and gang activity. I had the chance to speak to these men and they said that each one of them have been gang members for a number of years they themselves found it very hard to leave that lifestyle behind them and stated that even though they are no longer ‘banging, you can never fully get out of the gang’ which I found very interesting. They now work with youth in an attempt to try and break the cycle of the gang violence.
Over the weekend I went on an amazing tour called LA Gang, wow it was great!!! We were given a tour of South Central LA by 4 ex gang members who have come together to raise awareness of the growing gang problem in these areas. We went all around the area to Watts, The Watts Towers, LA County Jail, Florence Avenue and Firestone Sheriff Station all being historical places relating to gang involvement and the riots in the early 1990’s. It was an extremely interesting day and very interesting to hear from the ex gang members some of whom had done up to 24 years in prison. These men now visit schools and other areas to try and educate young people on what the gang lifestyle is really like and tells them the grim reality of if they continue with the life style that they are leading it can only end two ways: jail time or death!! After the tour we went to the Graff Lab where young people from all over LA and at times the world come and graffiti on the walls of a disused area that has now been purpose designed and cleared by the County so that they can graffiti without any repercussions. The graffiti stays up for up to a week and then it is painted over by another artist. The place was fascinating, I really enjoyed it there and the graffiti is amazing! People were also rapping and street dancing there too it was amazing to watch. There was a guy there doing a massive mural of Michael Jackson and he gave me one of the paint brushes he had used that the signed which was cool!
I then visited the very well known Homeboy Industries, what an interesting place that was! They recruit ex gang members to work there and have a bakery, restaurant and merchandise shop. It was a fascinating place where they provide so many services from legal advice, counselling, mental health support to tattoo removal, all free of charge. They even have and did have while i was visiting, a group of young people from the boot camp in LA that come still hand cuffed and shackled to get their gang tattoos removed! It was amazing to see. I also met and had a brief chat with Father Boyle who started the programme 23 years ago, he has now written a couple of books about his journey one of which i bought and he signed while i was there which was great.
My final and probably my favourite in LA was the 77th Precinct Gang Unit. Wow what an amazing day!! I got to spend the whole shift with the team and went everywhere they went, it was incredible. We had a debrief first to see what was going on and the officers in charge explained that 3 raids would be taking place and told each person what their role was then at the end went through what to do it shots are fired, dogs are shot and the directions to the nearest hospital, OMG I was scared at that point!! We went out to the car and on the way the sergeant explained to me that if shots are fired at the car I had to get down in the car in the area that was bullet proof! OMG WHAT WAS I LETTING MYSELF IN FOR!!! Luckily no shots were fired but all of the police were armed in some cases with more than one gun! It was so exciting to see. One man was taken into custody and we headed back to the station to debrief on what had happened and improvements that could be made. Afterwards the sergeant showed me around the area and where all the gang members hang out and where the enemy lines are. Got to speak to a couple of gang members who were in the area, one of whom had a tattoo of his gang on his eye lids, how painful would that have been!
After my ride-along the sergeant took me to the LA County jail for a look around, it was 11 pm and we just turned up and they gave us a tour. It was brill but could not believe that they inmates were still out and about at that time of night and some of them were even being transferred, it was like it was the middle of the day, so different to where I work! Another very interesting facility that holds around 5000 inmates within the prison that is also attached another prison for mental ill prisoners holding around 1500!! Fascinating!! A great ends to my time in LA.
Thursday 12 August 2010
The Bakersfield Experience
Wow what a busy few days!!!!! I came up to Bakersfield, which is 2 hours north of LA on Sunday to meet one of my contacts, George, who works in Juvenile Justice as a Probation Officer. He said he had arranged various meetings for me in some of the organisations that they have here to deal with young people who are coming into prison for the first time as well as those who are involved in gang activity. On Sunday night i met him for the first time and he took me to his house to have dinner with his family which was absolutely lovely, they were so welcoming. I thoroughly enjoyed myself and it was a great ice breaker.
Bright and early Monday morning George had arranged for one of his colleagues to pick me up and show me around some of the organisations that they have. We visited about 7 places in the day; it was such an eye opener. The services that are provided are quite varied and many of them are faith based but they all have the same goal: to support young people and to stop them for being caught up in the cycle of crime and gang activity.
I spoke one young man who was attending the Bridges Programme. This is for young men and women who are not able to attend mainstream school due to their behaviour, they support young people, offer counselling, one to one support and small education classes so that they can get the help that they need to get the education that they need to succeed. This young man was an active gang member and had many gang related tattoos on his face and arms which were relating to his gang. He had been a gang member for the past 4 year and now at the age of 17 he was attempting to get help from this service to get out of the gang. He appeared to be making good progress and since he had been attending the programme he has applied to have his tattoos removed so that he can get a job and not been seen as a gang member. According to the staff at the organisation he had been a very active gang member in the past and his father was also heavily involved in the gang so they were very pleased that after spending time in juvenile facilities, seeing his friends get shot and being shot at himself this man had come to the decision to leave his gang and was making active steps to make this happen.
The following day I visited Juvenile Hall, wow what an eye opener that was!!! One of the organisations Crossroads was run very much in a military style. The inmates, who are under 18 have to march and chant various messages and wear a uniform with the name sewn onto it. They look very smart as they walk around the campus, hands behind their back. Their beds and cells are also extremely tidy as they are inspected every day and have to be perfect otherwise there were consequences. I was shocked at the level of discipline in the facilities; I had never seen anything like it! All of the young men that I met were so polite and very well mannered. So interesting! It was sad to see some of the young men were still children at aged 13, they looked so young! At the facilities I visited the young people attended education daily and were allowed to do jobs around the facility such as sweeping the yard and cutting the grass. In one of the facilities they also had a separate area for females that provided them with specific counselling sessions and support for those who have been involved in abuse from a young age.
On the third day I visited Wasco State Prison. WOW!!! The facility is massive! All the inmates walk around in bright orange jump suits and are there for a variety of crimes. They are there mainly for a short term before they are moved onto other establishments after they have been classified as to their level of danger relating to their crime, to serve their sentence. I was surprised to see that when the inmates come into the facility they really do have to do the ‘squat and cough’ to check them for contraband and it is in front of all the other inmates! I also saw the very evident racial segregation on the yard; they really do keep to their own race. The alarm went off while we were there to because there was a medical emergency and all of the inmates had to lie on the ground arms out stretched. Due to lack of space in the facility some of the areas have been made into dorm areas, that is 200 prisoners in one area with the freedom to walk around if they want to even though they are not supposed to and one officer to watch them! I couldn’t believe that! It looked like such a dangerous situation but the officers said that they do not have many problems in those areas. If they do though and a fight breaks out they have a number of officers that can attend and the inmates are then taken to spend time in the segregation area where they stand in mental cages for 4 hours at a time.
My whole experience in Bakersfield has been such an eye opening but fascinating experience! I have very much enjoyed myself here and have seen so much that I haven’t even had chance to document on here such as a mock Call in based on Operation Ceasefire, where they bring in professional and active gang members in the community and offer them alternatives to the gang lifestyle, again another fascinating experience. I was exposed to sooooooo much and I thank the Juvenile Probation Team in Bakersfield for all their help and support. I am now back in LA ready to visit some of the organisations that I have been in contact with here.
Bright and early Monday morning George had arranged for one of his colleagues to pick me up and show me around some of the organisations that they have. We visited about 7 places in the day; it was such an eye opener. The services that are provided are quite varied and many of them are faith based but they all have the same goal: to support young people and to stop them for being caught up in the cycle of crime and gang activity.
I spoke one young man who was attending the Bridges Programme. This is for young men and women who are not able to attend mainstream school due to their behaviour, they support young people, offer counselling, one to one support and small education classes so that they can get the help that they need to get the education that they need to succeed. This young man was an active gang member and had many gang related tattoos on his face and arms which were relating to his gang. He had been a gang member for the past 4 year and now at the age of 17 he was attempting to get help from this service to get out of the gang. He appeared to be making good progress and since he had been attending the programme he has applied to have his tattoos removed so that he can get a job and not been seen as a gang member. According to the staff at the organisation he had been a very active gang member in the past and his father was also heavily involved in the gang so they were very pleased that after spending time in juvenile facilities, seeing his friends get shot and being shot at himself this man had come to the decision to leave his gang and was making active steps to make this happen.
The following day I visited Juvenile Hall, wow what an eye opener that was!!! One of the organisations Crossroads was run very much in a military style. The inmates, who are under 18 have to march and chant various messages and wear a uniform with the name sewn onto it. They look very smart as they walk around the campus, hands behind their back. Their beds and cells are also extremely tidy as they are inspected every day and have to be perfect otherwise there were consequences. I was shocked at the level of discipline in the facilities; I had never seen anything like it! All of the young men that I met were so polite and very well mannered. So interesting! It was sad to see some of the young men were still children at aged 13, they looked so young! At the facilities I visited the young people attended education daily and were allowed to do jobs around the facility such as sweeping the yard and cutting the grass. In one of the facilities they also had a separate area for females that provided them with specific counselling sessions and support for those who have been involved in abuse from a young age.
On the third day I visited Wasco State Prison. WOW!!! The facility is massive! All the inmates walk around in bright orange jump suits and are there for a variety of crimes. They are there mainly for a short term before they are moved onto other establishments after they have been classified as to their level of danger relating to their crime, to serve their sentence. I was surprised to see that when the inmates come into the facility they really do have to do the ‘squat and cough’ to check them for contraband and it is in front of all the other inmates! I also saw the very evident racial segregation on the yard; they really do keep to their own race. The alarm went off while we were there to because there was a medical emergency and all of the inmates had to lie on the ground arms out stretched. Due to lack of space in the facility some of the areas have been made into dorm areas, that is 200 prisoners in one area with the freedom to walk around if they want to even though they are not supposed to and one officer to watch them! I couldn’t believe that! It looked like such a dangerous situation but the officers said that they do not have many problems in those areas. If they do though and a fight breaks out they have a number of officers that can attend and the inmates are then taken to spend time in the segregation area where they stand in mental cages for 4 hours at a time.
My whole experience in Bakersfield has been such an eye opening but fascinating experience! I have very much enjoyed myself here and have seen so much that I haven’t even had chance to document on here such as a mock Call in based on Operation Ceasefire, where they bring in professional and active gang members in the community and offer them alternatives to the gang lifestyle, again another fascinating experience. I was exposed to sooooooo much and I thank the Juvenile Probation Team in Bakersfield for all their help and support. I am now back in LA ready to visit some of the organisations that I have been in contact with here.
Thursday 5 August 2010
Goodbye Miami, hello LA
This week has been great!!! I have really enjoyed myself and been soooo busy. I did abit of sight seeing and saw the Stars houses on Star Island here, Carmen Electra was sunbathing in her garden which was cool!! On Tuesday i visited an organisation called Panzou Project which is an organisation for Haitian gang members to get help and support for issue relating to education, job skills and training, conflict resolution and family support. They also employ ex gang members to help in the organisation. One such member runs the Screen Printing. He makes t-shirts for the organisation as well as for local business and this is becoming quite a successful part of the organisation. Panzou are also hoping to rent another office next to where they are already based and turn it into a music studio which would be a real asset to the community as many of the young people that use that organisation enjoy making music but do not currently have anywhere to use this talent.
This week i have also visited the Miami Dade Police Head Quarters and met with one of the Lieutenants of the Gang Unit. That was very interesting to meet up with him and talk about all the different areas in Miami that are affected by gangs and gang violence. He has a task force of 6 officers, a Sergent and a Lieutenant that work in the county to identify and combat the gang issues in Miami. I was then fortunate enough to be able to go on a ride along with one of the detectives in the Gang Task Force. I was in my element, we went all over Miami and he showed me where all the gang members hang out and where they make their deals of guns and drugs. When we were driving down the street even though we were in an unmarked vehicle they knew the car and were shouting 'PO PO' as we drove down the street to warn others that police were in the area. It was fascinating!! It was also very sad to see the level of poverty in some of these areas and it was easy to see why some of the young people who live in these areas felt that they had no way out.
On my last day in Miami i went back to the Juvenile Assessment Centre for a Gang Awareness Training session and to meet others in the field of gangs in Miami. It was great to meet other members of the Gang Unit Task Force and hear their point of view on the subject. It appears to me that Miami does have a gang problem but it is not like the problems experienced in New York, LA and Chicago. Here they are very much on top of the situation and do alot of undercover work and make good links with informants who provide them with alot of useful information.This Task Force have regular meetings to discuss the current trends and who the main guys to keep an eye out for are so they are aware of the risks when they are approaching a situation and know what types of weapons these individuals are carrying, as guns here are very easy to come by.
I have found Miami a very interesting place to be. I very much enjoyed visiting all the different agencies that work with gangs in this area and i was surprised and very pleased at how open they were at having me visit their organisation at such short notice. Everyone has been very helpful and welcoming and has shared much information with me that has been very interesting.
I am off to LA in the morning, the last stop on my tour. I cant believe the time has gone by so quick, i have loved every minute of it though and am looking forward to seeing how different LA is compared to New York and Miami.
This week i have also visited the Miami Dade Police Head Quarters and met with one of the Lieutenants of the Gang Unit. That was very interesting to meet up with him and talk about all the different areas in Miami that are affected by gangs and gang violence. He has a task force of 6 officers, a Sergent and a Lieutenant that work in the county to identify and combat the gang issues in Miami. I was then fortunate enough to be able to go on a ride along with one of the detectives in the Gang Task Force. I was in my element, we went all over Miami and he showed me where all the gang members hang out and where they make their deals of guns and drugs. When we were driving down the street even though we were in an unmarked vehicle they knew the car and were shouting 'PO PO' as we drove down the street to warn others that police were in the area. It was fascinating!! It was also very sad to see the level of poverty in some of these areas and it was easy to see why some of the young people who live in these areas felt that they had no way out.
On my last day in Miami i went back to the Juvenile Assessment Centre for a Gang Awareness Training session and to meet others in the field of gangs in Miami. It was great to meet other members of the Gang Unit Task Force and hear their point of view on the subject. It appears to me that Miami does have a gang problem but it is not like the problems experienced in New York, LA and Chicago. Here they are very much on top of the situation and do alot of undercover work and make good links with informants who provide them with alot of useful information.This Task Force have regular meetings to discuss the current trends and who the main guys to keep an eye out for are so they are aware of the risks when they are approaching a situation and know what types of weapons these individuals are carrying, as guns here are very easy to come by.
I have found Miami a very interesting place to be. I very much enjoyed visiting all the different agencies that work with gangs in this area and i was surprised and very pleased at how open they were at having me visit their organisation at such short notice. Everyone has been very helpful and welcoming and has shared much information with me that has been very interesting.
I am off to LA in the morning, the last stop on my tour. I cant believe the time has gone by so quick, i have loved every minute of it though and am looking forward to seeing how different LA is compared to New York and Miami.
Monday 2 August 2010
Networking in Miami
This week has been fun, a couple of my friends came over to Miami on holiday for a few days so met up with them a couple of times which has been really nice and have seen the sights of Miami. Went on a couple of trips around the place to see the main attractions and cant believe how friendly and welcoming some people are. I went on one trip on my own and ended up chatting to a girl on the trip who was on her on too and we ended spending the whole day together and meeting up the following day before she went home. That was really nice, now i have a new friend in Charlotte which is cool!
I also visited another organisation. As a result of my trip on Monday, i have now been able to able to set up a couple more visits as the Director at the Juvenile Assessment Centre had a few contacts and forwarded them to me which was really helpful. I contacted them and was able to organise a visit to Turner Guilford and Knight Correctional Facility so that i could attend a group that is run there by a lady called Barbara Wade. She is very active in working with gang members both inside and outside prison and attends the Prison twice a week to run this course. It is called RESPECT and is for young boys from 14-17 to learn life skills. It was a very interesting experience as the prison is very different to the one in which i am working and the client group is much younger. All of the young people that i spoke to were on remand and had been at the facility for a considerable length of time.
The group consisted of 12 young people and a the beginning of the session everyone stood up and repeated a verse about respecting each other and having a positive attitude to centre the group and focus on the session. Afterwards everyone sat in a circle and we spoke about the gang problems and what it was like for young people living in that type of life style. It became quite apparent to me that many of these young people, prior to coming to prison had never left their neighborhoods and they said that many of them had very unstable family life's with absent parents, drug issues and younger siblings to look after. Due to this many of them no longer attended school and gravitated towards the gang lifestyle as they were looking for somewhere to belong, someone to care for and love them and were searching for that feeling of being wanted and needed. It was a very interesting discussion and was good to hear it from the young people themselves. They were very welcoming to me and when it came to asking me questions, many of them did not know anything about England and where abouts in the world it was and for many of them it was the first time they had heard a British accent and some struggled to understand what i said. It was sad to see to as their world prior to now had only consisted of a few square miles of their neighbourhood.
This was a very worthwhile session to attend. From this contact with Barbara, she then set up a meeting for me for this week with the Gang Task Force in Miami which i am very much looking forward too.
I also visited another organisation. As a result of my trip on Monday, i have now been able to able to set up a couple more visits as the Director at the Juvenile Assessment Centre had a few contacts and forwarded them to me which was really helpful. I contacted them and was able to organise a visit to Turner Guilford and Knight Correctional Facility so that i could attend a group that is run there by a lady called Barbara Wade. She is very active in working with gang members both inside and outside prison and attends the Prison twice a week to run this course. It is called RESPECT and is for young boys from 14-17 to learn life skills. It was a very interesting experience as the prison is very different to the one in which i am working and the client group is much younger. All of the young people that i spoke to were on remand and had been at the facility for a considerable length of time.
The group consisted of 12 young people and a the beginning of the session everyone stood up and repeated a verse about respecting each other and having a positive attitude to centre the group and focus on the session. Afterwards everyone sat in a circle and we spoke about the gang problems and what it was like for young people living in that type of life style. It became quite apparent to me that many of these young people, prior to coming to prison had never left their neighborhoods and they said that many of them had very unstable family life's with absent parents, drug issues and younger siblings to look after. Due to this many of them no longer attended school and gravitated towards the gang lifestyle as they were looking for somewhere to belong, someone to care for and love them and were searching for that feeling of being wanted and needed. It was a very interesting discussion and was good to hear it from the young people themselves. They were very welcoming to me and when it came to asking me questions, many of them did not know anything about England and where abouts in the world it was and for many of them it was the first time they had heard a British accent and some struggled to understand what i said. It was sad to see to as their world prior to now had only consisted of a few square miles of their neighbourhood.
This was a very worthwhile session to attend. From this contact with Barbara, she then set up a meeting for me for this week with the Gang Task Force in Miami which i am very much looking forward too.
Wednesday 28 July 2010
Welcome to Miami
I arrived in Miami on Saturday morning. My flight was delayed by 4 hours but luckily because i was there at the crack of dawn and checked in early, i was able to get an earlier flight which was brill!!! Slept all the way here! Flight was only 2 and a half hours so not bad. When i arrived at the hotel i was informed check in wasn't for another 6 hours so had a few hour to kill!! Decided to go for a wonder around and explore the area of South Beach where i was staying. It was beautiful and right near the sea.
As I was walking around i was stopped by a guy who was asking me if wanted to vote. I explained to him that i wasn't from the area and we got talking. It turns out that he is a reformed Original Gangster and member of the Bloods in Compton and he was telling me all about it and what it is like to grow up in that life style. He said that he was born into the gang as his dad was a Black Panther who was in San Quentin Prison and started a gang there then came out and continued it on the outside. He said he has been involved in all kinds of gang activity and has been shot and stabbed many times! He also has gang tattoos. He was a very interesting guy to talk to as he has now turned his life around and is now making a like for himself and has got out of the cycle of the gang lifestyle although he says he will never truly be out of the gang as alot of his friends are still involved. He said he is still a member but not an 'active' one.
On Monday I visited the Juvenile Assessment Centre in Miami- Dade were every young person who is arrested in the County comes to be booked in and assessed and then they are either released from the facility or taken to a Juvenile Detention Centre depending on what crime they have committed. What an interesting visit that was!!! I couldn't believe how organised and prepared for me they were. I was greeted when i arrived by the Acting Director and shown around the facility from intake were the juveniles are bought into the facility and booked in, finger prints taken, mug shots taken and all the assessments are carried out. These include asking questions relating to their mental health, housing issues, family life and substance abuse then depending on the outcome of these assessments they are referred to the appropriate agencies.
I was then spoken to by various people within the organisation to get a perspective on what they were doing there. These include taking about the models that they use to support these young people through the system and the assessment tools that they use. Very impressed at the way they operate and the level of communication throughout the organisation. They also appear to have very strong links to many community projects that they refer the young people on to and set up monthly meetings with these organisations to speak about how they are getting on and how well the young people are getting on on those programmes. They also ask the young people themselves how the programmes are working for them and if they feel they are benefiting from it.
They way this organisation operates appears to be very successful as they are very supportive to first time offenders. They involve every one in that young persons life from parents to school teachers to support them and enroll them in programmes based on the needs of that young person. The aim of this is to try and support them as much as possible at the earliest stage to try and break the cycle of re offending and so far this has been a great success. They also link in with agencies that support the families of these young people especially siblings so that they do not follow in they brother or sisters footsteps.
I found this day to be a very interesting and informative and I very much enjoyed meeting everyone involved and have been invited back next week to attend a conference on Gangs and how they are managed in Miami which will be very interested and something that i am very much looking forward too.
As I was walking around i was stopped by a guy who was asking me if wanted to vote. I explained to him that i wasn't from the area and we got talking. It turns out that he is a reformed Original Gangster and member of the Bloods in Compton and he was telling me all about it and what it is like to grow up in that life style. He said that he was born into the gang as his dad was a Black Panther who was in San Quentin Prison and started a gang there then came out and continued it on the outside. He said he has been involved in all kinds of gang activity and has been shot and stabbed many times! He also has gang tattoos. He was a very interesting guy to talk to as he has now turned his life around and is now making a like for himself and has got out of the cycle of the gang lifestyle although he says he will never truly be out of the gang as alot of his friends are still involved. He said he is still a member but not an 'active' one.
On Monday I visited the Juvenile Assessment Centre in Miami- Dade were every young person who is arrested in the County comes to be booked in and assessed and then they are either released from the facility or taken to a Juvenile Detention Centre depending on what crime they have committed. What an interesting visit that was!!! I couldn't believe how organised and prepared for me they were. I was greeted when i arrived by the Acting Director and shown around the facility from intake were the juveniles are bought into the facility and booked in, finger prints taken, mug shots taken and all the assessments are carried out. These include asking questions relating to their mental health, housing issues, family life and substance abuse then depending on the outcome of these assessments they are referred to the appropriate agencies.
I was then spoken to by various people within the organisation to get a perspective on what they were doing there. These include taking about the models that they use to support these young people through the system and the assessment tools that they use. Very impressed at the way they operate and the level of communication throughout the organisation. They also appear to have very strong links to many community projects that they refer the young people on to and set up monthly meetings with these organisations to speak about how they are getting on and how well the young people are getting on on those programmes. They also ask the young people themselves how the programmes are working for them and if they feel they are benefiting from it.
They way this organisation operates appears to be very successful as they are very supportive to first time offenders. They involve every one in that young persons life from parents to school teachers to support them and enroll them in programmes based on the needs of that young person. The aim of this is to try and support them as much as possible at the earliest stage to try and break the cycle of re offending and so far this has been a great success. They also link in with agencies that support the families of these young people especially siblings so that they do not follow in they brother or sisters footsteps.
I found this day to be a very interesting and informative and I very much enjoyed meeting everyone involved and have been invited back next week to attend a conference on Gangs and how they are managed in Miami which will be very interested and something that i am very much looking forward too.
Friday 23 July 2010
Leaving New York....
I can’t believe my time in New York has come to an end so soon. I have very much enjoyed my time here and think I have had a good balance of work and play. I have spent a lot of time building a relationship with my family in Brooklyn while I have been staying here which has been great! I feel that we are now really close. We visited many places over the last couple of weeks such as Atlantic City, where I was introduced to gambling, Long Island where we spent the day on the beach, Nyack with the biggest shopping centre I have ever seen and the most beautiful lake. Oh and of course, how could I forget Manhattan! Shopping in Time Square and sipping cocktails in Greenwich Village. Amazing all round!!!!
I also very much enjoyed my week in Syracuse meeting with Police, Probation officers, Correctional officers and Gang Specialist to talk to them about how the gang problems are managed by the teams that they work in. I meet some very interesting people and hope to keep in contact with many of them. Unfortunaltey I did not get the opportunity to visit Sing Sing Correctional Facility this week but during my visit to Council For Unity I was offered the opportunity to return later in the year and visit Sing Sing with them. This is an offer I am very much considering as it would be such an amazing opportunity to see how they operate there and how they run the course with the gang members.
This week I also went to the school that my Aunt works at and she introduced me to a few of her pupils who were playing in the park next door and I interviewed them about what it is like to grow up in Brooklyn where they are surrounded by gangs. This was a very interesting meeting and it was good to get the perceptive of the teen ages that are actually living in it as well as the professionals that work with these young people. I also spoke to a local Police officer about the issues that the Police face with gangs in the area and he told me that recently they had had 15 shooting in the space of 11 days! I couldn’t believe it!! The policing in this area has now been stepped up and just walking around the streets you can see Police all over.
I feel over the last couple of weeks, I have learnt a lot and gathered much information relating to the severity of the problem of gangs in New York and how Law Enforcement as well as other grass roots organisations are dealing with these issues and how successful they are. All involved appear to be singing from the same hymn sheet and agree that the problem is growing. The reason that these young people are joining these gangs is due to them feeling the need to ‘belong’ as they do not get that from their family so they seek alternatives and that more needs to be done in the community to bring people together to try and help and support these young people to change their way of thinking and give them options so they don’t feel that the gang life is the only way to go.
I am off to Miami tomorrow and very much looking forward to seeing how the gang problems are managed there.
I also very much enjoyed my week in Syracuse meeting with Police, Probation officers, Correctional officers and Gang Specialist to talk to them about how the gang problems are managed by the teams that they work in. I meet some very interesting people and hope to keep in contact with many of them. Unfortunaltey I did not get the opportunity to visit Sing Sing Correctional Facility this week but during my visit to Council For Unity I was offered the opportunity to return later in the year and visit Sing Sing with them. This is an offer I am very much considering as it would be such an amazing opportunity to see how they operate there and how they run the course with the gang members.
This week I also went to the school that my Aunt works at and she introduced me to a few of her pupils who were playing in the park next door and I interviewed them about what it is like to grow up in Brooklyn where they are surrounded by gangs. This was a very interesting meeting and it was good to get the perceptive of the teen ages that are actually living in it as well as the professionals that work with these young people. I also spoke to a local Police officer about the issues that the Police face with gangs in the area and he told me that recently they had had 15 shooting in the space of 11 days! I couldn’t believe it!! The policing in this area has now been stepped up and just walking around the streets you can see Police all over.
I feel over the last couple of weeks, I have learnt a lot and gathered much information relating to the severity of the problem of gangs in New York and how Law Enforcement as well as other grass roots organisations are dealing with these issues and how successful they are. All involved appear to be singing from the same hymn sheet and agree that the problem is growing. The reason that these young people are joining these gangs is due to them feeling the need to ‘belong’ as they do not get that from their family so they seek alternatives and that more needs to be done in the community to bring people together to try and help and support these young people to change their way of thinking and give them options so they don’t feel that the gang life is the only way to go.
I am off to Miami tomorrow and very much looking forward to seeing how the gang problems are managed there.
Tuesday 20 July 2010
Back to Brooklyn
On Friday I completed the Basic Gang Specialist Course and became an official member of the New York Gang Investigators Association and am very pleased to be part of such a worthwhile and supportive organisation. I am now qualified to give evidence in court about gangs in New York which is great, hopeful that will be a skill I can use in the future as the qualification lasts for 5 years.
Over the weekend, we had a Block party which was cool, all the neighbours were my Aunt lives closed off the road and all the children came out to play, they had loads of food, music and games for the little ones which was cool. Really nice to see the community come together to do something positive. On Sunday went to Nyak for the day which is in Upstate New York and what a beautiful place it is! It is only 45 min from Manhattan and sooooo different. There is a beautiful lake with a view of the city, a play park for the children and lots of little quaint shops. Such a lovely little town, reminds me of home. Oh and they have a massive shopping centre about 5 minutes away which is amazing!!!!!
Yesterday i went to visit an organisation in Manhattan that i had been in contact with over the last few months called Council for Unity (www.councilforunity.org) . They are a none profit organisation that work with the community, schools, families and correctional facilities to bring people together to 'reduce violence and discrimination in schools, integrate communities, promote community policing and community safety and convert correctional institutions into community assets that prevent crime'. It was a very interesting meeting, the man i met was called Sean and he himself was a former gang member who had served time in a correctional facility and had been supported by Council For Unity. He now works to help others to show them that there is a way out and hope for those who are involved in gangs or have served time in prison and do not feel that they have a chance to make a new start upon release. He gave me loads of useful information and asked me if i would come back to visit him later in the year, when the schools go back after the summer so that i can go out with him to visit the local schools and correctional facilities that he works in which would be another amazing opportunity!
The more i see of this place the more i fall in love it it!!
Over the weekend, we had a Block party which was cool, all the neighbours were my Aunt lives closed off the road and all the children came out to play, they had loads of food, music and games for the little ones which was cool. Really nice to see the community come together to do something positive. On Sunday went to Nyak for the day which is in Upstate New York and what a beautiful place it is! It is only 45 min from Manhattan and sooooo different. There is a beautiful lake with a view of the city, a play park for the children and lots of little quaint shops. Such a lovely little town, reminds me of home. Oh and they have a massive shopping centre about 5 minutes away which is amazing!!!!!
Yesterday i went to visit an organisation in Manhattan that i had been in contact with over the last few months called Council for Unity (www.councilforunity.org) . They are a none profit organisation that work with the community, schools, families and correctional facilities to bring people together to 'reduce violence and discrimination in schools, integrate communities, promote community policing and community safety and convert correctional institutions into community assets that prevent crime'. It was a very interesting meeting, the man i met was called Sean and he himself was a former gang member who had served time in a correctional facility and had been supported by Council For Unity. He now works to help others to show them that there is a way out and hope for those who are involved in gangs or have served time in prison and do not feel that they have a chance to make a new start upon release. He gave me loads of useful information and asked me if i would come back to visit him later in the year, when the schools go back after the summer so that i can go out with him to visit the local schools and correctional facilities that he works in which would be another amazing opportunity!
The more i see of this place the more i fall in love it it!!
Thursday 15 July 2010
The Conference
Back in September, when i was still researching for this trip to find out what resources would be available to me should i be successful with my application to the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust, i stumbled across the New York Gang Investigators Association (NYGIA www.nygia.org ). They were running a conference in Syracuse for people all over the state of New York to come together, share information and discuss current trends of gang members in the State. I decided to email the President of the Association, Mr Garcia to find out some more information and see if it would be possible to attend if i was successful in my Fellowship as i thought it would be a great place to start to get a good overview of what is happening with gangs in New York. We keep in email contact throughout the next few months until i actually attended the conference.
I was so nervous on my first day, i had nothing to worry about though because everyone was so friendly and welcoming. I think my English accent helped with that!! There were people attending from all different areas of Youth Justice such as Police, Probation, Department of Corrections, Prison staff and Schools Police Officers. It did take me a couple of days to get used to the Police that attended the conference carrying guns as they walked around! Throughout the 4 days though i managed to speak to nearly all of the around 100 people that attended.
The content of the conference included providing information about the Bloods and the Crips, information on how to manage gangs in prison, a brief overview of gangs in general and how to identify a gang member, all of which was all valuable information for me. On the last day of the conference we received certificates of attendance and there was an opportunity to complete a one day Basic Gang Specialist Certification Course which i will be attending tomorrow.
Throughout the conference I got talking to a few individuals from various disciplines of Law Enforcement and they offered to show me around their area of work. I am now hoping to visit Sing Sing Maximum Security Correctional Facility next week and as hoping to go out with one of the Investigators around Brooklyn to show me where the gangs hang around.
I have been totally overwhelmed by how welcoming everyone has been here and how willing they are to help me in my research. I have collected many business cards from people here and am hoping to keep in contact with them. I think that this has been an excellent start to my Fellowship and would like to thank NYGIA for having me.
I was so nervous on my first day, i had nothing to worry about though because everyone was so friendly and welcoming. I think my English accent helped with that!! There were people attending from all different areas of Youth Justice such as Police, Probation, Department of Corrections, Prison staff and Schools Police Officers. It did take me a couple of days to get used to the Police that attended the conference carrying guns as they walked around! Throughout the 4 days though i managed to speak to nearly all of the around 100 people that attended.
The content of the conference included providing information about the Bloods and the Crips, information on how to manage gangs in prison, a brief overview of gangs in general and how to identify a gang member, all of which was all valuable information for me. On the last day of the conference we received certificates of attendance and there was an opportunity to complete a one day Basic Gang Specialist Certification Course which i will be attending tomorrow.
Throughout the conference I got talking to a few individuals from various disciplines of Law Enforcement and they offered to show me around their area of work. I am now hoping to visit Sing Sing Maximum Security Correctional Facility next week and as hoping to go out with one of the Investigators around Brooklyn to show me where the gangs hang around.
I have been totally overwhelmed by how welcoming everyone has been here and how willing they are to help me in my research. I have collected many business cards from people here and am hoping to keep in contact with them. I think that this has been an excellent start to my Fellowship and would like to thank NYGIA for having me.
My first few days in New York
I have really enjoyed my first few days in New York. My cousin and Aunt took me to Atlantic City for the day on Saturday which was sooooo much fun. Atlantic City is in New Jersey and they have a big shopping centre there, casinos and a beach. The journey up there took about 4 hours and it rained most of the way so didnt manage to get onto the beach which was a shame. I slept most of the way there and back as still hadnt got over my jet lag.
The next day was really hot so went down to Long Island to the beach with my cousin her children and a friend and their family which was really nice. Spent most of the day in the water trying to stay cool! Had a lovely day, felt nice and relaxed ready for my trip up to Syracuse the next day for the Gangs Conference.
The next day was really hot so went down to Long Island to the beach with my cousin her children and a friend and their family which was really nice. Spent most of the day in the water trying to stay cool! Had a lovely day, felt nice and relaxed ready for my trip up to Syracuse the next day for the Gangs Conference.
Saturday 10 July 2010
The journey begins
Oh my gosh, i cant believe the time has finally arrived for me to begin my trip!!! Time has gone so fast, i am as prepared as i can be, all the contacts are confirmed and in place, my bags are packed and i am ready to go!!! So excited!!!
I arrived in New York yesterday, after being greeted at the airport by my Aunt and cousins. It was really nice to see a familiar face in an unfamiliar place. I am planning to stay with them for the first few days of my trip before travelling up to Syracruse on Monday. I cant believe how hot it is here, 92 degrees and i had jeans on, what was i thinking!! I was glad to get back to her house to get my shorts on!! Sorted out all of the practical things yesterday such as my mobile phone which now works and i also have an American phone so that it will be cheaper to keep in contact with my contacts over here. Planning on just getting climatised this weekend and over my jet lag then beginning my journey on Monday starting with a conference in Syracruse run by the New York Gang Investigators Association which i am very much looking forward to attending. More information on that to follow.
I arrived in New York yesterday, after being greeted at the airport by my Aunt and cousins. It was really nice to see a familiar face in an unfamiliar place. I am planning to stay with them for the first few days of my trip before travelling up to Syracruse on Monday. I cant believe how hot it is here, 92 degrees and i had jeans on, what was i thinking!! I was glad to get back to her house to get my shorts on!! Sorted out all of the practical things yesterday such as my mobile phone which now works and i also have an American phone so that it will be cheaper to keep in contact with my contacts over here. Planning on just getting climatised this weekend and over my jet lag then beginning my journey on Monday starting with a conference in Syracruse run by the New York Gang Investigators Association which i am very much looking forward to attending. More information on that to follow.
Monday 5 July 2010
Packing
I have finally whittled down my clothes and with the help of my good friend Shelly, I have packed my suitcase. Dont know what I would have done without her, she is very ruthless. With her help I have actually manged to weigh in under the weight limit for a change!
I am all set to go now, very much looking forward to my journey and looking forward to all the visits I have planned and meeting all of the people who I have had email contact with over the last few months. Getting very excited but nervous at the same time!
I am all set to go now, very much looking forward to my journey and looking forward to all the visits I have planned and meeting all of the people who I have had email contact with over the last few months. Getting very excited but nervous at the same time!
Monday 28 June 2010
My first post
Hi everyone,
I have finally succeeded in setting up my Blog. Only got another 10 days to go until take off, still need to pack and get the final items of clothing before my big trip! All contacts have been confirmed bar two in LA which I am waiting for confirmed times to visit.
I hope people enjoy reading my Blog and feel free to make comments.
I'll update it regularly and plan to post links of organisations and places I visit along the way.
ENJOY!!!
Donna x
I have finally succeeded in setting up my Blog. Only got another 10 days to go until take off, still need to pack and get the final items of clothing before my big trip! All contacts have been confirmed bar two in LA which I am waiting for confirmed times to visit.
I hope people enjoy reading my Blog and feel free to make comments.
I'll update it regularly and plan to post links of organisations and places I visit along the way.
ENJOY!!!
Donna x
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