Final project idea (Draft)

For my final project, I will talk about poor people have all rights to live, as we know in every country there are a lot of people who live in slums and homes that cannot be lived in because of the country's economic Or because they were born in places like this. I will flash back and talk about my country which is Egypt, as we know I traveled to Egypt for something, but when I came, I saw many poor people who cannot even buy food and resorted to taking money from people so that they can eat and drink. However, I searched a little for the reason for the lack of comfort, food, and drinks available. They said from the country's economy and prices.

Here are the main problems of having a lot of low income family.

1) Food (Prices)

2) Medicaid

3) Financial Assistance

4) Clothing

5) Education

6) Homes

Final Project

 For my final project I would like to present the topic “How to Raise Awareness About Domestic Violence.” Raising domestic violence awareness can help victims find professional counseling and prevent more people from getting hurt. Expressing how far this issue reaches may involve educating the community about different types of domestic violence, participating in organizations that campaign against domestic violence, and speaking out against acts of violence. 

My plan is to distribute educational material and local resources. Light educational materials like brochures and pamphlets are an easy way to spread information about domestic violence within your community. You can gather brochures at most domestic violence shelters.

The material should include statistics that outline how prevalent domestic violence is. While national statistics can be eye-opening, local numbers can have more of an impact as they show your neighbors how it affects them. Contact information about how to access hotlines, local domestic violence shelters, and where to volunteer should also be included to motivate action.

I will be creating pamphlets as well as distributing them in local areas and many coffee shops, churches, and community centers will let you leave some behind if you ask. My main goal is to help people who go through this difficult time and to inform others of the importance of this topic that sadly affects many lives daily.  

The main reason why I have chosen to do this topic it's because my mom suffered from domestic violence. I know how hard it is for the person to overcome the process. It's very sad to see women go through this situation and I really don't want any person to go through it. This can affect a person's mental health as well.  They feel that they don't have a way out of the problem, and I want to be a voice for those that can't and are afraid of looking for help. 

My message for everyone who sees this project is to encourage everyone to lead and help any person who is going through this hard process. It's really difficult for the person to feel happy again, they have to attend therapy and I, as a Psychology major, would like to help these women and show them that domestic violence can end. 

I took some pamphlets to work, and I gave them to some of my coworkers. I also gave a few to two of my closest friends and they gave them out at their job as well. The whole purpose is to show people that there is a way out of this dark place that domestic violence can take people in general but specially women. By giving these brochures out people see a phone number that they can contact and they offer help 24/7. 

During my research I actually found many organizations that focused mainly on helping families and women who suffered from domestic violence.  They have many resources that provide numbers, programs and shelters for those who need it. 

Resources:

https://www.state.nj.us/dcf/women/domestic

https://ncadv.org/resources

https://www.womenshealth.gov/.../state-resources

https://www.womenrising.org/domestic-violence

https://www.catholiccharitiestrenton.org/domestic-violence-services

Final Project

 The Beauty That Was Always There

        My final project is about Sexual Assault Awareness, I chose this because after an assault no one feels the same. It is hard to find yourself again as well as love your body again and you may blame yourself for the assault. "On average, there are 463, 634 victims (age 12 or older) of rape and sexual assault each year in the United States." This is crazy to even think about how 463, 634 victims of rape and sexual assault each year! "An estimated 32.2% of multiracial women, 27.5% of American Indian/Alaska Native women, 21.2% of non-Hispanic black women, 20.5% of non-hispanic white women, and 13.6% of Hispanic women were raped during their lifetimes (Black et al., 2011). My point is that you should not blame yourself for something you could not control. This goes for you males and females, it is going to be hard to get intimate with your future partner because all you will think about is the event that happened to you. What I did was that I cast a person who was a victim of sexual assault as seen below in the pictures and it was tough for her during the whole process. Why I chose this form is to show yourself your body and to see it is beautiful even after everything you have been through.

In a way my cousin and I have bonded while doing the casting together because she felt safe around someone she didn't think would ever happen. At the bottom of the cast I put the word happiness because you yourself should be your only source of happiness. Do whatever makes you happy, treat your body like if it were a temple and take of yourself. There are people around you who are willing to help you go through that process with you. Being bare skin to someone who is fully clothed is okay because that person will take care of you and won't hurt you. "Choosing to violate another person is not about “drinking too much,”  “trying to have a good time,” or ”getting carried away,” nor is it about the clothes someone was wearing, how they were acting, or what type of relationship they have with the person who abused them. Violating another person is a choice." 

Video 1

https://youtube.com/shorts/27CdN3IJzr0?feature=share

Video 2

https://youtube.com/shorts/3pM927OgAmU?feature=share

Tanya Aguiniga inspired me to create my own project because she creates art that only inspires her own life but for others to relate too. Like one of her protects were: La Frontera - The Border: An Interdisciplinary Examination was being post cards of people who crossed the border going north about their experience. In a sense those post cards come off as life experience how privilege we are to have the things we have right now. She is creating that awareness for those people know that what they have right now to not take for granted. As well as life of person who was raised in Mexico and having to cross the border to go to school in the United States. That life was not easy being called the kid that has to cross the border every day to get to school. She is a passionate person about her work and that's exactly how I feel about doing this final project. I want to help people and let them know they are not alone and its okay to feel whatever they are feeling.

In the two videos is the casting of the two different casting, one where we just threw the flowers on top of the cast and the second is where we placed the flowers to our liking. The point is that the cast still looks beautiful regardless of how you set the flowers, your body is beautiful the way it is. The casting is easy to do at home and it do with a close friend or loved one. It is all about the experience and learning more about your body. In a way the flowers and leaves represent the positive thoughts or things your love about yourself. What makes you, you and its the parts you love the most. All everyone wants to be is happy in their lives and it first starts within ourselves. We have to make that decisions to make that change happen in the real life, slowly but surely. It does get better at the end of the tunnel and wait for those better days coming soon. Do search for help it is not healthy to keep it all bottled up, or maybe write about it. The person I did one of the casts she was a victim and out of respect I will not say her name. I did not know that happened to her and once I found out I searched up ways on how to talk to her. It is a difficult topic to even get someone to open up about but I was just there for her and letting her know I'm there for her. I told her it wasn't her fault and no way for that to be avoid, now she has two beautiful kids and a wonderful husband. Life did get better for her without her knowing it and if she needed anything I would be there for her.

References 

https://www.rainn.org/statistics/victimssexual-violence

https://www.nsvrc.org/about-sexual-assault

http://www.tanyaaguiniga.com/exhibitions#/la-frontera-the-border-an-interdisciplinary-examination/

Final Project: Awareness to Domestic Violence

                                                      Awareness to Domestic Violence

https://awarenesstodomesticviolence.portfoliobox.net/

For my final project, I created a website to bring awareness to domestic violence. Domestic abuse, also called "domestic violence," can be defined as a pattern of behavior in any relationship to gain or maintain power and control over an intimate partner. Abuse is physical, sexual, emotional, economic, or threats of actions that influence another person. This includes any behaviors that frighten, intimidate, terrorize, manipulate, hurt, humiliate, blame, injure, or wound someone. Domestic abuse can happen to anyone of any race, age, sexual orientation, or religion. I created different categories on the website to organize all the information I wanted my audience to have access to on the website. The purpose of this website project was to bring awareness to domestic abuse and give survivors a safe place and a platform to share their stories under a false name so their identity can be protected. In addition, bringing awareness to domestic violence can help women identify the signs of an abusive relationship before it is too late. I chose this topic for my project because many women experience abuse and are scared to speak up. Creating this website allows me to reach out to a bigger audience and encourage women to come forward with their stories once they see that other women have also shared their stories. To bring this project to life, I reached out to a couple of friends that had confided in me before with their stories and asked them if they felt comfortable sharing them with a bigger audience. Many agreed and thought the website would be a great idea. When the website "Awareness to Domestic Violence" was almost done, I shared the link with them, gaining their approval on how everything looked.This project was not only important to me, but to women who went through domestic abuse, so their opinion on how the website looked so far was very special to me. 

My website reveals the type of abuse women experience in a domestic relationship. Many people will come across my website and read all its information, and I only hope that they remember everything if they are ever in an abusive situation. According to "National Statistics," it states, "1 in 3 women have experienced some form of physical abuse by an intimate partner." This information is shocking because this only counts the women that have come forward; imagine all the ones that haven't, and the statistical results would be higher. A group of artists that I found inspiring for my project was the Critical Art Ensemble (CAE), founded in 1987, a collective of five tactical media artists of various specializations, including wetware, computer graphics, web art, and film, photography, and performance. When I came across CAE, it gave me an idea of how I could bring my intervention to life using technology which helped me create a safe place for women to share their stories and have their voices heard.

Website photos:

Resources:

“Effects of Violence against Women.” Effects of Violence against Women | Office on Women's Health, www.womenshealth.gov/relationships-and-safety/effects-violence-against-women. 

Fontes, Lisa Aronson. “Find Domestic Violence and Abuse Help, Information and Stats.” DomesticShelters.org, www.domesticshelters.org/. 

“National Domestic Violence Hotline.” The Hotline, 11 Apr. 2022, www.thehotline.org/. 

“NCADV: National Coalition Against Domestic Violence.” The Nation's Leading Grassroots Voice on Domestic Violence, ncadv.org/STATISTICS. 

“Together We Improve Lives.” Center for Family Services, 26 Jan. 2022, www.centerffs.org/serv/domestic-violence-services. 

Final Project

https://youtu.be/NPlMVpzAM3A

 

In this project, I chose to show that music is an innate gift that all possess. People have more color and creativity than they think. With just the right little push and motivation, anybody can express themselves musically. But it is not just a form of expression. Music is found to create less stress and bring relaxation to people. Instead of medication or any other traditional treatments for anxiety, depression, or any other mental illness, music has been successful in serving as a form of therapy. Autism patients or people from hospice are great receivers of this form of therapy. The thing is to have the person engage in the music-making, playing instruments, as well as the listening. These activities touch all aspects of the mind, body, brain, and behavior by distracting the mind, slowing the rhythms of the body, and it alters our mood, which in turn can influence behavior. I decided to apply that to these two people I have chosen for my project. 

These people have no experience at all with making music and never played an instrument. I gave them a fast 3-minute lesson on how to play guitar. This lesson included simple movements that feel natural to a person which will make it less strenuous to play guitar for someone who never played the instrument. certain notes were chosen that will guarantee pleasant sounds and easy-to-make song-making tools. I then chose a chord progression that is a typical feel-good progression that many enjoy and makes the song making more active for the player. Once the player gets the feel for the music they escape into it very smoothly. They lose all discomforts and devote all their focus to the playing. At some points, you can see the person smiling. Afterward, they say that they really enjoyed it and say that they feel good after playing. I also had a student from my work try this and he expressed how he had a long day of stress and that this was just what he needed. That he felt all the tension ease as he was playing music. Makes everything feel good again. 

Now inspiration I didn't really find in our readings exactly. I've seen different videos of music therapy and analyzed students from my job in how interact with playing an instrument. Some of them grab a guitar without even knowing how to play it and lose all focus on what's around them. They devote all their attention to playing the instrument and show expressions of enjoyment. Just the act of making sounds with an instrument seems to create an effect on their mood. So maybe easing down stress and getting a better mood is easier than you think. Maybe cool down with the medication or any activities causing bad moods and look into music. It's the most organic and purest thing out there.

 

A quote that spoke to me is from John Berger chapter 7 Ways of Seeing, “Money is life. Not in the sense that without money you starve. Not in the sense that capital gives one class power over the entire lives of another class. But in the sense that money is the token of, and the key to, every human capacity. The power to spend money is the power to live. According to the legends of publicity, those who lack the power to spend money become literally faceless. Those who have the power become lovable”. This is such a clear statement that really opens your eyes. Capitalism is something we are surrounded and it has created a way of life that has made us slaves to the false idea of having more to be happy. Reaching for a lifestyle that we think is the standard for acceptable status and happiness.

Final intervention

 For my final project I will be doing a jail cookbook. I was thinking of putting sorts of recipes in it like the unique stuff they’ve come up with or just the general stuff they would eat while they’re inside the jail. My mother works as a corrections officer so me and her have teamed up to ask some questions to the prisoners to help out with the project. Since they can’t physically help me, we've just asked questions such as, since they’ve been inside what kind of dishes have they had or have they been introduced to. I was thinking about also attaching a video making one of two of these dishes and trying it myself cause there’s actually one dish I’ve never actually tried but I would really like to try. This has been a tradition and culture in prison for the inmates to make it through.

So I put together a series of recipes and did a video of cooking one of them with my stepfather who used to be incarcerated 

The first recipe is called a one on

• Top Ramen

• Can of Tuna

• Mayonnaise 

We first had to boil water then we cracked open the can of tuna and the ramen noodle. We put the tuna in the bowl chopped it up, poured the noodles into the water so it can loosen up we then poured the noodles into the bow with the tuna, put the mayonnaise in it and mixed it all up

The second recipe is called the Jack Mack

• Jack Mackeral

• Flour

• Grease

My stepfather informed me that this was their way of making salmon in prison. They would clean off the sardine drop it in the flour and dump it in the grease

The last recipe doesn’t have a name but it involves a honey bun but it’s basically a pb&j sandwich and it served as more of a snack then a meal

• Honey bun

• Bread

• Peanut butter

• Jelly

You would get your bread spread the peanut butter on it then slapped the honey bun on it and you would get the other piece of bread with jelly spread and put it together and get a new kind of pb&j

I believe prison is supposed to be a rehabilitation center so that the people that go in there can come out as upstanding citizens of the law again rather than a detention center where you have your spirit broken and will to go on shattered. These types of activities allowed people to, as my stepfather said “survive”. Honestly there wasn’t any real work that inspired me but this whole semester I’ve been doing works about the Black Lives Matter movement so I believe it was inevitable for me to do this. I like to bring light to disparities in this country and I believe our prison system is one of them.

https://youtu.be/NlvSb3FsJxk

                                          Resources

https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/activity:6925066036408901632

https://www.prisonpolicy.org/reports/pie2022.html

https://www.prisonpolicy.org/

https://www.thrillist.com/amphtml/eat/nation/the-fine-art-of-cooking-in-prison-ingenious-jailhouse-cooking-hacks

https://www.huckmag.com/perspectives/reportage-2/instagrams-prison-chefs-are-cooking-up-a-storm/

Final Intervention: Learning Disabilities (LD) - Kayla Chance

 For my final intervention project I decided to do it on Learning Disabilities (LD). I decided to go with this topic was because I wanted to let people know that individuals with a learning disability matter. For me I felt that learning disabilities are so important in American and I feel like it is not being talked about or taken seriously. I felt like this was amazing topic because it could become helpful to single or married couple who have a child with a learning disability. I also made a website that would be helpful: Learning-disabilities

 Based off my personal experience having a learning disabilities it has played a part in my educational life. Struggling academically was always a challenging thing for me because of my disability. But I never let my disability overcome the women I am today. I got more into the research about learning disabilities when my brother was born. My 11 year old brother also has a learning disability as well. I decided to do an interview on two of my family members because I wanted them to share with the world their experience with having a child with a learning disability. I wanted to be able to help someone out there who is possibly struggling or blaming themselves for having a child who has to go through life with the struggle because they have a learning disability. 

Interview:

In the first video plus part two (due to technical difficulties) I also ask the parent her experience on having a child with a disability. 

https://youtu.be/Oo8ZxWjTqOo

Part Two:

 https://youtu.be/ZIv0Z1YkokA  

 In the second video I had ask what was the parents experience with having "Two" children with a learning disability. 

https://youtu.be/ckWYc_1W2CY

My Inspiration

Resources: 

What is a learning disability?

https://www.ninds.nih.gov/Disorders/All-Disorders/Learning-Disabilities-Information-Page

Learning Disorders in Children

https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/childdevelopment/learning-disorder.html

What is “Early Intervention”?

https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/actearly/parents/states.html