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I cannot believe that my placement is already halfway over! It has been full of new experiences and adventures, lessons and growth. My confidence in myself and my ability to do my job has really expanded as I have had to navigate a language I am not fluent in, cultural differences and new responsibilities.

The past few weeks have flown by yet been very busy. Every week, every day really, looks different from the last. At first it was slightly stressful for me when plans or schedules changed; I am very much a planner and prefer being in control. I have gained a better understanding that the nature of this work means that situations are constantly changing. Sometimes a meeting gets pushed or a visit delayed because something urgent arises. It has been great learning how to prioritize needs and be flexible.

In the five years that I have been serving with Back2Back, I have witnessed many changes in the way the ministry operates, backed by research of best practice methods. I absolutely love that this organization is constantly seeking ways to improve. Recently, the psychologists, social workers and trauma team here have been working closely with a trauma expert in the home office to change our file system to include more comprehensive case files for all of the students on our campus. Through this change and new information we gather, we should be able to better meet the needs of the teens we are working with and assist their house parents in learning ways to cope with behavioral problems and other issues. It has been a lot of work on our end but I love that changes are being made to better serve and equip the students and caregivers to succeed.

Lunch out for Ale’s birthday including Hope Program team

We have had three visiting American mission teams that have come down for a week at a time since I have been here. These groups go out to a children’s home each day they are here and serve through work projects and play time with the kids. I have gotten to jump on with the groups a few times and serve alongside them at the different homes, a nice change of pace which gives me the ability to reconnect with some of the children I have known for years. The groups receive an abridged version of the trauma competent care training and at night they go through a sort of group therapy session we call ‘debriefing’. In debriefing, a staff member helps the group members to unpack their days and process what they are experiencing and the long term impact of their week here. I have been able to assist in debriefing two different weeks and will host a group and lead their debrief on my own next week. It has been really cool to witness and help shape the experience of those that come down and serve alongside B2B for a short time.

Ale and I have also been doing home visits to the homes of the students who came into the program at the end of August. We go to the family member’s house who a student might go to visit for a weekend or for the holidays to see the conditions and interview family members in order to gain a better understanding of that student’s background and story. I’ve loved watching Ale talk with the grandparents, aunts, uncles and parents of the students we work with and the ways she offers help and insight while respecting their roles. A lot of the time, students are in our program because their families just cannot afford to pay for school or food or clothes. That is not the case for all of the students we work with but it gives me hope that there are often family members willing to care for and love on our students.

Though I have been staying plenty busy with paperwork, home visits, and group work, I was able to host my fiance and my parents over two different weekends in the past month. It was great getting to spend time catching up and exploring Monterrey with the people I love.

My parents and I visiting some caves in MTY

It is hard to accept that I have less than a month left in this beautiful place; Ale has already asked me several times if I really have to go home. It has been such a wonderful experience and I know these next few weeks will fly by with another mission team coming and a career weekend planned for the Hope Program.

My front door and my tree-house apartment (I have to climb a ladder for my bed and bathroom)

I’ve been here in Monterrey for just over three weeks. It feels like forever, but it also has passed very quickly. It has definitely been an adjustment living here but I am in the swing of things now and it feels great. My primary job is working with the social worker, Ale, in our Hope Education Program, located on Back2Back’s main campus, where I also am living. Public education ends after middle school here and high school and college are pretty expensive, especially when you do not have a family to support you. Back2Back saw the need of the kids living in the children’s homes with which they worked, and created a program for the students to have an opportunity to come and live in a foster family type setting and attend high school and college. Back2Back is technically a licensed children’s home. In the state of Nuevo Leon each licensed children’s home requires that there is a social worker and psychologist to work with the children living there.

One of the six Hope Houses on campus, they can house up to 6 students and a staff family

During my first week, the two days after I arrived, I was able to take part in a training that B2B instructs that has long since intrigued me. All of the children and students that we work with have been exposed to some sort of trauma in their lives, whether it was being abandoned at a children’s home, witnessing domestic abuse or being subjected to abuse and neglect. It makes sense that the people who will be caring for children who have experienced trauma have to be educated and trained about how to provide care in a different way. Experiencing trauma changes the development of a child and impacts how they attach, communicate and behave. The new caregivers were able to learn about how to best care for the children with whom they work, based on these seven skills:

• Understanding the impact trauma has on a child’s behavior, development and relationships
• Maximizing the child’s sense of safety
• Assist the child in reducing overwhelming emotion (e.g. give voice, connecting strategies)
• Help the child understand and modify overwhelming behaviors
• Support and promote positive and stable relationships in the child’s life
• Help the child develop an understanding of their life story and to make new meaning of his trauma history
• Encourage caregivers to understand their need for self-care and to ask for help

I learned so much from this training (despite it being all in Spanish, nothing like jumping right in) and am thankful to have had the opportunity to be educated alongside of the new caregivers.

Also during my first week, I was able to help welcome the 13 new chavos (teenagers) who joined the Hope Program, just in time for school to start. My second week consisted of pulling together all of the personal documents of our 13 new students and filling out their intake paperwork. Mexico’s version of children’s services is called the DIF and they have specific parameters for admitting individuals into children’s homes. We have to have key documents concerning the birth and family of the students we take into the program and lots of information about how they arrived at B2B. It was a hectic week and I have no idea how Ale normally does this all by herself. I was very glad to be able to make her life just a little easier during that time. All of our efforts paid off when we were able to take files of the chavos to the DIF that Friday and have all of the paperwork approved. Ale said she has never had it go that smoothly before.

My third week consisted of attending various trainings at different DIF offices around Monterrey. There are lots of requirements to being certified as a children’s home in the state of Nuevo Leon, recent requirements in an effort to improve the conditions of the homes. Some of the requirements involve going to different trainings throughout the year to keep up to date with the most recent research and advice for the work being done. We also went to several high schools around town that our students are enrolled in to make sure things were ready for everyone to start school. We took one student to a doctor’s appointment and helped connect others to resources they were needing.

Ale and I have a joke that her phone never stops ringing. It is unusual that for us to have a ten minute conversation without someone calling or knocking on the office door. I am amazed by how much she does for the students living here, the house parents, and really anyone who comes to ask for help. I am learning so much about what it means to be a social worker and the sacrifices they make. I could not be happier about the career and life that I am pursuing.

Don’t worry though, I am also having a lot of fun exploring this beautiful city and making new friends. My Spanish is improving (slowly but surely) and I recently got driving privileges. It is only slightly terrifying to navigate the roads here, you just have to be aggressive. 🙂

View from hiking in a state park

mural on the property (Be the difference for one)

I was 15 years old the first time I came to the city of Monterrey. My parents had decided to take a mission trip as a family and I had fought to go to the place my best friend could not stop talking about. I fell in love with the children, the culture and the mission of B2B on that first weeklong mission trip to Mexico. I didn’t know then that I would return every year for the next five years and I certainly never thought that I would be here, today, completing my field placement in social work.

 Back2Back Ministries provides holistic care for orphans and vulnerable children in Mexico, India, Haiti and Nigeria. B2B focuses on meeting the spiritual, physical, educational, emotional and social needs of the children they serve in order to equip them to overcome their circumstances and break free from generational poverty.The name Back2Back speaks to the practice of coming alongside of nationals currently fighting for the kids in these mission areas, working to support those already serving.

summer 2014

When I was an intern two summers ago, my mentor (and now field supervisor) suggested that I look into completing my field placement in Monterrey with the social work team already in place. It seemed like a complete long shot and something that could never come to fruition. I remember the first time I broached the idea with my fantastic supervisor, Andrea. I timidly shared about this organization and the summers I had spent serving there, the children that had captured my heart. I asked if there was any possible way that I could work in Monterrey for my field placement, expecting a “Sorry, we don’t allow that” or “No, that’s not an option”. Instead, Andrea smiled and said, “Why not?”

It seems like that is how the entire process culminating in this opportunity has gone. Countless emails, questions, meetings and conversations took place in regards to this placement. I kept waiting for a door to close, for something to come up that would stop this planning, but things just kept falling into place. I cannot thank enough those who spoke up for me and said yes to what seemed like a crazy dream.

So now I am here! I arrived a week ago and have been settling in to my home for the next 10 weeks and how life operates here. I will write soon to share about the work I’ve been doing so far and all of the good things to come.

 the view from my front door

College of Social Work BSSW student Morgan Fletcher has begun her journey to Monterrey, Mexico  for her international field placement with Back2Back Ministries.  With the help of technology we are now using in field work, Morgan will be receiving regular social work supervision from her field instructor with Back2Back here in the United States, and will be completing a virtual field seminar with weekly assignments, and visits via Carmen Connect. Throughout her placement, Morgan will have the opportunity to work with the local government in Monterrey, complete home visits with a Mexican social worker, and provide training and support to American volunteers traveling to work with Back2Back Ministries.

Stay stunned to this blog to read about Morgan’s experience with Back2Back in Monterrey. She will update us periodically during her placment to share more about her field work and experiences living abroad.

Safe Travels Morgan!

Right here: