After 41 days of bliss, lounging around, hanging out with each other while checking out the city, restaurants, people watching, finding pure entertainment in the simplest of things, truly enjoying each other's company, I started my job as Family Coordinator (in layman's terms, family therapist) at Barnardos on Wednesday, September 3rd. It was my boss' idea to start me in the middle of the week so it wouldn't be overwhelming having a full first week of work. I like how the Irish think!
Barnardos is a non-profit organization that supports children who are at-risk by working with them, their families, and their communities through one on one support, group work, classes, and advocating within their communities. There are over 40 Barnardos projects in Ireland; I'm in the newest project that's set up in the Corduff/Mulhuddart area; we are known as the Springboard project which means we provide the most intensive work to families based on the community's needs. Each project varies in the types of support it offers based on their community's needs. We offer a Parent and Toddler group, parenting classes, breakfast clubs, and individual support.
I work with an amazing team of 6 people (and 1 hamster, Cuddles, as an office mate); they have all been incredibly welcoming and has made my 'induction' feel warm and welcome. Each person I have met so far from other projects and headquarters have also been incredibly supportive and welcoming.
Our office is in a home within the community we work in; unless you see the sign on the front of the door, one would have no idea that we are located there. We have 2 playrooms, 2 offices (1 with 4 people in it, and the other with 2), a bathroom, and kitchen. I'm in an office with 3 other people that is smaller than the office I worked in alone back home. It's what realtors might call, cozy.
Families we see are vulnerable to the hard parts of life; drug and alcohol addiction, abuse, trauma in their childhood, but nontheless are exposed to many of the same issues we all face daily...given their history, background, economic status, it makes it more challenging for them to cope and walk their journey.
I will be working with families from all over the world; we have many Irish families, but also many refugees from Poland, Africa, Russia, etc. I'm most excited about working with the families and learning about the different cultures and how that impacts their life here and their work with me. In addition to the individual work, I will also co-facilitate the parent/toddler class and the Caring Start class (a 6 or 8 week parenting class).
I take the bus to and from work and have a 15-minute walk to work after I get off the bus; the bus ride is very relaxing and gives me a chance to think, read, and people watch. The bus stop is literally behind our apartment and comes every 10-minutes, so the excuse of being late, isn't really there. It's been nice not having a car as an option for transportation which makes living in the city such a luxury. All that said, I was wishing for a car Friday morning as I made my daily 15-minute walk to work...I was dressed in my best rain coat and was sporting my wellies (rain boots) over my pants...the rain was pouring in all directions, I was walking against the wind, it felt like pins and needles on my face, and by the time I arrived to work my pants were soaked, the hair that was poking out of my hood was wet, my mascara was running down my face, I looked horrendous. My boss would hear nothing of me wearing wet pants, so she made me take them off, handed me a robe to wear, put my pants in the dryer, and that was that.
Lessons learned: buy rain pants and waterproof mascara.
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