Success!

My emails and Facebook messages out to select friends and "friends" have reaped some benefits.  Per two email messages today:

"I have also read your complete blog and your emails over again.... I will put out the word about it to others I know." 


"So I just got the message you sent about a blog and it sounds like a really awesome topic. I was a total 4-H nerd too...for some of those kids it was really their only social interaction. I loved it! God Bless pygmy goats."


Hopefully, more will come in and if anything I can get an informal group discussing issues and options given that most are former 4-Hers and are heavily involved in community programs and activities.  I would prefer to continue with full support and guidance via the county but for now, this is the way things will have to proceed.


It seems initially my thoughts of feeling like an "insider," like I new what I was doing and the organization very well having been in it, have now moved to the realization that having been part of an organization in the past does not mean you are an "insider" at all.  I've been on the outside for too long it seems and although I do have some connections and knowledge of the organization at all levels, not being a member of the already existing group has made it more difficult to gain access and acceptance.  I also believe putting it in the context of a school related project although often times encouraged by staff of the organization, this particular one, my hit to be cliche', "too close to home."  Public action and difficult conversations may not be where people want to go given the sensitivity to the project and the involvement of children. Also, being entrenched in political grime at local, state, regional and the national level I'm sure has made some action quite difficult.  A fear of what the internet may bestow is also a real 'turn-off' for people too!  Children are being targeted by people wanting to do them harm, parents are worried about the amount of time they and their children are spending online and well, these are all very busy people, with busy lives and children, pets, etc!  Fighting for a cause no matter how much you care can be the last thing on your mind--I know often time it is for me, just given this particular assignment and the lack of time I've had to contribute to any substantial program changes, or upstarts, or whatever for that matter.  


There is a fine line to walk with all of this and I'm struggling to see where that is or how to cross it, or not cross it.  Whatever it is I'm going to try.  My next order of business will be tackling this the idea that "Facebook is the wild west" mentality.  There are ways to reign it in and keep it at a more private level and I'm determined to learn.  I may not be able to figure out how to do this RSS feed thing with my blog but I will figure our Facebook's quirks and conquer them in order to utilize a space that has already been created with similar intentions to mine!   Until, then this is one former insider, now an outsider, trying to get back inside, while maintaining some semblance of professional outsider opinion and views, signing off!