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By marisalgado94

After almost 3 months of being in a classroom, becoming knowledgeable on theory, and having the chance to travel through field excursions, the hallmark part of an SIT program has finally arrived- the Independent Study Project (ISP).  When this program first started, the ISP seemed like something that was far off and removed... yes, I understand I need to conduct a research project but first, let me get acclimated to an entirely new country and learn a whole new language.  But as time went by and assignments for research prep were due, the project became very real; I was terrified.  I have written many long research papers before, understand the format and goals of a project, and have taken research methods classes to make sure that all parts of my study are ethical and giving something back to the community.  However, I have never really conducted research in the field, where all of my information is primarily supposed to come from first hand sources, interviews, observations, and analysis.  The way that SIT work's is that for the last month of the program, you are set free for three weeks to do your research independently.  While you are matched with an adviser to guide you, your project is very much dependent on your own motivation and dedication to your work.  All of this was intimidating at first but guess what y'all?  Today was my first day in the field, and I am happy to say it was a successful day!

Let me tell you a bit about my project.  I have always been passionate about helping kids, bottom up community development, and health education.  I have found a way to combine all of these things into my project.  I will be spending time learning about Nordeste de Amaralina, a community in Salvador that is characterized by low socioeconomic status, racial discrimination and marginalization, and high levels of violence, drug use, and drug trafficking.  I will be familiarizing myself with the community through a drug research and treatment center through interviews and determining what the risk factors are in the community for drug use among teens.  Then I will be doing observations and interviews with instructors and parents from the Amaralina Kids Body Boarding Team, a team that focuses on giving kids a positive environment to spend Sunday mornings and providing them with positive role models.  My hope is to see how this program is addressing and helping reduce the influence of the risk factors for drug use and what ways community programs could be expanded in Salvador to better serve this population.

Today was spent doing observations of the teams structure, team member/ coach interaction, and attitude of the teens during the program.  While at some points it was difficult to understand some of the things that were going on in Portuguese, I felt like I was able to overcome the challenges by asking questions and using context clues to define words I was unsure about.  Through this next week, I will be attending a parent/ coach meeting where I will hopefully conduct interviews with individuals.  While I am nervous since these interviews are a large part of my ethnographic research project, I am excited to learn from these families and coaches and see how their lives have been impacted by the environment they live in and what is being done to make life better.  One day of research down, 25 more to go!