Personal Reflections - Week 2

This week, I took part in creating the initial version of our assets map that was presented to our community partner and members. I found it difficult to plot organizations that did not have a physical location but Michelle, Shirley, and Yuki created a food assets database that contained contact information for these organizations so I passed on the information to them.

I took part in creating the database this week. I found time management was difficult. There are 2 midterms and one not school related exam, and making time for group work and meetings was not easy, so I tried to study everything ahead of time in case if there's any sudden group meetings that would mess with my schedule.

This week, we got the chance to discuss our database that I took part in building it with Joanne and our community members on the potluck dinner. However, I found it difficult to find all assets' information on the internet when I was working on the database, so I tried to look for them from other sources.

This week, I liaised with Joanne regarding the potluck asset mapping session that took place on October 14th. Building on my phone meeting with Joanne following the previous asset mapping session (for which I created a summary of emergent themes), Joanne and I corresponded via email to arrange the promotion of the event, ensure that the proper materials were supplied, and answer any questions/speak to any concerns. I relayed this information with my team, and coordinated team roles and responsibilities to ensure all tasks were completed. I planned the event agenda, which I formalized and printed for Joanne and my teammates; I created a facilitation guide for the breakout session, which I also printed for Joanne and my teammates; and I created a food asset mapping survey/questionnaire which I sent to Joanne to print for the group. The day of the event, I worked with Jessica to edit and revise the food asset database document, which needed revision in terms of format, content, and grammar. I briefed my team mates on the agenda for the night and instructed them on how to facilitate the breakout groups. During the event, I facilitated the group food asset mapping discussion, discussed next steps with Jennifer and Joanne, and made arrangements to facilitate a food asset mapping session with the Youth Council.

The biggest challenge I faced this week was coordinating the team's activities to ensuring that everything got done; for various reasons, I found that I was responsible for quite a heavy workload. I hope that the work will be more evenly distributed in the future, and that the quality of work won't require so much revision.

This week I began plotting the assets onto the interactive map online. I took the ideas that the community members wrote down during our meeting/discussion with them and I materialized it onto the map. I found it difficult to plot some things that were of interest to LMRP such as urban gardening groups because many of them didn't actually have a certain location.

My activities for the week included: -Studied documents regarding participatory asset mapping, and taking note of my part as the scribe for the upcoming meeting -Recorded and categorized community members' ideas and recommendations on the asset map -Mapped some of the assets on the actual google map The challenges I faced were: -Some of the assets had to be categorized as "non-representable" as they referred to human resources and qualities sought by community members, I decided to record them as part of the database that will be accompanying the map.

Last week (forgot to post this earlier), I helped to arrange a group meeting in preparation for our Food Assets mapping session Potluck with our community partners. During our group meeting, I took meeting minutes and I assisted in creating the worksheet used to collect more information on the community partners and to gain more knowledge about the quality, accessibility and affordability of food assets and/or food services may be for them. I helped to edit the database prior to the first copy being sent to out community partner liason Joanne. During our Food Assets mapping session Potluck I was also a note taker. The biggest challenge last week and reoccurring challenge is communication within our group.