The Sista’s of Genesis
We are four Women of color, Masters level service providers who resides in the Madison area. We are connected to a number of social services Agencies in Madison. We inspire to address how mental health service are provided to people of color in our community. We are utilizing Amplify Madison opportunity to attend a mental health global conference in Rwanda Africa to learn new skills and knowledge to transfer to our community
Get to know The Sista’s of Genesis better
Please share about what sparked you all to submit your Amplify Madison proposal? What are some of the challenges you want to transform for yourselves and the Madison community?
Our team experience has been working with many different individuals whom are struggling with mental health illness along with substance abuse in different community agencies. We hope to bring back and transfer our skills to our community to provide information on inter-generational trauma by attending the conference. We hope to gain clinical skills and cultural humility through this event. We would like to learn on how trauma is being addressed in Rwanda with limited resources. By attending this conference, we aspire as women of color to uplift our community about differences experiences in regard to inter-generational trauma. We look forward to show and provide information on resiliency of Rwanda culture and how it parallels in our community with inter-generational trauma.
Please share about your experience collaborating across organizations for your Amplify experience – What are you learning about the nature of collaboration?
We are planning to attend a one week Global Mental Health conference in Rwanda Africa in June 2019. Upon our return, we will host a community event to share the information we gain with mental health providers. We hope to present at two conferences; the first conference is the Racial Justice Summit host by the YWCA. The second conference is Social Workers Confronting Racial Injustice host by Uw-Madison School of Social Work.
What is your team’s vision for Madison
Our Vision for Madison is to address how mental health services are provide to people of color. We plan to achieve this by gaining insight on how mental health services are provided globally. Furthermore, we would like to address the lack of representation for people of color in the mental health field.
What has been your team’s experience in preparation to your professional development experience? What are some of the expectations you already have about the event, conference or other similar you are about to attend?
Three out of the four of us completed our Masters in Social work in May 2019. We have learned common tools used to treat mental health in America now we would like to expand upon our learning. We expect to learn from various professionals from various regions and we are open to learning new things.
What has been your team’s experience during your professional development experience? What are some of the key knowledge, skills and learning you are bringing back to Madison?
We planning to attend Global Mental Health Conference in Rwanda Africa in June 2019. In preparation for this conference we continue to connect with Amplify Madison to prepare for community engagement. We have also connected with UW- Madison School of Social, travel physicians, and the Global Engagement Institute (GEI) for knowledge and support. We will learn the unique African perspective on mental health in developing countries. We will bring those skills and knowledge back to Madison and our communities.
What has been your team’s experience during your community engagement activities back in Madison? What are some of your key reflections and learning during this period?
Our community engagement activities are planning to be part of UW-Madison School of Social Work Confronting Racial Conference. We are open to collaborate with UW-Madison School of Social Work to discuss and provide information about our conference. We also hope to allows our community to look more deeply Madison’s current mental health system and look at changes that can be made to better serve a community that has experience lifelong trauma.
