After 7 years in my MPA program (with a 4-year hiatus, a kid, FT job, etc), I am finally finishing up my Master's degree! 
: I am taking my last course, which is my Capstone course (like a thesis). We have to do a major project and write a 50 page paper about our work to address a issue we're passionate about.
Of course, I chose a topic close to my heard, breastfeeding.
My goal is to address the issues of poverty & breastfeeding, and try to come up with a solution to improve breastfeeding rates in poorer communities.
Since I live in the NYC metro area, I decided to focus in on the inner-city population of the Bronx, which I have some access and familiarity with (as oposed to the poor communities of, for instance, rural Kentucky, of which I have absolutely no familiarity). The goal of the project is to identify the problem, make the case, present a solution, and then spend the bulk of the paper discussing the specific steps I have taken, the people I have identified as key players, and describing the implementation of the program.
This is a "pilot" of sorts, and I will then describe the "hand-off" at the end.
I have lurked here on the lactivism boards for a number of years, and I know we have discussed many possible solutions and tools to increase breastfeeding rates in our country. I didn't want to address this from a policy point of view, because this project is not about "being in the library" and convincing polititions to support the initiative, but about getting out in the community and identifying the key-players who can actually influence others. I also didn't want to take on the formula industry, because that's a huge giant, and I wanted to try something more local, more personal.
And so, after much though, I finally decided where to focus my efforts:
I will focus on a specific geographic area of the Bronx (as a test-case), and find the mothers who DO breastfeed. Then, I will use those women to create a corps of breastfeeding advocates, like ambassadors in their communities, who will be willing to talk about BFing with their friends, families, fellow church-goers, neighbors, etc.
Many of us know that a key factor in influencing women to BF is seeing others doing it and knowing someone 'like me' who does it. So if I can find the women who would be interested in BFing and get them to talk about it with others, that can hopefully have positive results.
What do you think?
I'd love your input.
: I am taking my last course, which is my Capstone course (like a thesis). We have to do a major project and write a 50 page paper about our work to address a issue we're passionate about.Of course, I chose a topic close to my heard, breastfeeding.
My goal is to address the issues of poverty & breastfeeding, and try to come up with a solution to improve breastfeeding rates in poorer communities.
Since I live in the NYC metro area, I decided to focus in on the inner-city population of the Bronx, which I have some access and familiarity with (as oposed to the poor communities of, for instance, rural Kentucky, of which I have absolutely no familiarity). The goal of the project is to identify the problem, make the case, present a solution, and then spend the bulk of the paper discussing the specific steps I have taken, the people I have identified as key players, and describing the implementation of the program.
This is a "pilot" of sorts, and I will then describe the "hand-off" at the end.
I have lurked here on the lactivism boards for a number of years, and I know we have discussed many possible solutions and tools to increase breastfeeding rates in our country. I didn't want to address this from a policy point of view, because this project is not about "being in the library" and convincing polititions to support the initiative, but about getting out in the community and identifying the key-players who can actually influence others. I also didn't want to take on the formula industry, because that's a huge giant, and I wanted to try something more local, more personal.
And so, after much though, I finally decided where to focus my efforts:
I will focus on a specific geographic area of the Bronx (as a test-case), and find the mothers who DO breastfeed. Then, I will use those women to create a corps of breastfeeding advocates, like ambassadors in their communities, who will be willing to talk about BFing with their friends, families, fellow church-goers, neighbors, etc.
Many of us know that a key factor in influencing women to BF is seeing others doing it and knowing someone 'like me' who does it. So if I can find the women who would be interested in BFing and get them to talk about it with others, that can hopefully have positive results.
What do you think?
I'd love your input.
