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Digital Coffee
Does your color define you? Because?
Digital Coffee: May
This is a space to take a break and stay informed about the Champions of the System Program. Summer is approaching in Eagle County, and participants are preparing for their graduation. Amid work, obligations, and surprises, it's crucial to take care of our mental health.
How can we do this? Through mindful breathing.
This technique is simple and effective:
Relax your mind: Take a moment to let go of negative and overwhelming thoughts. This helps you make clearer decisions.
Avoid anxiety: Regulating your breath keeps you calm, even in difficult moments.
Recharge your energy: By breathing mindfully, you can face your challenges with more positivity and efficiency.
Relieve tension: Listening to your body and relaxing your muscles brings relief.
In Champions of the System, we will learn to be present and enjoy the learning process, leaving daily stress behind.
How about applying these techniques in your life? We’ll see you next month for more Coffee!
Champions Team
How can we do this? Through mindful breathing.
This technique is simple and effective:
Relax your mind: Take a moment to let go of negative and overwhelming thoughts. This helps you make clearer decisions.
Avoid anxiety: Regulating your breath keeps you calm, even in difficult moments.
Recharge your energy: By breathing mindfully, you can face your challenges with more positivity and efficiency.
Relieve tension: Listening to your body and relaxing your muscles brings relief.
In Champions of the System, we will learn to be present and enjoy the learning process, leaving daily stress behind.
How about applying these techniques in your life? We’ll see you next month for more Coffee!
Champions Team
Digital Coffee March
Welcome to Cafecito Digital. This is a space where you can take a break from your routine and stay informed of the news, topics and updates of the Campeones del Sistema Program.
Modern colonialism may be something so disguised in our society that when we hear the word “colonialism” we are referring to very foreign years. In reality, as we saw in Campeones del Sistema, colonizing practices went through a process of metamorphosis and today we call them Modern Colonialism.
If we stop to think, we still have habits and social classifications that keep us in a space of separation. We still like to be served.
We still like to leave our trash for someone to clean up.
We are still classified by our physical features.
We are still classified by our social position.
We are still classified by country of origin.
This legacy from the times of colonization can often deceive us and perpetuate these behaviors. How we treat people depending on their color, their social position, their place of origin. How they treat us with the same bases without first knowing us. We invite you, dear reader, to reflect on this topic so present in our lives.
We can perceive that modern colonialism may be more present in our daily lives than we imagine. How, perhaps, we cling to stereotypes and unintentionally end up judging people as much as we are judged.
Here we leave you with a suggestion for reading about this topic. https://www.academia.edu/39077424/Walter_Rodney_From_Europa_underdevelopment_to_A_frica?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTAAAR13-__-6A2jjwXLo0Tg_rL9h5smueSgbAIvrNyOWGG7s7ASpBkaRp5NF3Y_aem_pYyhs7XotM7Xn5GhBTdc5A
We'll see you next month for another coffee.
Modern colonialism may be something so disguised in our society that when we hear the word “colonialism” we are referring to very foreign years. In reality, as we saw in Campeones del Sistema, colonizing practices went through a process of metamorphosis and today we call them Modern Colonialism.
If we stop to think, we still have habits and social classifications that keep us in a space of separation. We still like to be served.
We still like to leave our trash for someone to clean up.
We are still classified by our physical features.
We are still classified by our social position.
We are still classified by country of origin.
This legacy from the times of colonization can often deceive us and perpetuate these behaviors. How we treat people depending on their color, their social position, their place of origin. How they treat us with the same bases without first knowing us. We invite you, dear reader, to reflect on this topic so present in our lives.
We can perceive that modern colonialism may be more present in our daily lives than we imagine. How, perhaps, we cling to stereotypes and unintentionally end up judging people as much as we are judged.
Here we leave you with a suggestion for reading about this topic. https://www.academia.edu/39077424/Walter_Rodney_From_Europa_underdevelopment_to_A_frica?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTAAAR13-__-6A2jjwXLo0Tg_rL9h5smueSgbAIvrNyOWGG7s7ASpBkaRp5NF3Y_aem_pYyhs7XotM7Xn5GhBTdc5A
We'll see you next month for another coffee.
Digital Coffee: June
Welcome to the Digital Coffee! This is a space where you can take a break from your routine and stay informed about the news, topics, and updates from the Champions of the System Program.
On Wednesday, June 3rd, we held the final retreat for the Champions group. Some participants approached me to express their gratitude and share how well they felt working with us over the past ten months. However, a few used a word that had been frequently mentioned by last year’s champions: belonging. At the end of each course, most participants tell us that their experience in Champions has created a sense of belonging and social connection with the group, which made me reflect on the correlation between fostering a sense of belonging and the purpose of Champions, and whether this commitment aligns with our work in Public Health.
I researched whether the sense of belonging relates to community work, civic participation, and the health and well-being of individuals in our communities. Research suggests a natural correlation between participation in meaningful activities and feelings of connection and belonging with individual well-being and health. When people have a sense of belonging, they engage more actively in daily activities that give their lives meaning and purpose. These activities can range from physical education to social, spiritual, and learning opportunities. Empirical evidence supports the association between a sense of belonging and social connection and participation in community work and civic engagement initiatives. Most importantly, the research considers social connection and the sense of belonging a fundamental human right that contributes to justice and social equity.
In conclusion, the sense of belonging that our participants experience in Champions aligns closely with our purpose in Public Health work. The purpose of the Champions Program is to build community capacity to close the leadership gap in the Latino community. Leadership can take many forms, but in Champions, we aim for it to be collective, inclusive, and shared. We dream of a leadership where our Latino leaders feel they belong and do not feel they have to fit into spaces that may not have been created for people like us. Our goal is for diversity in leadership within Eagle County to coexist in spaces where they belong, and for that sense of belonging to motivate them to work together, participate civically, and engage confidently within the Eagle County communities to tackle social issues affecting us.
For four years, I have led this initiative with determination and care, often questioning if we are doing the right thing. However, today more than ever, I feel confident that the Champions Program is one that fosters change in our community infrastructure, equipping each participant with the necessary tools to contribute to social equity in our communities.
Faviola Alderete
Director of the Champions of the System Program
On Wednesday, June 3rd, we held the final retreat for the Champions group. Some participants approached me to express their gratitude and share how well they felt working with us over the past ten months. However, a few used a word that had been frequently mentioned by last year’s champions: belonging. At the end of each course, most participants tell us that their experience in Champions has created a sense of belonging and social connection with the group, which made me reflect on the correlation between fostering a sense of belonging and the purpose of Champions, and whether this commitment aligns with our work in Public Health.
I researched whether the sense of belonging relates to community work, civic participation, and the health and well-being of individuals in our communities. Research suggests a natural correlation between participation in meaningful activities and feelings of connection and belonging with individual well-being and health. When people have a sense of belonging, they engage more actively in daily activities that give their lives meaning and purpose. These activities can range from physical education to social, spiritual, and learning opportunities. Empirical evidence supports the association between a sense of belonging and social connection and participation in community work and civic engagement initiatives. Most importantly, the research considers social connection and the sense of belonging a fundamental human right that contributes to justice and social equity.
In conclusion, the sense of belonging that our participants experience in Champions aligns closely with our purpose in Public Health work. The purpose of the Champions Program is to build community capacity to close the leadership gap in the Latino community. Leadership can take many forms, but in Champions, we aim for it to be collective, inclusive, and shared. We dream of a leadership where our Latino leaders feel they belong and do not feel they have to fit into spaces that may not have been created for people like us. Our goal is for diversity in leadership within Eagle County to coexist in spaces where they belong, and for that sense of belonging to motivate them to work together, participate civically, and engage confidently within the Eagle County communities to tackle social issues affecting us.
For four years, I have led this initiative with determination and care, often questioning if we are doing the right thing. However, today more than ever, I feel confident that the Champions Program is one that fosters change in our community infrastructure, equipping each participant with the necessary tools to contribute to social equity in our communities.
Faviola Alderete
Director of the Champions of the System Program
Digital Coffee January
Welcome to Cafecito Digital. This is a space where you can take a break from your routine and stay informed of the news, topics and updates of the Campeones del Sistema Program.
Monthly, we will be here to bring you ideas and thoughts regarding the Campeones classes. So, how about remembering the importance of breathing? We invite you to take a few seconds to pay attention to your breathing. We invite you to take care of yourself and have your coffee while you enjoy this reading. Let's go?
This year of 2024 is already starting with full force in Campeones del Sistema with the start of Phase II of the Program. After three months working in Phase I of the Program, which is the I phase, participants enter the US phase.
In this phase, an innovative vision of what our society is and how we arrived at the construction of the society in which we live today is shared with the participants. Participants learn to rethink what race, ethnicity, and the maintenance and manipulation of social classes really are.
This reflection is quite important for our participants to advance on their journey to become Champions of the System. It is an awakening to their reality and understanding that there is a system behind it that sustains these divisions.
Here is a suggestion for a YouTube video. (Link is the same as the YouTube post on “what is your race”)
We hope to see you next month for more Coffee.
Monthly, we will be here to bring you ideas and thoughts regarding the Campeones classes. So, how about remembering the importance of breathing? We invite you to take a few seconds to pay attention to your breathing. We invite you to take care of yourself and have your coffee while you enjoy this reading. Let's go?
This year of 2024 is already starting with full force in Campeones del Sistema with the start of Phase II of the Program. After three months working in Phase I of the Program, which is the I phase, participants enter the US phase.
In this phase, an innovative vision of what our society is and how we arrived at the construction of the society in which we live today is shared with the participants. Participants learn to rethink what race, ethnicity, and the maintenance and manipulation of social classes really are.
This reflection is quite important for our participants to advance on their journey to become Champions of the System. It is an awakening to their reality and understanding that there is a system behind it that sustains these divisions.
Here is a suggestion for a YouTube video. (Link is the same as the YouTube post on “what is your race”)
We hope to see you next month for more Coffee.
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