Community Service - Peter McVerry Trust
Day 1
On the first day of my community service we all went to a youth café in Berkley. Here we were told the dos and don'ts of talking to people and how to react when seeing people under the influence of drugs and alcohol. We walked down to Sharad Street to Peters office and one of the day centres where clients of the trust can go to shower, get food or something warm to drink and they could spend the day their once they weren't using drugs in the centre but they could come in under the influence this means its a low threshold centre. We first talked to Ger a recovering drug addict who had also been homeless for four years. he started taking drugs at 12 and met Peter at 14 when he was homeless. he was in and out of Mount Joy for selling drugs all his life. He is now clean and living in a flat, he also hopes to work for the trust in the future. David is another past client we talked to. his father started him on drugs at 12 and he was living on the street at 13 in Ballymun. Peter also looked after him and he is now clean and has a college degree. their stories were upsetting to hear but really made us all appreciate what we have.
Day 2
On Tuesday we talked to five current drug addicts. They were all coming down from their kayotic stage and were stabilised on one drug or methadone. Maria was on 560ml of methadone a day and told us that if we drank 5ml we would have a heart attack as it is so talked about how they got into taking drugs and continually stressed to us about not starting drugs. All had been to Mount Joy and said it didn't rehabilitate them at all, that there were more drugs in there than on the street.
Day 3
On Wednesdays Berkley café do a huge breakfast and at this we got the chance to talk to Peter McVerry the founder and he told us a bit about his story and why he did all he did. we also talked to a hostel worker who told us some of the stories of what happens in the hostels.
Day 4
On Thursday we went to the courts. We looked in on vandalism and robbery cases. We then went to see a jury getting swore in for a murder case for the following day. The last case we went to was a murder case where we saw a witness talking and being questioned by the lawyers.
Day 5
On Friday our last day we went to Catherine's Foyer where they house people from 18-21 who have just come out of foster care so they don't end up on the streets We got shown around the bedrooms and the kitchens and then got told about the housing process.
Work Experience - Beauticians
I worked in a beauticians for the week of work experience. For the week I learned how to do electrolysis, eye brow waxing, eye brow tinting, facials for the different skin types, how to identify problems with nails, how to file correctly, paint nails with the three stroke technique and I learned the sequence for a back message. Although I thoroughly enjoyed my week of work experience I realised being a beautician is not something I would want to in the future.
Tinakilly Country House
For my week of work I went to Tinakilly for Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, i worked these days as there were weddings and it was a lot busier in the restaurant. During this work I was able to use some of my Barista skills and also got to have waitress training. The training was extremely beneficial as i can use it on my CV for apply for jobs abroad or when in college. I learned about the stressful days of preparing for weddings and making sure things are perfect for the bride and groom. I've also been given the opportunity to work some weekends and over the summer which is a brilliant opportunity.