This second to last week on Mountaintop has been an extremely rewarding one. We have made so many beautiful connections and heard so many beautiful stories from the folks who live here- I truly cannot express my gratitude enough for this experience.

We had a few great interviews as a result of last week’s Facebook post. We learned a lot about how expensive it is to exist in Bethlehem, in terms of both trash and other aspects of home maintenance such as trees and sidewalks. We also gained some insights from Bethlehem committee members, experts in the field of environmental consulting, so it was interesting to hear their perspectives on environmental problems in Bethlehem. We also met with some creatives from Bethlehem, who had such unique and novel perspectives on how trash impacts lives and communities. Most notably, we met with some unhoused folks and also workers at New Bethany- who are incredibly sweet and passionate. Some of the things they shared were very important- like that the unhoused encampments tend be clean, as they risk losing everything due to police sweeps otherwise. In addition, the city provides trash resources for them, which was a bit unexpected in my opinion, but I am so glad to hear this is the case.

We also did some outreach at a community celebration in Yosko Park, where we were able to connect with old friends, meet some new ones, and educate kids and adults alike on our project. Since we do not have approval to interview kids, it was really great to hear from them and their families in a casual and fun setting. We also recruited some more folks from the Southside for the Interview Study, and got acquainted with some other local partners to reach out to about future connections.

We also had the Project Expo this week, which was such a fun and rewarding experience. I loved sharing our research with all who attended, and I was even able to do some networking out of it. It was also really cool to see peers’ posters, and how presentation skills have improved so much over the course of the summer. I think this was really rapid growth for a lot of people, and I am honestly impressed both with these skills, and even all the work that has been accomplished in this short summer.

I’m sad next week is the last week of full time work, but I am excited to meet more people and make more progress on the map and report. I also hope to start transcribing some interviews and drafting some memos