Table 5 Session 1 qualitative data categorized by reoccurring themes among participants
Thematic category | Number of themes (%) | Example quotes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Uncertainty | 11 (20%) | 鈥淟a verdad no s茅 y me gustar铆a aprender para poder abogar por mi comunidad.鈥� 鈥淚 really don鈥檛 know and I would like to learn to be able to advocate for my community.鈥� (Latino(a) group) 鈥淚 know very little about advocacy. I understand how it works but have never, personally, advocated for any policy.鈥� (Karen group) | |||
Praise | 6 (10.9%) | 鈥淚鈥檓 really happy to be here, since this is a really good opportunity. There are a lot of young people that care and use their voices and we need time and courage, but sometimes courage is hard to get. Once we develop and learn, I am really happy to have this opportunity because many times we don鈥檛 share our stories and listen to other people鈥檚 perspectives. And there are many things that I want to change but if we don鈥檛 speak no one will do it.鈥� (Karen group) 鈥淵o s铆 aprend铆, lo que me qued贸 m谩s en la mente es c贸mo se tiene que hacer una campa帽a efectiva. Si la comunidad no est谩 presente en la toma de decisiones, no se puede cumplir, no se va hacer algo efectivo para el inter茅s de la comunidad.鈥� 鈥淚 did learn and what stayed in my mind the most is how to make an effective campaign. If the community is not present in the decision-making process, it cannot be fulfilled, it is not going to be effective in the best interest of the community.鈥� (Latino(a) group) | |||
Suggestion | 9 (16.4%) | 鈥淚f we want kids to feel safe we have to start with something small like cleaning parks, and this would make them more influential and they feel that they matter for the community and that would make them feel safe and to see change we have to start from something small and move to something bigger.鈥� (Karen group) 鈥溾�f we work together, we can achieve anything, we know our community needs us, but we need to make our voice heard. Try to engage with the community. You do need to speak English to do it. There are translators to help, but our voices matter, we all need to be involved.鈥� (Somali group) 鈥淢e gustar铆a que se hagan m谩s reuniones locales. Estoy para unir m谩s a nuestra comunidad y otras minor铆as.鈥� 鈥淚 would like to see more local gatherings. I want to bring our community together, and other minorities closer together too.鈥� (Latino(a) group) | |||
Personal experience | 14 (25.5%) | 鈥淧or experiencia, no todas las agencias trabajan en equipo con otras, no tenemos mucho impacto las asociaciones peque帽as y tampoco fondos.鈥� 鈥淔rom experience, not all agencies work as a team with others, small associations do not have much impact nor funds.鈥� (Latino(a) group) 鈥淚 have been engaged in advocacy at the local level but not much at the national level.鈥� (Karen group) | |||
Barriers | 5 (9.1%) | 鈥淢iro que ocupamos ayudar m谩s a la comunidad latina. Ellos son ignorantes de muchas cosas en este pa铆s, especialmente la comunidad migrante.鈥� 鈥淚 see that we need to help the Latino community more. They are ignorant of many things in this country especially the migrant community.鈥� (Latino(a) group) 鈥淣ecesito m谩s apoyo o entrenamiento de como hablar en p煤blico y como expresarme claramente y saber aprovechar los minutos que me otorguen.鈥� 鈥淚 need more support or training on how to speak in public and how to express myself clearly and know how to take advantage of the minutes that they give me.鈥� (Latino(a) group) | |||
Desire/Need for training | 10 (18.2%) | 鈥淚 really don鈥檛 know and I would like to learn to be able to advocate for my community.鈥� (Latino(a) group) 鈥淲e need more union, information, participation in voting in participating in local politics in electing representatives.鈥� (Karen group) | |||
Total: | 55 (100%) | 听 | |||