I haven’t posted here since 2018. Much has happened since then, both in my life and across the globe. So much has been unfolding… In this post, I will share some of what I have been learning, working on and discovering. I will also share a bit of what is to come… In the past 6 years, my career path became more defined to a specific sector- regional food systems- as always an entry point for engaging with community. I went to grad school and obtained a Master’s of Sustainability Science with a concentration in Agriculture and Sustainable Food Systems.…
Author: Rachel Berggren
My name is Rachel Berggren. Many things make up my life from working in community development to meditation and mindfulness. But at my core I am an anthropologist and will always feel a calling to tell people's stories.
The Time 15 Colombians Camped out in My Yard for a Week
Just as the summer foliage began to show in all it’s glory, a group of guests descended upon the pond. In a house on a hill, embanked along the waters edge, lived four roommates. That summer was their first together, and they enjoyed the surrounding land encompassed by trees. The sound of the nearby waterfall and the birds singing their songs set a peaceful tone in this special place. One day, the landlord’s daughter came home to visit, having lived in South America for six years. With her, she brought her troupe, a group of Colombians who were both her…
The Purpose Behind AnthroPerspectives
AnthroPerspectives has been a long time coming. With a lifelong connection to reading and writing, my relationship to the human story has always felt like a part of me. During my childhood, I was an avid reader. Book after book, I delved into the lives of young girls from around the world who were experiencing such different realities, cultures and experiences. I was always infatuated by the individual’s story, and have not gone through a phase in my life where I wasn’t using writing as a tool for reflection, imagination or understanding. The seeds of this blog were planted even…
How Humans Use Language to Create Meaning
Throughout history, humankind has used oral communication as a method for passing on traditions, rules, and inherited knowledge. From its origins, we have been using language to understand our surroundings and to create shared meaning around our experience of life. The ability to tell stories has helped us to define our world, and create ritual, belief, and society. We continue to do so every time we communicate. Through the use of narrative, we determine our perspective, and shape our life’s outcome. What is it about language that makes it such a powerful tool in shaping our experience as human beings?…
Examining Social Justice Part 2: Methods for Engagement
“Unless we engage in these and other conscious acts of reflection and re-education, we easily repeat the process with our children. We teach what we were taught. The unexamined prejudices of the parents are passed on to the children. It is not our fault, but it is our responsibility to interrupt this cycle” -Tatum Social Justice methods are a tool for reflection, to learn about how we are engaging each other, and to consider how our preconceived notions can lead to uninformed or accidental mistreatment of people. Contrary to this purpose, many have begun to see it as an infringement…
Examining Social Justice Part 1: A Road Map to Understanding
Tensions exist around issues of social import. If we are incapable of defining what it is that we are actually fighting for, we will be unable to engage one another constructively on topics that shape our world.” Social justice is a controversial topic whose definition and importance are often contested. There are those who claim social justice as their moral obligation when shaming someone for their behavior, leaving a bad taste in people’s mouths around this cause. When conversations come up that cite social justice or discuss social structures, inequity, race, gender, etc, people often back out of the conversation for fear…
Healing the Wounds of What it Means to Be a Man
In American culture, as well as other cultures around the world, young boys are taught how to be men. They are taught how to think, act, and behave in a particular way that is seen as manly. As norms are taught and passed on to the next generation, do we consider the outcome? For the past few years, I have been attending a regional conference, the New England Fathering Conference. The focus is on fatherhood as a crucial part of building healthy families. At this conference, there is always so much wisdom and spirit to be found and a sincere…
Wired for Connection: Building Relationships Increases Resilience
A few months ago, I had the privilege of attending an annual conference called “A View from All Sides” hosted by the Children’s Trust, a family support organization in Massachusetts. The keynote speaker, Dr. Bruce D. Perry, spoke about the effects of empathy on the developing brain. He made some very important and fascinating points about the role of connection and relationships on our well-being. Through his research, he has studied the make up of the human brain as well as our societies approach to relationships and the importance we place on interacting with each other. As he described our…
Grandparents Raising their Grandchildren: Support for Three Generations
Working in the field of human services in Massachusetts for the past 3 years has given me an understanding of the vast way in which community problems are intertwined. There are so many topics to discuss when it comes to looking at a community as a whole and breaking it down into manageable pieces. The purpose of the organization I work for on Cape Cod is to prevent child abuse and neglect by supporting families and building resources in the region. Through our work, we engage various social issues that a person may face. From family dynamics, domestic violence, poverty,…
More Than Talk: Approaching Child Sexual Abuse as a Public Health Problem
Many disturbing things occur that we wish didn’t take place. We worry, we discuss, we wonder why. How can this happen when I just want the world to be a good place? Why does something like this go on when it seems like everyone I know is just as bothered as I am by these problems? What we often fail to realize is that everything happens within an environment that supports it and allows it to occur, grow, or even flourish. A plant without water or sunlight, no matter how much it is a plant, will die because it does…