“This September, what will you do to remember? Will you take time to maybe help paint a school, or plant a tree, or tutor a child? Wherever you are from you can demonstrate the common humanity that binds us together and makes our societies and our world stronger.”
Hillary Clinton, 9/10/11, U.S. Secretary of State
We started orientation on September 11th regarding the work we will be doing for the next three months. After two weeks of travel and getting some amazing Africa experiences we are now settling in Kampala where we will live for the next stint of time.
Who are the other crazy people in Africa with us?
There is a group of 11 volunteers. Besides us, there are 6 women between the age of 23 and 27; one married woman 51; another woman in her 40s with an 11 year old son and husband; and one other male—a 42 year old Rabbi who has done a fair share of travel in his life. However, I was most impressed by the two married women who left their husbands (and one left a son) behind for three months.
One of the orientation exercises we did today was tell the story of how we came to be here today. Sorry Mark, DeeDee, and Joanne, but you inevitably came up, in the most positive way. It was interesting to see the common threads that cropped up in people’s stories. They include education, Jewish experiences in school and youth groups, the desire to give back, and parental influence.
All of us are here to give our services but also to take away a very powerful and perhaps life changing experience. We’ve stepped away from our lives at home to do this and though it will not be easy and flowery, we are aware of the impact, both good and bad, we can make while we are here.
Much like the Hippocratic Oath, our first job here is to do no harm—we learned there are plenty of ways to unknowingly cause damage. Orientation was, in large part, to make us aware of how to be a responsible volunteer. The orientation days were filled with workshops about East African history, cultural do’s and don’ts, troubleshooting issues in the workplace, safety and health. At the end of the week we had the chance to meet representatives from our NGO’s. This proved to be very interesting and informative. We learned a bit more about what they expect from us. I’m feeling a bit apprehensive about working in an office after so many years of doing hands on clinical work. I’m hoping to transition into this new role without too many problems.
