How can anyone expect a culture or system to change when there is so much powerlessness? My school is going through a really rough time right now, trying to start a library before I go and with regular daily activities. There is a huge amount of tension between most of the teachers and the Head Teacher (principal), which has lead to a decrease in instruction and overall morale. At first I was not sure what to think or whose side to be on, so I just stayed out of it and did not get involved. However as time went on, I began to notice that my Head Teacher was simply not doing what he should be doing as the leader of the school; in fact as a leader he is just terrible.
Looking back there has always been a disconnect between the two groups. Rather than observing teachers in class or actually guiding them through lesson planning and teaching methods, he would just berate them in staff meetings. Although he was very quick to call out teachers who consistently come late (which is a very valid problem), he himself often comes late to school. The infrastructure is in ruins: water tanks unused, no students eat lunch at school, half the students sit on concrete floors without desks, etc. The final straw seems to be that he has refused to pay the cook her balance for preparing meals for teachers so now no teachers are able to take food all day either, unless they walk and pay a good amount for it at the trading center. Rather than figuring out a way to deal with the problem, he has started avoiding teachers and will not hold a staff meeting. The school receives government funding twice a year to maintain the running of the school, but ask any teacher if they have seen any of that money and they will just look away.
I understand how corruption works in Uganda. Some money comes for a specific purpose and whoever is in charge skims a little off the top for his/her pocket. You can still do your job while doing that and don't have to completely alienate and belittle the people below you. I really empathize with my teachers and feel like they are being treated unjustly. I don't blame them for not wanting to go to class and teach, they don't eat all day and no one is validating or appreciating their hard work. So ultimately the students lose because they are not receiving their education. I asked the teachers if they could report what is going on to someone at the district level, but they came right out and said they are too cowardly to do that. I was taken aback, so I asked for an explanation. They informed me that if the Head Teacher found out he could have them transferred to another district, completely uprooting them from their homes and families. How is that possible? Because the whole education department is run poorly with corruption so the next person in charge is much more likely to side with the Head Teacher than with the teaching staff. In systems and situations like that, what can individuals do to better their lives?
I am confidant that my presence at school has had a somehow positive impact. The fence prevents stealing and defecation (yes I said it, people used to come and defecate in the school), workshops have given teachers some new teaching methods, and just simple conversation has opened their minds to life in America. However, after two years I really doubt whether international aid can really do much in societies with so many structural roadblocks--not just challenges but straight up blocks to development by itself. I do believe in the peace corps model, I really do. But perhaps we should only be in countries where the people, those in power and those not, want to improve their society and actively work towards development. Unfortunately the perspective and norm in Uganda is what can outsiders do for me, in fact it is their responsibility to do it. That is not the mindset of a nation or a people ready to develop; of course not everyone here is like that, but it is the majority. However, that is why most of my success has come from working with the youth. It is a gamble, but as a group they are very ready for a change and see the pitfalls that are present in their nation. I still have hope and know it is possible from all the positive experiences and beauty I have seen here. People genuinely care about one another and communities are strong, resources are in plenty, and there is an amazing resliency like nothing I have ever seen.
Sunday, November 2, 2014
Government-issued friends
Everyone jokes here that we are all "government issued" friends because we met and are forced to get to know each other by consequence of all joining the US peace corps. It is more like you can chose your friends, but you can't chose your family--this is our pc Uganda family. Despite this notion, I have come to really know and love many of my fellow volunteers and can't imagine being able to do this 2 year crazy ride without them by my side. I have met some of the nicest, most caring, and hardest working people during my service and I feel very inspired by their work and their compassion. Some really dedicate themselves to taking care of us, other volunteers, and hold us together. Others live at site, endlessly working, being role models and exemplifying what it means to be a volunteer. Everyone brings something to the table and teaches the others a thing or two about life.
I don't want to go through and name all of my best friends here and why they are so. I just want to say how much I value friendship and the people I call my friends. Being here is quite an experience and sharing it with other people is a huge gift. They understand everything. Most people know me and know that I wear my emotions on my sleeve, well this has been an emotional roller coaster and I am so lucky to have friends by me that listened to all my emotional vomiting. Back when I wanted so badly to leave Uganda, my friends here (as well as at home, I can't forget all you have done for me during that time too) really took care of me and helped me put things in perspective based on their own experiences in Uganda. We all ranted and vented together, we cried together, we laughed uncontrollably together. We shared in success and failure. We had high hopes together and were demoralized together. At times when I needed to feel like I was at home, all I had to do was call or visit one of these fine people. When I was thinking critically of home, we all could take our experiences living away from the US to pinpoint why the US isn't perfect and what we could do about it. When I was thinking critically of Uganda, I had friends here to remind me that we have problems like this all over the world. I truly do believe that I have become a more thoughtful and considerate person while here and much of that comes from the character and values of the friends I have surrounded myself with. They loved me and took my love...which as many know is extremely important to my sanity.
I am very social and easily become friends with almost anyone. I like this trait about myself. But becoming friends with just anyone does not always add much to your life other than a circle of friends. So while I love getting to know people and connecting with as many different individuals as possible (I really do learn a lot from everyone I meet), it is the caliber of people I have spent much of my time with that have really helped shape my service. This work calls to a large variety of personalities, but the majority of them are dynamite human beings who I am so proud to call my friends and fellow volunteers.
I don't want to go through and name all of my best friends here and why they are so. I just want to say how much I value friendship and the people I call my friends. Being here is quite an experience and sharing it with other people is a huge gift. They understand everything. Most people know me and know that I wear my emotions on my sleeve, well this has been an emotional roller coaster and I am so lucky to have friends by me that listened to all my emotional vomiting. Back when I wanted so badly to leave Uganda, my friends here (as well as at home, I can't forget all you have done for me during that time too) really took care of me and helped me put things in perspective based on their own experiences in Uganda. We all ranted and vented together, we cried together, we laughed uncontrollably together. We shared in success and failure. We had high hopes together and were demoralized together. At times when I needed to feel like I was at home, all I had to do was call or visit one of these fine people. When I was thinking critically of home, we all could take our experiences living away from the US to pinpoint why the US isn't perfect and what we could do about it. When I was thinking critically of Uganda, I had friends here to remind me that we have problems like this all over the world. I truly do believe that I have become a more thoughtful and considerate person while here and much of that comes from the character and values of the friends I have surrounded myself with. They loved me and took my love...which as many know is extremely important to my sanity.
I am very social and easily become friends with almost anyone. I like this trait about myself. But becoming friends with just anyone does not always add much to your life other than a circle of friends. So while I love getting to know people and connecting with as many different individuals as possible (I really do learn a lot from everyone I meet), it is the caliber of people I have spent much of my time with that have really helped shape my service. This work calls to a large variety of personalities, but the majority of them are dynamite human beings who I am so proud to call my friends and fellow volunteers.
Little vacation to ETHIOPIA!!
So I am going to not do some work right now and send you fun things
about my Ethiopia trip! First of all it was soooo much fun and so nice
to experience another culture and country in Africa, if only to see
the crazy similarities and differences between the two. Ethiopia is so
different from Uganda! There is a much more developed feel to it there
and you can tell that it is from a culture of we do it ourselves style
independence rather than a everyone else needs to come and help us do
things that you see in UG. There is a lot of pride and people really
work hard. And it pays off...roads are better, there is more access to
electricity and running water, and cities are booming. Of course there
is still poverty, people living in mud houses, poor nutrition and
health. There is still a huge amount of friendliness and hospitality
just like here. Also, it is was really cool to see such a combination
of traditional and modern cultures...women will walk around with
really modern jeans and jewelry on fancy cell phones, but also be
wearing the traditional cotton wrap around her shoulders and have her
hair done in the traditional style. I was also super surprised about
the lack of English...not from illiteracy but because it is not the
country's national language and people do not seem interested in
making it. Oh and the food is incredible! Soooo much good food, spiced
well (unlike bland UG food) for like 2 dollars. And then there is the
coffee. They are claimed to be the birthplace of coffee and they have
this really cool ritual around it that you can see being done
everywhere from deep in the rural village to a fancy hotel. Women
(always women....a lot of gender inequality there) will sit at a
charcoal stove with the coffee pot and double brew pretty strong
coffee from probably right around the corner. They also set out all
this specific type of long grass to signify the coffee is there. So
delicious and it was about 30 cents per cup.
The coolest part of the trip was traveling in the north...Aksum/Axum
to be specific. This is where the original Axumite Empire was. This
civilization is as old if not older than ancient Egypt and was trading
all over the world thousands of years ago. There was so much exchange
of ideas into Africa from this place, mainly with Egypt and Yemen.
Therefore that is why the language and culture is sooo similar to
Arabic and ancient Hebrew. This area is the site of the Queen of Sheba
and the supposed Balthazar...one of the three wise men to see Hey zues
(jesus haha). They also claim to have the original ark of the covenant
in one of their churches. It was such an experience to see all of
these places. Later when I was in Addis Ababa (a NY like city) I went
to the National museum and saw Lucy! The "missing link" in human
evolution who was found in northern Ethiopia where I climbed the
volcano. Oh yea that was also incredible. We walked 3 hours at night
to see this thing...because it is in the Danakil desert which can get
up to 55 degree C during the day. This is the only permanent lava lake
on earth and it was mesmerizing to just sit and watch lava boiling
away...the earth is so cool! We then camped out on the volcano
overnight and climbed down with wild camels the next morning. Man it
was such a wonderful adventure that I will never forget. And I only
saw like a third or less of the country. It is so beautiful there.
Like a super green Arizona or Nevada. Great Rift Valley is
incredible!!!!
about my Ethiopia trip! First of all it was soooo much fun and so nice
to experience another culture and country in Africa, if only to see
the crazy similarities and differences between the two. Ethiopia is so
different from Uganda! There is a much more developed feel to it there
and you can tell that it is from a culture of we do it ourselves style
independence rather than a everyone else needs to come and help us do
things that you see in UG. There is a lot of pride and people really
work hard. And it pays off...roads are better, there is more access to
electricity and running water, and cities are booming. Of course there
is still poverty, people living in mud houses, poor nutrition and
health. There is still a huge amount of friendliness and hospitality
just like here. Also, it is was really cool to see such a combination
of traditional and modern cultures...women will walk around with
really modern jeans and jewelry on fancy cell phones, but also be
wearing the traditional cotton wrap around her shoulders and have her
hair done in the traditional style. I was also super surprised about
the lack of English...not from illiteracy but because it is not the
country's national language and people do not seem interested in
making it. Oh and the food is incredible! Soooo much good food, spiced
well (unlike bland UG food) for like 2 dollars. And then there is the
coffee. They are claimed to be the birthplace of coffee and they have
this really cool ritual around it that you can see being done
everywhere from deep in the rural village to a fancy hotel. Women
(always women....a lot of gender inequality there) will sit at a
charcoal stove with the coffee pot and double brew pretty strong
coffee from probably right around the corner. They also set out all
this specific type of long grass to signify the coffee is there. So
delicious and it was about 30 cents per cup.
The coolest part of the trip was traveling in the north...Aksum/Axum
to be specific. This is where the original Axumite Empire was. This
civilization is as old if not older than ancient Egypt and was trading
all over the world thousands of years ago. There was so much exchange
of ideas into Africa from this place, mainly with Egypt and Yemen.
Therefore that is why the language and culture is sooo similar to
Arabic and ancient Hebrew. This area is the site of the Queen of Sheba
and the supposed Balthazar...one of the three wise men to see Hey zues
(jesus haha). They also claim to have the original ark of the covenant
in one of their churches. It was such an experience to see all of
these places. Later when I was in Addis Ababa (a NY like city) I went
to the National museum and saw Lucy! The "missing link" in human
evolution who was found in northern Ethiopia where I climbed the
volcano. Oh yea that was also incredible. We walked 3 hours at night
to see this thing...because it is in the Danakil desert which can get
up to 55 degree C during the day. This is the only permanent lava lake
on earth and it was mesmerizing to just sit and watch lava boiling
away...the earth is so cool! We then camped out on the volcano
overnight and climbed down with wild camels the next morning. Man it
was such a wonderful adventure that I will never forget. And I only
saw like a third or less of the country. It is so beautiful there.
Like a super green Arizona or Nevada. Great Rift Valley is
incredible!!!!
Decisions to stay
I recently went to my Close of Service conference, where my group of volunteers begin the process of wrapping up at site and going home. I could not believe that was already upon us and the whole event felt weird. We got a lot of great information and were able to spend quality time with people we have not seen in a long time. However, I could not help but feel that I was, and am, not ready for COS. Listening to all the advice on saying goodbye, closing projects, and reintegrating into the US really scared me. I am having such a great time in Uganda and know there is more work that I can do, I am not ready to up and leave! So I made the decision to extend my service for a few months and go home in April, rather than December.
Many things went into this decision and none of them really outweighs the other. If you are reading this than you probably know that I began my service with high hopes that were quickly dashed and I experience a good amount of doubt and anger over being here. Yes ladies and gentleman I can vouch for it, culture shock is (expletive here) hard. However, thanks to the support, love, advice, and push from many of my family and friends--here and at home--I stuck it out. Looking back I can't believe how ready I was to give up on myself and Uganda. But not a day goes by that I am not so glad that I didn't. I have really come around and learned so much about myself, humanity, and this part of the world. Uganda now feels like home. So, that transformation and complete reversal of feelings was part of the reason for staying, I wanted to give myself and Uganda back some of the time I wasted being miserable and wanting to leave.
Another factor is timing. I ideally will go back to teaching in the states, but those jobs do not begin till the school year starts in the fall. So what on Earth would I do with myself at home for 8 months? probably sit at home, getting stir crazy, on my family's nerves, and spending tons of money rather than making it. By staying till the spring, I get to avoid all that and make a few extra bucks in the process. Hopefully this will not get in the way of getting a job, I really do not think it will. I also am losing my chance to hike the App trail with my best friend, but I was not sure if it was going to happen anyway. This leads me to the third reason for staying--the work.
The assignment for my 4 month extension is so cool! I will be primarily doing three things: training our staff on better facilitation skills, creating a training model for all pcvs on youth work and empowerment, and building capacity for partnering organizations that want to run their own youth camps. These objectives are exactly the types of things I want to do with my life and I am going to gain so many professional skills by practicing with it and working under people who have been doing this work for their whole lives. This opportunity is so huge for me and I could not possibly pass it up. It is really going to put me in a place to get involved in some great work back the the US and go down the career path that will better facilitate this work. If I want to be a principal or work on policy one day, these skills and experience are really going to help me achieve that. In the least I will become a much better teacher. Oh yea and I did not mention, I will be based in Kampala the capital for all this work!
All in all a lot of thought went into my decision to stay and I know it is the right one. Of course I miss my family, friends, and life in the states, but 4 months is not much in the grand scheme of things or the length of my service as a whole. I am continuously grateful for the love and support everyone has given me in this decision and feel so blessed to be surrounded by such encouraging and understanding people. I don't know if I will ever be ready to say goodbye to Uganda, but at least I will be leaving after doing something really great. It is hard to look back on 2 years and try to evaluate what you have done--was it all you could, did you leave any mark, did you impact anyone--I at least can confidently say I have grown and learned a ton and really made a positive change in my life. I highly recommend joining the Peace Corps if anyone is thinking about it!!
Many things went into this decision and none of them really outweighs the other. If you are reading this than you probably know that I began my service with high hopes that were quickly dashed and I experience a good amount of doubt and anger over being here. Yes ladies and gentleman I can vouch for it, culture shock is (expletive here) hard. However, thanks to the support, love, advice, and push from many of my family and friends--here and at home--I stuck it out. Looking back I can't believe how ready I was to give up on myself and Uganda. But not a day goes by that I am not so glad that I didn't. I have really come around and learned so much about myself, humanity, and this part of the world. Uganda now feels like home. So, that transformation and complete reversal of feelings was part of the reason for staying, I wanted to give myself and Uganda back some of the time I wasted being miserable and wanting to leave.
Another factor is timing. I ideally will go back to teaching in the states, but those jobs do not begin till the school year starts in the fall. So what on Earth would I do with myself at home for 8 months? probably sit at home, getting stir crazy, on my family's nerves, and spending tons of money rather than making it. By staying till the spring, I get to avoid all that and make a few extra bucks in the process. Hopefully this will not get in the way of getting a job, I really do not think it will. I also am losing my chance to hike the App trail with my best friend, but I was not sure if it was going to happen anyway. This leads me to the third reason for staying--the work.
The assignment for my 4 month extension is so cool! I will be primarily doing three things: training our staff on better facilitation skills, creating a training model for all pcvs on youth work and empowerment, and building capacity for partnering organizations that want to run their own youth camps. These objectives are exactly the types of things I want to do with my life and I am going to gain so many professional skills by practicing with it and working under people who have been doing this work for their whole lives. This opportunity is so huge for me and I could not possibly pass it up. It is really going to put me in a place to get involved in some great work back the the US and go down the career path that will better facilitate this work. If I want to be a principal or work on policy one day, these skills and experience are really going to help me achieve that. In the least I will become a much better teacher. Oh yea and I did not mention, I will be based in Kampala the capital for all this work!
All in all a lot of thought went into my decision to stay and I know it is the right one. Of course I miss my family, friends, and life in the states, but 4 months is not much in the grand scheme of things or the length of my service as a whole. I am continuously grateful for the love and support everyone has given me in this decision and feel so blessed to be surrounded by such encouraging and understanding people. I don't know if I will ever be ready to say goodbye to Uganda, but at least I will be leaving after doing something really great. It is hard to look back on 2 years and try to evaluate what you have done--was it all you could, did you leave any mark, did you impact anyone--I at least can confidently say I have grown and learned a ton and really made a positive change in my life. I highly recommend joining the Peace Corps if anyone is thinking about it!!
Camp LION...Roarrr
Totally forgot to post this a while back (obviously my life has gotten too busy--I love it). During the school holiday I co-directed a youth leadership camp with three other pcvs, some of my best friends in country. We called it Camp LION, Leaders in our nation, and it was designed to do some of the things we all felt were missing in many peace corps camps. If anyone remembers, one of my most successful and enjoyable moments early in my service was attending a leadership camp for boys (BUILD). Well I attended a couple of these and as much as I loved them, I did not feel like they really encouraged leadership. Coming off my empowerment conference, I was eager to introduce some of those elements into a camp, whereby the young people had a chance to gain actual hard skills in leadership, experiment with leadership values, and experience something transformative. Even though none of my friends had been to the conference, those were exactly the things they wanted to see in a camp as well.
We decided the first major change was going to have both girls and boys attend the camp and work in groups together. Rather than focus on what each sex can do to be leaders on their own, we wanted them to learn how to work together and see each other as peers and equals in leadership and change. previous camps where they were separate would come together for a day and work on gender equality. Well since we were working on that the entire week, we had a day free to fill in our schedule--incoming transformative experience! We thought about what a good leader should experience in order to be a positive change agent and we settled on having a Volunteer day where the youth went out in groups to do community service work. They went to orphanages, a hospital, and did street cleaning and tree planting. All together, they did a ton of very meaningful work and it was very obvious from that day's reflection that they did in fact feel transformed. Giving back to the community and feeling like you made a difference in another person's life does so much for a growing young adult who is looking for validation and meaning in their life. We were so proud of them. Another major change was that rather than teaching lessons heavy in content on things like HIV, we led sessions that gave the youth skills in taking information back to their communities. How to talk in public, how to set goals, how to encourage their peers to use family planning, and how to counsel people with HIV; the goal being the campers felt capable of not only making behavior change in themselves, but in their communities. In the end they had to create an elevator pitch on a project they would do back in their school based on what they learned, and we saw some incredible ideas.
Camp LION was easily the most successful thing I have ever done. There was so much that I did not include here that led to an extremely positive week for everyone. All of us as co-directors worked wonderfully together and really kept camp tight. Ugandan co-workers were treated as equals and peers in the work, not just people to invite because we had to (something that unfortunately somehow happened in most previous camps.) We had counselors-in-training who were previous campers and now are very able and ready to become counselors in the next camp. We even had a proposal!!! (Shout out to Jim and Julia <3). I really got a lot of practice in empowerment models and learned a lot about planning an event like volunteer day. We all were able to remove our egos from camp and rely on one another to let the right things happen. If I did nothing else my service, I am so very proud of our camp. And we keep getting emails from campers about all the great work they are continuing to do in their communities after being at camp!
We decided the first major change was going to have both girls and boys attend the camp and work in groups together. Rather than focus on what each sex can do to be leaders on their own, we wanted them to learn how to work together and see each other as peers and equals in leadership and change. previous camps where they were separate would come together for a day and work on gender equality. Well since we were working on that the entire week, we had a day free to fill in our schedule--incoming transformative experience! We thought about what a good leader should experience in order to be a positive change agent and we settled on having a Volunteer day where the youth went out in groups to do community service work. They went to orphanages, a hospital, and did street cleaning and tree planting. All together, they did a ton of very meaningful work and it was very obvious from that day's reflection that they did in fact feel transformed. Giving back to the community and feeling like you made a difference in another person's life does so much for a growing young adult who is looking for validation and meaning in their life. We were so proud of them. Another major change was that rather than teaching lessons heavy in content on things like HIV, we led sessions that gave the youth skills in taking information back to their communities. How to talk in public, how to set goals, how to encourage their peers to use family planning, and how to counsel people with HIV; the goal being the campers felt capable of not only making behavior change in themselves, but in their communities. In the end they had to create an elevator pitch on a project they would do back in their school based on what they learned, and we saw some incredible ideas.
Camp LION was easily the most successful thing I have ever done. There was so much that I did not include here that led to an extremely positive week for everyone. All of us as co-directors worked wonderfully together and really kept camp tight. Ugandan co-workers were treated as equals and peers in the work, not just people to invite because we had to (something that unfortunately somehow happened in most previous camps.) We had counselors-in-training who were previous campers and now are very able and ready to become counselors in the next camp. We even had a proposal!!! (Shout out to Jim and Julia <3). I really got a lot of practice in empowerment models and learned a lot about planning an event like volunteer day. We all were able to remove our egos from camp and rely on one another to let the right things happen. If I did nothing else my service, I am so very proud of our camp. And we keep getting emails from campers about all the great work they are continuing to do in their communities after being at camp!
Partners for Youth Empowerment
A few months ago I had the incredible opportunity to attend a conference on youth empowerment. It was about how to use creative arts to engage youth, and be a better facilitator. It was the most meaningful and transformative conference I have ever gone to.
The premise was that any valuable work done with youth should have an element of empowerment in it, which can enable those you are working with to tap into their talents and skills. One medium of doing this is through creative arts, but there are many other ways of creating an empowering environment. However, what really made this conference so meaningful was that the facilitators believed the only way one can empower youth (or anyone really) is to be empowered themselves and go through a transformative experience. Mission accomplished. We spent a full week going through a variety of experiences and activities which served two purposes: to teach us how to facilitate better and create a transformative learning program for youth, and to allow each of us to feel able and ready to be involved in this work. Some of the activities I was already familiar with from previous work with youth and teaching, but a lot of it was very new to me. Essentially the facilitators were walking us through series of increasing risk-taking activities that asked us to push ourselves outside comfort zones we have created. I most definitely did that the entire week and many of the days were extremely emotional. I grew so much in that week of work and really processed a ton of information about myself and human beings. I was able to face some demons, unlock skills and potential I was unaware of, and truly see and get to know other people and relate to their experiences. As a bonus, I also learned a ton about designing programs and facilitating activities with youth that can really empower them and build capacity.
What really changed for me that week was I truly found my direction, my calling if you will, in my field of work. I have always known that education is my passion, but I also could not help but feel something was missing, there was somewhere else I should be going. I found it. Whether it is teaching, working in schools in another capacity, or designing programs/curriculum, my focus is going to be on empowerment. I truly believe in this model of education and the changes it can make in young people's lives. Our society is not an empowering one and we have lost so many of those facets, like community, which could have provided that support. The path is now clear in front of me and I know what I am going to spend the rest of my life doing. The feeling of being empowered, believing in yourself and feeling capable of whatever you want, is comparable only to being in love. I am still not sure the exact capacity I will work through, but no matter what it is an element of PYE will be there. Go check out their website if you are also interested in this sort of work!
The premise was that any valuable work done with youth should have an element of empowerment in it, which can enable those you are working with to tap into their talents and skills. One medium of doing this is through creative arts, but there are many other ways of creating an empowering environment. However, what really made this conference so meaningful was that the facilitators believed the only way one can empower youth (or anyone really) is to be empowered themselves and go through a transformative experience. Mission accomplished. We spent a full week going through a variety of experiences and activities which served two purposes: to teach us how to facilitate better and create a transformative learning program for youth, and to allow each of us to feel able and ready to be involved in this work. Some of the activities I was already familiar with from previous work with youth and teaching, but a lot of it was very new to me. Essentially the facilitators were walking us through series of increasing risk-taking activities that asked us to push ourselves outside comfort zones we have created. I most definitely did that the entire week and many of the days were extremely emotional. I grew so much in that week of work and really processed a ton of information about myself and human beings. I was able to face some demons, unlock skills and potential I was unaware of, and truly see and get to know other people and relate to their experiences. As a bonus, I also learned a ton about designing programs and facilitating activities with youth that can really empower them and build capacity.
What really changed for me that week was I truly found my direction, my calling if you will, in my field of work. I have always known that education is my passion, but I also could not help but feel something was missing, there was somewhere else I should be going. I found it. Whether it is teaching, working in schools in another capacity, or designing programs/curriculum, my focus is going to be on empowerment. I truly believe in this model of education and the changes it can make in young people's lives. Our society is not an empowering one and we have lost so many of those facets, like community, which could have provided that support. The path is now clear in front of me and I know what I am going to spend the rest of my life doing. The feeling of being empowered, believing in yourself and feeling capable of whatever you want, is comparable only to being in love. I am still not sure the exact capacity I will work through, but no matter what it is an element of PYE will be there. Go check out their website if you are also interested in this sort of work!
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