Lessons from the Unexpected in Volunteering: Taking Opportunities, Taking Time

AllPeopleBeHappy afforded me the opportunity to work with Ghana Act at an eye clinic that visits rural areas to address preventable blindness, eye health, and vision. I traveled to many villages where I took patient vitals and distributed supplies. This opportunity spoke to me because it provided healthcare to people with limited access and it improved patient vision, which is a means of not only seeing the world but of learning from it. Studies have shown that poor eyesight constrains quality of life and the ability to learn in school and perform many jobs. I hope that by improving eye sight, we also empowered people to better their lives.

What I didn’t anticipate was the vast amount of the unexpected that accompanies living and volunteering in a developing country, and the opportunity for change and growth that the unexpected can provide. I was fortunate that my volunteer agency Ghana Act allowed me to explore the unplanned, and that I followed it with an open heart.

On days the eye clinic didn’t take outreach trips, I decided to volunteer teach the sixth grade at a small school in a rural farming village called Saviefe Deme. It’s an experience that wasn’t part of my “volunteer plan” and I’m very grateful for it. My time teaching in this village transformed my relationship to people who are in poverty, and to kids, who no matter their circumstance, have a tremendous need for support and honest belief in their abilities. This leads me to,

Lesson No. 1: On volunteer trips, embrace unexpected opportunities to get involved.

Lesson No. 2 is best demonstrated with pictures.

First day of teaching:

Last day of teaching:

Which brings me to,

Lesson No. 2: On volunteer trips, oh what a difference a day makes! (Or a week, or a month)!

Volunteer, and volunteer with your whole heart.

Thank you, AllPeopleBeHappy

Thank you, Ghana Act

Thank you, Saviefe Deme sixth graders

for helping me understand that every human has dignity, and that every human deserves the opportunity to live in accordance with that dignity

Closing Gallery: “Role Models” - Saviefe Deme students try on my hat

All People Be Happy

What do you feel will lead to a world where All People Can Be Happy, and what contribution will you make?

Everybody's voice matters, and I believe by listening to each person's voice, we create an environment of support that fosters individual and community growth. I currently tutor with the East African Community Services, where I visit the homes of refugee families to tutor their children. I value this opportunity to help people who are at a disadvantage improve their lives through education. Below, I'm tutoring Luis from Tanzania in math. By listening to Luis and giving feedback and encouragement, he is able to find the answer himself!
















1. Luis contemplates a tough math problem on his homework.
















2. He tells me what he's thinking; we talk it out.
















3. Success! He knows how to find the answer.





By always listening, everybody cultivates attitudes of belief and achievement in people.



Learn more about the All People Be Happy Foundation here.

All People Be Happy

What do you feel will lead to a world where All People Can Be Happy, and what contribution will you make?

By always listening, everybody cultivates attitudes of belief and achievement in people.

Everybody’s voice matters, and I believe by listening to each person’s voice, we create an environment of support that fosters individual and community growth. I currently tutor with the East African Community Services, where I visit the homes of refugee families to tutor their children. I value this opportunity to help people who are at a disadvantage improve their lives through education. Below, I’m tutoring Jeanine from Tanzania in reading and writing. Watch her progression of drawings!

1. Jeanine’s drawing of my name the first time we met.

2. Jeanine’s most recent drawing. Notice the spelling!

3. Here is Jeanine, now working on her cursive!

Learn more about the All People Be Happy Foundation here.

"Overstanding"

Rastafari is a language of sorts, and I recently learned about the wonderful Rasta term "overstanding." Overstanding is a play on words that implies the elevation of knowledge, where the overstander (my term?) sees knowledge as a tool for personal improvement instead of feeling oppressed by it (as in "under"standing). It's like seeing the weather as an adventure instead of a scourge.

"All we do our whole lives is go from one little piece of Holy Ground to the next.” - J.D. Salinger

On January 28th, 2010, my old blog nicoleqatsi got 340 views. Three hundred of those were searches for passages from "Raise High the Roof Beam Carpenters." January 28th, 2010 was the day J.D. Salinger's death was announced. Remember what a lovely writer he was by reading my list of his quotes here.

R.I.P., J.D. You will be missed; I will be shining my shoes for the fat lady.

The Gestalt of You (and Me)

Watching old copies of The French Chef (Julie Child was 6' 2'' with frizzy hair) and reading Amy Tan's novel Saving Fish from Drowning has me ruminating on personal style and the empowerment it can bring through self-expression and authenticity. Julia was a very happy lady despite her size 12 feet!

"Yet I was not dissatisfied with my looks -- well when I was younger, yes, multiply so. But by the time I became a young woman, I knew it was better the be unforgettable than bland. I learned to transform my faults into effect. I darkened my already thick eyebrows, put big-stoned jewelery on my knobby fingers. I dyed my muddy hair in long streaks of bright gold, red, and lacquer black and wove them into a passive plait that striped the entire length of my back. I adorned myself with layers of unlikely colors, clashing tones married by texture or design or flow. I wore large pendants and medallions, clown-green gaspeite where people expected cool imperial jade..."
- Amy Tan, Saving Fish from Drowning

To Read: MLK's letter from a Birmingham Jail

http://www.africa.upenn.edu/Articles_Gen/Letter_Birmingham.html

"I am cognizant of the interrelatedness of all communities and states. I cannot sit idly by in Atlanta and not be concerned about what happens in Birmingham. Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly. Never again can we afford to live with the narrow, provincial "outside agitator" idea. Anyone who lives inside the United States can never be considered an outsider anywhere within its bounds."

A day in the life of Ben Franklin

(from ben franklin's autobiography: the new yorker)

stop.start.pause is environmentally friendly

and is printed on 100% recycled electrons.

Because his heart is still free.

(image: me)

Added by author on 11/22/2011 - I no longer believe that caged birds can have free hearts.

Bravery

is admirable in all its forms.

"There's no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothes."

- an old Norwegian saying, told to me by my dad

Julia Child: On Traveling

I'm devouring Julia Child's My Life in France. It's a recipe for life! In it, she describes people's different approaches to traveling, and I whole-heartedly agree with her style.

On traveling through France and Italy with her parents: "I grew restless on those days of driving and driving and eating and driving and eating at the biggest-best restaurants and sleeping at the biggest-best hotels. To hell with it! It seemed like we'd never really been anywhere or done anything...In fact, I didn't like traveling first class at all. Yes, it was nice to have a bathroom in the hotel and fine service at breakfast, and I'd probably never visit those grand hotels again, but none of it seemed foreign enough to me. It was all so pleasantly bland that it felt as if I were back on the SS America. I don't like it when everyone speaks perfect English; I'd much rather struggle with my phrase book."

On traveling through France without her husband, Paul: "Paul and I liked to travel at the same slow pace. He always knew so much about things, discovered hidden wonders, noticed ancient walls or indigenous smells, and I missed his warm presence."

Impossible Is Nothing

click here to see a snail stretch to three times its body size, entitled "impossible is nothing."

(thanks, pat)

sometimes i go about pitying myself / and all the while i am being carried across the sky / by beautiful clouds.

-ojibway indian poem

:'(

--a baby albatros, dead from feeding on plastic in the pacific ocean--

see more about it here at scientific american.

i woke up at 2:59 this morning, reprieved because i fought dream-catchers & won

my lyre has fallen & broken,
but i have my little tom-toms.
Look, do you see those crows
perched on the guardhouse?
I don't wish to speak of omens
but sometimes it's hard to guess.
Life has been good the past few years.
I know all seven songs of the sparrow
& I feel lucky to be alive. I woke up at 2:59
this morning, reprieved because I fought
dream-catchers & won. I'll place a stone
in my mouth & go down there again,
& if I meet myself mounting the stairs
it won't be the same man descending...

-yosef komunyakaa

Nuh uh!

Next time somebody claims animals can't feel, show them this video and say "Nuh uh!"

a minor obsession with time

I want a watch that just tells me the year, to help me think bigger picture.

Would you like an algorithm with that?

in a step in the right direction, mattel released computer engineering barbie. now if only they could design a doll with anatomically possible body dimensions to wear her bluetooth headset, but she might not be able to pull off that crop vest.