'my story'

My Story:

On our recent Re-Orientation/Dis-Orientation Retreat facilitated by JVC staff, the second year volunteers participated in a session on ‘sharing our story.’ I’ve done this before: in community organizing, in interviews, even in my initial JVC application. For some reason, though, this felt different. It felt as if I was to summarize two years of my life that were somehow separate or different from the rest, like I was supposed to explain what I was ‘doing’ this whole time. Two years is a significant amount of time ‘away,’ after all, and no, it wasn’t a trip or a vacation or a marketable, one size fits all, package-able experience; it was and still is simply my life for two years.

What happened in your life in the past two years? Probably a whole lot of ordinary or maybe not so ordinary experiences which have formed you in some way into who you are today. When I started to think of it this way, it all seemed much more manageable. These past two years in Tanzania fit into the natural flow of my life, but they’re also special in a way . . . now, how to communicate this clearly, concisely and thoughtfully? to the neighbor I see for the first time in December? to my grandmother? to my college roommate? my professors? and everyone else who will surely ask, “How was it?”

Well, my 4 year old nephew seems to ask the hardest questions, so if I can explain, ‘why Aunt Katie was in Africa for soo long’ to him, then I can explain it to anyone. Right?Just like, if I can explain the Resurrection of Christ on Easter Sunday to my 14 year old students for whom English is a second or maybe third language, then I can explain it to anyone. Right? I can try . . . 

Here’s the ‘John’ explanation: 

(read on if you want more justification, but I think, really, the John explanation might suffice)

The children and the families I lived and learned with are just like you and just like our family. Later on in your life, if you hear someone tell you that they’re not as good or different in a bad way- remember what I am telling you now: they were my friends and family for two years and they still are. We all deserve the same love and the same chances to learn and grow.