she's going to Africa again? for HOW long??: one month

Wednesday, November 7, 2012

one month

One month from today I will be on a 10:55 p.m. flight from JFK to Heathrow, then to Dar es Salaam, the place I will call home for the next two years. This realization brings with it a variety of emotions, especially given the recent devastation of the state I have called home for 22 years. The question of domestic vs. international service has been one with which I have grappled for a while. Obviously there will always be a great need for movers and shakers right here at home, but that's not really what these next two years are going to be about. For the first time in all of my service experiences, I will be attempting to live among and in solidarity with those whom I am 'serving'. I will be attempting to live simply and in community with my fellow JVs and my neighbors in the Mabibo area of Dar es Salaam. I will be struggling through my first year as a high school teacher. I will be adjusting to a new culture, new foods, new forms of transportation, new concepts of time and efficiency, new measures of 'success.' I will be doing all of these things and many more away from my primary support system.

Perhaps most importantly, I won't necessarily be 'doing' service in the way we traditionally think of it in our results-centered culture. I will be trying (despite my task-oriented, go-getter, list-making self) to simply be- to be in relationship, in solidarity and in Christ with my new community so far away from these Sandy ravaged shores.

This blog will be my main form of communication with many people over the next two years. One of the presenters at JVC orientation this summer described the JVC International experience as one of 'dying our little deaths along the way in order to be reborn on the side of the oppressed.' I will most definitely change during the next two years, but I believe it to be for the better. I apologize now for a lack of regular communication, but please do know that you will be with me always in my thoughts and prayers. I thank you in advance for your loving support, kind thoughts and care packages of nutella!

Amani (peace),
Katie

"When you understand the situation of the other person, when you understand the nature of suffering, anger will vanish, because it is transformed into compassion."

-Thich Nhat Hanh

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about jvc

"Living simply in intentional communities of fellow JVs, they work in education, advocacy, direct service, and community service in 39 US cities and in six other countries. They reside in the same environs as those they serve: people who are low-wage earners, homeless, unemployed, refugees, diagnosed with AIDS, elderly, street youth, former gang members, abused, mentally ill, developmentally disabled, and others who strive to find justice in their lives. Almost 300 schools, nonprofit agencies, and grassroots organizations across the world count on JVs to provide essential services.

Based in four core values—social justice, simple living, community, and spirituality—the Jesuit Volunteer Corps offers women and men an opportunity to work full-time for justice and peace.

For decades, JVC has worked in collaboration with Jesuits, whose spirituality the JVs incorporate in their work, community, and prayer life. The JVC experience opens the minds and hearts of JVs and those who support them. After JVs complete their full-time volunteer obligations, they live ever conscious of the struggles faced by those they've met. They are committed to the Church's mission of promoting justice in the service of faith."

from jvc website: http://www.jesuitvolunteers.org/