Africa...
In 1 month and 9 days (exact count from the wondrous Countdowns application on Facebook... which I actually worked with on the Conde Net team in NYC :)...), I will be embarking on a 15 day learning venture on the continent of Africa.The purpose of this blog is to share a bit of what that trip will be... but first...
...as the adjacent picture illustrates (one of my favorite artists, Niki McClure), I have been diving into a great many pools of thought and conversation of late in preparation for this venture. I took an online course in Holistic Community Development this summer as well as some recommended reading... my mind feels challenged and although I don't know exactly how these experiences will propel me into the future, I'm excited to, if nothing else, be a more informed, global person that cares more deeply...
:) SO... The trip!
November 1-15
Below:
1. How It Came About
2. The Organization
3. What is a Discovery Tour?
4. The Countries Themselves (Uganda, Malawi, Zambia)
5. Partnership with Origins NYC / Trinity Grace
6. After the Trip...
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1. How It Came About...
The story:
- When I was in New York, on a lunch break from my job in midtown NYC at Conde Net, I finally called back Tammy Moody (her details below) after a month :) (it had been a busy season) and learned that she had called me out-of-the-blue only to say that she really wanted to support me in taking a learning trip overseas about Economic / Community Development.
The details:
- The entire trip is being funded by Tammy Moody, who was once director of The Firelight Foundation (http://www.firelightfoundation.org/) and who has been writing grants for NGO's throughout Africa-- predominantly on behalf of vulnerable women and children, affected by HIV/AIDS and poverty directly and indirectly.
- I have been a part of Tammy's lil' huddle called "Friends of Conscience" (FOC) since 2005 (just before leaving for Greece/Italy), which is composed of several woman and one man :) that are committed to learning about and thinking through world issues, reading and reviewing grants that Tammy is writing/has written for organizations, etc.
- I will be serendipitously going on this trip along with Heidi (who is another FOC girl!) and we will be meeting up with Marika, another FOC girl, and her husband Dale. Both Heidi and Marika/Dale are making community and economic development their key and core vocation-- right now on the continent of Africa.
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2. The Organization
This organization was selected by Tammy Moody as being an excellent example of an NGO that is intentionally honoring culture while assisting in simple, proactive steps toward community self-sufficiency and health. They also organize many Discovery Tours (see below for what that type of trip is...) which teach executives, teachers, and every type of participant through hands-on and experiential learning.
CRWRC
Christian Reformed World Relief Committee
www.crwrc.org || www.embraceaids.org
CRWRC "Embrace AIDS" / Organization Aims:
- Helping families learn to earn an income despite the difficulties of their illness
- Support communities in their care for children orphaned by AIDS
- Training pastors and church leaders about HIV and how to effectively care for their community
- Provide community-based health care to families in remote areas
- Teaching caregivers and people living with HIV/AIDS ways to manage the illness (ex: healthy eating)
- Finding ways to get people access to anti-retroviral drugs (ARVs)
- Offering psychological and spiritual counseling
- Teaching youth and adults about abstinence and faithfulness in marriage, and about the holiness of the human body
- Providing seeds for kitchen gardens, to grow disease-fighting food and grains like amaranth
- Addressing stigma and discrimination against people living with HIV/AIDS
+ Add'l, general community development programs (food, water, health, safety, education)
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3. What is a Service Learning Tour / Discovery Tour?
Two weeks of exploring communities in another part of the world, spending time with development workers and community members, and challenging yourself to see the world through different eyes.
Each tour includes:
- Orientation and debriefing (we've already been dialogging through an online discussion board about the topics of "what is poverty", etc)
- Time spent with a development worker (and in my case, board members of the organization as well as other workers in general Africa development who are wanting to learn more about specifically HIV/AIDS-- one of whom I know from CA!) who will guide you on the journey
- Visits to CRWRC partner ministries
- Time spent with a local family
- A time of service, giving back to one of the communities you will visit
- A financial donation to support the ministry of our partners
- Opportunities to be surrounded by nature, unique to the countries/continent
- Opportunities to wrestle together about complex issues, like justice and poverty
- A challenge to take what you have learned and incorporate it into your life back at home (this last component truly is the key of the trip...)
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4. The Countries Themselves
UGANDA: - 25 million
- more than 33 languages spoken
- An emerging orphan generation and rapid decline in the labor force will have increasingly serious socio-economic implications for the country
- Only an estimated 38% of the population have access to safe drinking water; less than 50% has access to basic effective health services
MALAWI: Geography (Wikipedia): The Great Rift Valley runs through the country from north to south, and to the west of the valley lies Lake Malawi (also called Lake Nyasa), making up over three-quarters of Malawi's eastern boundary.[3] Lake Malawi is sometimes called the Calendar Lake as it is about 365 miles (587 km) long and 52 miles (84 km) wide.[14] The Shire River flows from the south end of the lake and joins the Zambezi River 250 miles (400 km) farther south in Mozambique.
- 14 million- Out of 177 countries: Malawi ranks #166 in Human Development, #171 on life expectancy (at 39.8 years-- having declined from 43 years in 1996), #171 on GDP/capita (at $646)
- Over 50% of the population are unable to meet basic needs (HIV/AIDS worsens the effects of poverty by reducing labor availability and productivity and diverting resources towards medical costs
+ Ongoing food crisis/famine (Wikipedia): affecting more than five million people-- the country produced just 1.25 million tons or 37 % of the 3.4 million tons of maize required to feed its people. The President Bingu wa Mutharika declared a national disaster on October 15, 2005 and UNICEF estimated that there are 46,000 severely malnourished children
ZAMBIA: - 79+ languages spoken
- 68% live below the poverty line-- LIVING BELOW $1 A DAY (United Nations: see
- The CRWRC partner groups is: Mbinga Agriculture Group (assisting 10+ communities with irrigation, animal feeding, composting and gardening)
- More info to come!
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I am SO grateful to have been a part of a church community in New York that not only supports fellow young professionals in their various fields (Wall Street, Mktng, Fashion, Investment Banking, Acting/Broadway, Higher Education, Nonprofit, etc.) but also has as a part of its group culture the awareness of global concerns and how we can assist at the local level.
The church is called Origins NYC, and they just changed their name actually this week (!) to Trinity Grace Church. It meets Sunday nights @ 7pm in Chelsea (in addition to mornings in the Upper West Side), renting the space of St. Paul's Cathedral (photo here). The Chelsea gathering is mostly of age 22-35 year old young professionals of the full gamut of NY careers.
Anyway, Origins/Trinity Grace is supporting me in this venture as well through prayer and heart support. I am so grateful to be able to identify myself, and this trip, alongside this group in New York City that are committed to being soulful as well as professionally excellent in their fields.
6. After the Trip...
Tammy has mentioned that it might be in the cards for me to assist CRWRC is some marketing/advertising initiatives for my generation's demographic-- for awareness and other forms of partnership (not just financial :)...). We shall see what develops there...
I am in the process of applying for several graduate degree programs (MA, Ph.D) in Psychology with a developmental and a cultural/social emphasis.
We'll see what happens! ...
I'm definitely sober and excited about these opportunities, not sure how they will tie into the future... :)
SO... A toast to the unknown implications of the known. :)
posted by )(( hannah mello ))( @ 11:34 AM
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