That's a very good question! Especially since I quit my job and basically put my career in higher ed on hold to do this! I'll try to help you understand where this came from... it's not completely out of the blue...!
Since learning about Africa and its history & culture from Ms. Dickerson & Ms. Noble (elementary & high school teachers), I've wanted to visit Africa. As I learned more as an African American studies major at WashU, I felt an obligation to give back in some way instead of just being a tourist. Much of Africa remains in distress and so much of the world is doing nothing about it...
I decided that I would do volunteer-work there someday. I wanted to do Peace Corps after undergrad, but really couldn't stomach the 2-year commitment but the desire to do that type of service work never went away. Over the past few months, I've been getting signs that if I didn't do this now, I would be kicking myself HARD later on: tons of support and encouragement from loved ones, increasing frustration at work that would inevitably continue to increase over the next few months, and me giving advice to a student of mine to follow her dreams and that life is too short to not pursue what you really want to do...
I strongly believe that we MUST step outside of our comfort zones and get to know people who have life experiences different than our own in order to begin to have a true understanding of how to live with each other peacefully. And not just on a global level. We have to do a better job of doing this in our daily lives: as students in college, as adults in the work world, as parents, as educators, but most importantly just as people living life who have influence on how others view the world. Until we all step outside of our comfort zones and educate ourselves about SOMEthing or someone who's different--whether that difference is race, religion, ethnicity, whatever--the world we live in will continue to be unjust for many people. Those of us making decisions that affect other people's lives make those decisions based on what we know... we have an obligation to try to know more. What we get in the classroom is not enough... the experiences of so many people are excluded, and often I've felt that my experience and the experience of my ancestors was excluded... that's a whole other conversation though...
I decided for myself that I would try to make my world a little smaller. This will help me educate myself about the continent where my forefathers came from (it saddens me to know that I will never know their true story), and it will help me educate people I come in contact with about the realities of another culture.
So... I started doing some research and came across an organization that seemed to be a perfect match for what I wanted to do. I was deciding between South Africa, Tanzania, and Ghana.... and Tanzania won.
Once I decided to volunteer, the signs that I was taking the right "next step" just kept coming: I raised over $2,000 from friends and family to cover the cost (I would not have been able to do this without that assistance, so thank you!), I had just accumulated enough air miles to have a free round-trip ticket, and my parents even agreed to "baby-sit" Raji for me (see below:)
My students, colleagues at work, and family have all been overwhelmingly supportive. I feel like a weight has been lifted from my shoulders since deciding that I wasn't going to wait any longer to start doing some of the things I wanted to do "someday"... In a few years I may get too caught up in life, my career, or a family of my own, and "someday" would just never come... the time had to be now...
Ok, so believe it or not, this is the short version of why I decided to do this... Don't worry, all of my posts won't be this long! :)
Since learning about Africa and its history & culture from Ms. Dickerson & Ms. Noble (elementary & high school teachers), I've wanted to visit Africa. As I learned more as an African American studies major at WashU, I felt an obligation to give back in some way instead of just being a tourist. Much of Africa remains in distress and so much of the world is doing nothing about it...
I decided that I would do volunteer-work there someday. I wanted to do Peace Corps after undergrad, but really couldn't stomach the 2-year commitment but the desire to do that type of service work never went away. Over the past few months, I've been getting signs that if I didn't do this now, I would be kicking myself HARD later on: tons of support and encouragement from loved ones, increasing frustration at work that would inevitably continue to increase over the next few months, and me giving advice to a student of mine to follow her dreams and that life is too short to not pursue what you really want to do...
I strongly believe that we MUST step outside of our comfort zones and get to know people who have life experiences different than our own in order to begin to have a true understanding of how to live with each other peacefully. And not just on a global level. We have to do a better job of doing this in our daily lives: as students in college, as adults in the work world, as parents, as educators, but most importantly just as people living life who have influence on how others view the world. Until we all step outside of our comfort zones and educate ourselves about SOMEthing or someone who's different--whether that difference is race, religion, ethnicity, whatever--the world we live in will continue to be unjust for many people. Those of us making decisions that affect other people's lives make those decisions based on what we know... we have an obligation to try to know more. What we get in the classroom is not enough... the experiences of so many people are excluded, and often I've felt that my experience and the experience of my ancestors was excluded... that's a whole other conversation though...
I decided for myself that I would try to make my world a little smaller. This will help me educate myself about the continent where my forefathers came from (it saddens me to know that I will never know their true story), and it will help me educate people I come in contact with about the realities of another culture.
So... I started doing some research and came across an organization that seemed to be a perfect match for what I wanted to do. I was deciding between South Africa, Tanzania, and Ghana.... and Tanzania won.
Once I decided to volunteer, the signs that I was taking the right "next step" just kept coming: I raised over $2,000 from friends and family to cover the cost (I would not have been able to do this without that assistance, so thank you!), I had just accumulated enough air miles to have a free round-trip ticket, and my parents even agreed to "baby-sit" Raji for me (see below:)
My students, colleagues at work, and family have all been overwhelmingly supportive. I feel like a weight has been lifted from my shoulders since deciding that I wasn't going to wait any longer to start doing some of the things I wanted to do "someday"... In a few years I may get too caught up in life, my career, or a family of my own, and "someday" would just never come... the time had to be now...
Ok, so believe it or not, this is the short version of why I decided to do this... Don't worry, all of my posts won't be this long! :)
This is Raji
