A Quest for Understanding

After graduation I have an opportunity to travel to and work with a non-governmental organization (NGO) for six months in Kenya. The NGO, Academic Health and Agricultural Development Initiative (AHADI) is located in Rift Valley province and supports Kimori Academy, the school at which I plan to do my volunteer work.

Kimori Academy has approximate 450 students between the ages of 5-15 years, many of whom are AIDS orphans or come from marginalized communities. AHADI works to provide the children with spiritual, emotional and physical assistance as they pursue their education. Poverty, disease and lack of quality education continue to plague the region. Through sponsorships, Kimori Academy has been able to provide many children with an education making a brighter future with a college education possible for them.

I am excited for this opportunity to serve in Kenya while deepening my understanding of the country, its people and cultures as well as a better understanding of the issues facing the people there. My goal on this journey is to learn—to learn how little I know, to learn about the subtleties in life, to learn that change comes slowly, but hopefully learning that we can all make a scratch on the surface. I am not going to solve Kenya’s problems. I am not going to change things. I am on a quest for understanding in hopes to make a difference in the lives of some children.

Upon my return I hope to work with immigrant and refugee populations in the United States.

Ghandi once said, “If the cause is right, the means will come.” If you are interested in making a financial contribution to me to fund this service project or would like to make a donation directly to AHADI or to sponsor a child at Kimori Academy, please contact me at aprill.bodlak@doane.edu for more information.

Below are some photographs of children at Kimori Academy:






A few statistics about disease, education and poverty in Kenya:

*Approximately 20% of Kenya’s 40 million people live on less than $1 per day.

*HIV/AIDS, diarrheal disease, respiratory disease, tuberculosis, malaria pose major threat to Kenyans’ health with HIV/AIDS being the leading cause of death.

*Nearly 5% of infants die before reaching their 1st birthday.

*According to the CIA’s World Fact Book, approximately 1.5 million people in Kenya are living with AIDS/HIV- making it rank 4th in the world for most prevalent HIV/AIDS. (The United States ranks 9th). Kenya ranks 6th for death rate caused by HIV/AIDS.

*Approximately 85% of the population of literate- with significantly fewer women being literate than men. (CIS’s World Fact Book).

Ponder your actions for a moment...

Yesterday, the life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was celebrated across the United States. As a central figure in the Civil Rights Movement, Dr. King’s attitude and efforts impacted people in this nation greatly as well as people throughout the world. Reflecting on this notion of impact, one of my professors asked us to consider how we as individuals might have an impact the world in our futures. I ask you, too, to consider how what you are doing affects others and the impact you are having on our planet.

Ok. I realize that it may sound a little dramatic and exaggerated to speak of our dents on the world when there are approximately 7 billion people on Earth, but each of us does have an effect on others through our actions.

To recycle or not to recycle? To shop at Walmart or not at Walmart? To eat fast food or not to eat it? How to spend ones time: Facebook? Reading? Playing Angy Birds? Working? Conversing? We make many decisions each day and although we often times do not directly see the effects, they do exist. I myself and guilty of some of the scenarios I am going to describe, but I think it is a good reminder for us to be aware of what our actions are doing. Recycling and reusing materials cuts down on waste materials and is beneficial to our planet. Shopping at Walmart is often times more convenient and cheaper than other stores, but it is not good for local business owners and often puts them out of business. Besides, Walmart’s items are rarely as good of quality as those of local shops. Fast food is not good for your health, which may in turn affect those around you. Buying clothes from the Gap contributes to poor working conditions of millions of people in sweat shops in Latin America. This is an undesirable result, yet, without the sweat shops, many would be unemployed.

We may not impact the world in the same way as Martin Luther King Jr. did, but we do make our marks. Make sure they’re the ones you want to be making!

Giving Thanks...

Thanksgiving is just around the corner. I've so much to be thankful for.

Tyler, Eric, & Ryan
Helpful people
Autumn
Nature
Knowledge
Shoelaces
Great cross country season
Ice cream
Vegetables
Irises
Nights to sleep
Golden leaves

poem of November

November

THERE is wind where the rose was,
Cold rain where sweet grass was,
And clouds like sheep
Stream o'er the steep
Grey skies where the lark was.

Nought warm where your hand was,
Nought gold where your hair was,
But phantom, forlorn,
Beneath the thorn,
Your ghost where your face was.

Cold wind where your voice was,
Tears, tears where my heart was,
And ever with me,
Child, ever with me,
Silence where hope was.

~ Walter De La Mare

Little Letters...

Dear Fall Semester 2011,
You seem to be going by quickly. I will miss parts of you, but not the class part.

Dear Apartment,
I love living in you and being able to cook whatever I want whenever I want.

Dear Adult ESL,
I’m so glad I can be of help in your classes again this year!

Dear Cross Country,
Thanks for the season you’ve given me so far. It’s been fun. One more race left.

Dear Weather,
You’ve been lovely this fall. Please don’t get cold too soon.

Dear Fulbright Application and Interview,
Thanks for allowing me to be finished with you. I’m glad you can take care of yourself now.

Dear Art,
I don’t understand you. Please create your own abstract designs.

Dear Honors,
Despite my disappointments in the cancelation of the class on human rights in the Middle East, you have turned out to be much better than I would have thought for being a graphic novel/memoir class. ‘Persepolis’ is a good book.

Dear English,
Please write the papers yourself. I have no desire to read/mimic any more of Virginia Woolf’s writings.

Dear future jobs,
Please find me. I don’t know where to begin finding you.

Dear Ice Cream,
You are really delicious and you over power my self-control.

Dear Lisa Shannon and Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn (authors of ‘A Thousand Sisters’ and ‘Half the Sky’),
Thank you for all the humanitarian work you have done and for writing about your experiences so many others can be informed!

Dear Trees,
Thanks for shedding so many crunchy colorful leaves for us to run through.

Dear Senior Year,
Thanks for being the last one.

Recommended books...

This summer I've gotten to do a lot of reading. Here are my top 10 non-fiction books that I've read (or am finishing up) this summer (in no particular order):

* Miracle in the Andes by Nando Parrado
-about the hardships endured by the Uraguayan Rugby team in the Andes in 1972

* Follow the Rabbit Proof Fence by Doris Pilkington
-about 3 young aboriginal girls who walked 1000 miles across the Austrailian desert to return to their families after being taken away from them by British colonists

* There Are No Children Here: The Story of Two Boys Growing Up in The Other America by Alex Kotlowitz
-This book tells the story and hardships of a family (specifically two brothers) living in poverty in inner-city Chicago.

* The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollen
-Where does your food come from? How is it being treated? What effect do those practices have on our health, environment and world?

* A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson
-With much humor, Bryson describes his attempt to hike the Appalachian Trail.

* Safari: the Romance and the Reality by Molly Buchanen
-about the history and changes brought about by safaris in eastern and southern Africa

* Just Like Us by Helen Thorpe
-Through anecdotes of four young women's lives in Denver, Thorpe explains different sides of the politics of immigration in the United States

* Country Driving by Peter Hessler
-Peter Hessler's experiences as he drove across China in 2007

* The Places In Between by Rory Stewart
-In 2002 Rory Stewart walked across Afghanistan on foot

* Las Hijas de Juarez by Theresa Rodriguez
-explains the politics and history that have led to the violence against and disappearance of young women in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico

My ACC summer summed up...

My summer with ACC ended on Thursday, when I returned home to attend the funeral of a high school classmate. Overall it was a good summer, throughout which I learned a lot about conservation work, nature and working with others. During our last week, we got to do several hikes in Rocky Mountain National Park, including Sky Pond and Long’s Peak. Here are a few pictures to sum up the summer: