ah-ha

So there's this activity we use while debriefing our participants' experiences in our Global Village. It's known here as the infamous "Ah-ha moment" when you can relate or at least try to begin to fathom the lives of others in poverty around the globe. I've had multiple frightening and inspiring ah-ha moments of my own lately. Realizing this is not "summer camp" as it felt at the beginning, or simply an extended summer. This past year has been a whirlwind of events and growth and I find myself waking up every now and then wondering where I am, wondering what the hell I'm doing in rural Arkansas of all places. It will really hit me this winter when I'm not sitting in a library cramming for finals and writing papers at ungodly hours of the night. For this I am incredibly grateful to be here among plenty of other reasons. I'm finally learning first hand how important it is to live far from your comfort zone. Of course I've always preached this but have never quite acted on it like this before. Being hundreds of miles from familiarities forces you to make your home or "nest" if you will, within yourself. I feel as if i'm embarking on an incredible and life-changing year of personal growth. i've already noticed hints: low-anxiety.

I helped lead a one of those debriefs today. The participants were 11th and 12th grade inner city Memphis students. some of them were Freedom Writers (their teacher was taught by the woman who began the program and who the movie is about). They rolled off their school bus and entered the mid-afternoon Arkansas heat at about 2:00, lugging their week-long packed luggage for one night. After learning that some of their favorites items included fast food, ipods and cell phones (oh and some loved their mirrors too) and watching their expressions of disgust as they learned how they'd be living that night, I was clueless as to how they'd fair.We had to confisgate a refrigerator-full amount of junk food. About 12 hours later, after listening to them wine over the mosquitoes and ask where the nearest hotel was, I returned to find a quiet and very lethargic group. I soon learned that despite their demeanor they really had wanted the full experience. When I asked if they would have eaten burgers last night if I had brought some they almost all said no, that would be a waste of this experience. One girl in particular realized how wasteful she can be and promised to change that. As I heard their individual ah-ha moments I felt so indescribably inspired that they were able to get so much from just one night. My ah-ha moment that morning was that I could be a part of their ah-ha moments in whatever minute way possible.

sleep is a'callin'. I have to wake up early for the Heifer Triathlon. and you thought the Olympics were a big deal...

Life at the Ranch

        Training has pretty much kept me occupied these past two weeks. As boring as it can be it’s still very helpful. I did however have a chance to milk some goats last week. I’d never done it before but I will definitely be helping out more with livestock now. It’s funning that the goats are so used to it that they jump up on the milking stall before they’re called--they know it means extra food! I also got the opportunity to kiss Goby the camel. “Kiss“ is a relative term...if you asked Goby, she’d say I was just feeding her an apple from my mouth, but nevertheless I have a new friend haha. However I think I’ll have to ask her to shave her facial stubble before our friendship can continue.
        The Perry County Fair kicked up in full swing last week (as full swing as a rural fair can get). We stopped by wednesday night just n time to watch the chicken, pig and calf scrambles. That had to be by far the biggest culture shock I’ve experienced since arriving. Twenty 8-12 year-olds running around (some barefoot) in a dirt arena chasing after chickens, piglets and then a calf. Whoever caught the animal got to keep it as a prize and they are required to bring its offspring for another scramble next year. Watching little kids chase and pounce on helpless little animals was a bit hard to watch however, I was told the children are taught the proper way to pick these animals up. The family sitting next to me won two chickens and a piglet who squealed uncontrollably the rest of the event. Poor thing. The calf scramble was tougher since these tired kids had to chase after a larger animal, then tie a harness around its head before a winner could be declared.
        We visited headquarters in Little Rock yesterday. The building won a platinum award (the highest) for its extremely eco-friendly design and functions. The building itself is very open in order to use as much natural light as possible. They also have their own water source via rainwater collected and stored in a moat-like pond. Everyone that we met seemed to genuinely love what they do and were so eager and proud to tell us about their part in the organization. We all hoped we might meet Beatrice, the Ugandan girl who, thanks to her gift a goat and was able to attend Connecticut College. She is now living in Little Rock where she’s studying at The Clinton School for Public Service. Sadly she wasn’t around but I’ve heard rumors she might come to the ranch’s Global Village Day next Saturday. I must say we’ve still met some pretty interesting people such as the employees from World Wide Sires who gave a power-point presentation about their bull sperm business around the world...fascinating...hah
        That’s all I have for now. Hurricane Ike should be moving in soon. Hopefully he won’t overstay his welcome.

Love to all

Global Village

So a lot has happened since I last wrote. We’ve had more orientation everyday which has given us the opportunity to get to known each other better. We have a few new volunteers--Neil from California, Lauren from New Jersey and Ilana from Jerusalem.
        Thursday afternoon we took a tour of the Global Village before splitting into villages and “families” for the night. It is an incredible neighborhood of structures they’ve built--all representing the different countries Heifer supports. Each house had its own story of a family that was doing whatever they could just to survive. Yet each village also had signs of hope partially in thanks to Heifer (animals, zero-grazing pens, composting toilets, water pumps, gardens, and a tank to collect the Methane gas from pig droppings for cooking). These houses are examples that self-sufficiency is quite possible with the proper tools and education.
        After globe-trotting through Arkansas we were selected through a lottery to form families in each of the villages for the night. One member of each group was required to represent a pregnant mother by wearing an apron with a water balloon inside. Another member of each group received a card describing their disease or physical disability that the group would have to work around. A member of my family received typhoid and in order to cure her we had to buy fresh water (in reality that meant some of our food was taken away to symbolize our loss of resources to pay for the clean water). In the end this left us with only 2 cups of rice for nine people.
        My family was sent to live in the “Urban Slums”; a run-down village created out of scrap metal, cardboard and dirt. As it began to get dark, we wondered how we’d barter for water and firewood from the soul families that had received the precious supplies. Luckily for us, every other group was in the same position and we finally decided to pool all our resources and cook together. It was a hop, skip and a jump through Guatemala and then to Thailand where we gathered everything we had and made a vegetable soup, rice and corn patties. After dinner we all sang along with Neil’s mandolin and Samuel from Haiti sang a few hits in Creole. I hardly slept that night due to the mosquitoes which really added to the whole Thai experience.
        After debriefing our experiences the next day, we headed to the high challenge course where we climbed a 30 ft wall, traversed across different courses in the air and ended with a zip line about 100 ft long. Trying to complete the entire course on little-to-no sleep made it extra challenging.
        I’m really enjoying myself, getting to know everyone at the ranch. Hope you’ll all get to come visit someday--it’s quite incredible!

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