i am heartbroken.
i left behind an experience that changed my life and will define my future.
i left behind a school that has changed my perception and my goals. a director that gave me more than he had and taught me the meaning of love and understanding. Chet School was a gift from God. i found students that represented hope, blackboards that signified progress and stories of familes that shook me to my core.
i had quickly become a teacher, a mentor, a sponsor and a friend. i spent my mornings teaching English and watching over the handful of students i had begun to love. i watched students conquer addition, read from the school's 4 English books, and listened as they sang about the stars and the bumble bees.
i spent my afternoons with our director, talking about life, religion, politics and education. i interviewed endless families. families that consisted of hopeless mothers and orphaned children. i sat on chair after chair, welcomed with open arms into their 1 bedroom houses, surveying the belongings of 5, 6, or 7 people and listened as they told me about their lives on 10$ a month. i met people who were dying and people still mourning those they had lost. i took mothers and children to be tested and held their hands as the HIV results were read.
sometimes, i cried. and some days, the tears were just too heavy to fall.
i left behind two children in particular. these children may never be "mine", but they will always be a part of me. while their stories of sufferring are heartbreaking, their smiles make my heart whole again. school is their saviour in more ways than one. i think of them every morning and every night and pray that education will be enough to pull them through poverty and that my sudden absence doesn't discourage their fath.
i spent most of my evenings recounting the events of the day. sharing the grief and finding humor in our cultural clashes. i took weekend trips and endless pictures. i became a local, and despite my mzwungu, (white person) status, i lived there and understood their life.
while the sadness that remains in my heart is overwhelming, it cannot override the raw beauty of the continent, the country and the people i met.
i always knew this trip would "change me", i just didn't anticipate the levity of these stories and the journeys that left an unrelenting ache in my heart.
back at the grind, i have brought home with me several new things: a new mentality, a new perspective, and a new understanding for passion and what it can do.
in my free time, i have become dedicated to finding sponsors for the children i met who have little hope, little family and little love. children that without education, will never amount to more than a vegetable seller or a cattle driver. it's true they may not know better, but that does not justify their lives or give me reason to know them and not do anything to help. i, and a few other volunteers, started a sponsorship program and will watch it grwo along with the children that will forever carry a place in my heart.
i was once told that you cannot understand your own purpose in life until you find something that you love more than yourself. i hope that everyone is lucky enough to have an experience such as this... something that shakes them up and allows them to question their very understanding of life.
if you would like to help me in my efforts through volunteering, sponsorship or donation - please contact me at jessica_a_shipman@yahoo.com
i left behind an experience that changed my life and will define my future.
i left behind a school that has changed my perception and my goals. a director that gave me more than he had and taught me the meaning of love and understanding. Chet School was a gift from God. i found students that represented hope, blackboards that signified progress and stories of familes that shook me to my core.
i had quickly become a teacher, a mentor, a sponsor and a friend. i spent my mornings teaching English and watching over the handful of students i had begun to love. i watched students conquer addition, read from the school's 4 English books, and listened as they sang about the stars and the bumble bees.
i spent my afternoons with our director, talking about life, religion, politics and education. i interviewed endless families. families that consisted of hopeless mothers and orphaned children. i sat on chair after chair, welcomed with open arms into their 1 bedroom houses, surveying the belongings of 5, 6, or 7 people and listened as they told me about their lives on 10$ a month. i met people who were dying and people still mourning those they had lost. i took mothers and children to be tested and held their hands as the HIV results were read.
sometimes, i cried. and some days, the tears were just too heavy to fall.
i left behind two children in particular. these children may never be "mine", but they will always be a part of me. while their stories of sufferring are heartbreaking, their smiles make my heart whole again. school is their saviour in more ways than one. i think of them every morning and every night and pray that education will be enough to pull them through poverty and that my sudden absence doesn't discourage their fath.
i spent most of my evenings recounting the events of the day. sharing the grief and finding humor in our cultural clashes. i took weekend trips and endless pictures. i became a local, and despite my mzwungu, (white person) status, i lived there and understood their life.
while the sadness that remains in my heart is overwhelming, it cannot override the raw beauty of the continent, the country and the people i met.
i always knew this trip would "change me", i just didn't anticipate the levity of these stories and the journeys that left an unrelenting ache in my heart.
back at the grind, i have brought home with me several new things: a new mentality, a new perspective, and a new understanding for passion and what it can do.
in my free time, i have become dedicated to finding sponsors for the children i met who have little hope, little family and little love. children that without education, will never amount to more than a vegetable seller or a cattle driver. it's true they may not know better, but that does not justify their lives or give me reason to know them and not do anything to help. i, and a few other volunteers, started a sponsorship program and will watch it grwo along with the children that will forever carry a place in my heart.
i was once told that you cannot understand your own purpose in life until you find something that you love more than yourself. i hope that everyone is lucky enough to have an experience such as this... something that shakes them up and allows them to question their very understanding of life.
if you would like to help me in my efforts through volunteering, sponsorship or donation - please contact me at jessica_a_shipman@yahoo.com
