Hello everyone.
My name is Rachelle Blum and I am a volunteer in Denu representing Youth Challenge International. Below are my blog postings for the week of May 19th-24th, 2007.
Enjoy!
When I walk down the street I see…
1. Women walking with unbelievably heavy things on their heads (i.e. tables, bundles of merchandise, food, laundry etc…) without hands
2. Women wrapped in cloth with babies on their backs
3. Tribal members from the local fishing communities wearing white face/body paint, shells and traditional attire
4. Women without shirts selling food, carrying various things and traveling to various places.
5. Sand, coconut trees, goats, chickens and children without underwear.
Three words to describe how I’m feeling about our first activity are……..
- Awesome
- Pumped
- Inspired
We gave our first workshop last Friday to a group of 60 girls at a local school. It was the first time since April 27th that I truly felt I knew why I was here. I felt like there was finally purpose to this trip, to the frustrations and to the challenges. The girls blew me away. They were brave and smart and interesting. They asked questions, engaged, and they filled my heart with promise and hope. I felt we were able to transmit some really important information effectively which felt amazing! There is no feeling in the world that can be compared to the feeling that you may have made a difference. It was pretty awesome.
A traditionally held belief I have a hard time relating to is….
The notion that chiefs and queens are capable and qualified to make decisions and issue consequences regarding law enforcement. The queen mother we are staying with returned from arbitration one day last week and when we asked what case she had resided over that day she seemed hesitant to share it with us. Eventually we learned that a husband had raped his wife outside of their home on the ground and that it was decided as his punishment that he would undergo a cleaning ritual before the wife would return to him. The queen noted that if he were to rape his wife again, then at that time the chiefs would report him to the police. Although rape is formally illegal by law in
Since arriving, I’ve been inspired by the following people…
I am truly inspired by our group leader Nicole. She has a quality that I seem to be forever lacking, patience. She is able to transform any situation, no matter how frustrating or jammed, and move through it effectively and efficiently. She has a gift for seeing the big picture as opposed to the small details, and therefore is able to see the positive in every situation and in every human being. As a group their have been days when we have lost our patience with our peers or with the process and yet she has never lost her patience with us. I do not know where her boundless energy and enthusiasm come from but I know that it inspires me to look deeper and work harder. She inspires me to put my best self forward here and do the best job I am able to do. A leader who brings forth this desire and passion from her team can only be termed exceptional. As a child I was repeatedly reminded of a Hebrew quote Hadracha Bedoogma that translated directly means, Leadership by Example. In 26 years I have not witnessed a greater example of this than Nicole. I think we, the Canadian volunteers, as well as the Ketu district are lucky to have her leading the way.
I learned something about myself this week…
I learned how grateful and endlessly blessed I am to live in a country where:
- I am respected as a young, educated woman with thoughts and opinions that are of value.
- There are serious laws to protect me from rape, violence and discrimination
- I have the luxury of goals, dreams and a promising future.
- I am seen as more than the life, family, and household I was born into it.
- I have a voice and it is heard.
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