Stipends, Strategies, and Serendipity

Friday May 7th 2010

Since last Saturday we, the Ghana and Burkina JFs, have been spending all hours together in Toronto experiencing pre-departure training, living in the Akwaaba house, and progressively becoming great friends. Every day I’m noticing changes in myself, and have the opportunity to watch people mature around me. The intense feeling of community that has emerged from this sending group of very different people has really been astonishing. I can honestly say that I’ve looked at each member of our newly formed community and realized why they were chosen as embassadors for change at their chapters.

Temporarily living in a house with 24 other people quickly makes you very thankful for quiet moments alone. This week, on numerous occasions, I found myself searching for something– a quiet moment, a fresh idea, or a sense of motivation– only to find myself following a totally unrelated path moments later. In some instances, this has served as a lucky distraction; in others it has led to really empowering conversations. Those serendipitous moments have challenged me and ultimately made me feel more grounded to my place within EWB.

Pre-departure training has offered many insights into not only the complexities of development, but also who we are as leaders. Staying up until 2:30am listening to Parker speak about his opinions on economic development, challenging our analytical skills by creating our own impact model with Robin, and listening intently to Trevor as he told us stories about his experiences overseas have all been highlights for me. This week has been an emotional rollercoster, but it as really opened my eyes to the values I hold important, and what cards I keep close to my chest.

Flying to Ghana tomorrow will likely be overwhelming. Although the cumulative effects of pre-departure training have been a lot of things– challenging, overwhelming, and empowering– one thing that is absolutely certain is that we’ll never be fully prepared for what’s to come. Recognizing and coming to terms with this allows me to let go of some of my personal expectations and live in the moment. This isn’t a natural course of action for me, but a few people over the week have helped me chip away at this realization.

Thanks to all the JFs and EWB National Office staff for making pre-departure a great learning experience, and best of luck to everyone this summer with their placements!

Thanks for reading,

Erin

P.S- To the Ghana/B.Fas JFs: I love you all. Hugs round 4 when we return.

Introduction

Hello reader(s),

If you’re visiting for the first time, check out the About the Blog section for more information on who I am, and what I’m up to this summer.

Since January I’ve been preparing for my summer placement by reading articles, books, blogs, and e-newspapers to gather information on all things pertinent to Ghana. So far this has been extremely varied, and ranges from current trends in African development work, to typical crops, Ghanaian culture, and understanding market facilitation. All of this has been incredibly informative, but I have a feeling the real learning has yet to begin.

From May 1^st to 7^th I’ll be in Toronto with the members of Team Ghana and Team Burkina Faso for pre-departure training. From my understanding, this week will be an incredible amount of learning in a short period of time. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t nervous, but I’m also really excited have the opportunity to learn surrounded by great people.

Stay tuned for more details and posts over the coming weeks!

Thanks for reading,

Erin