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sheldoggy
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Name: Sheldon
Birthday: 11/8/1981
Gender: Male
Interests: Mmm...wouldn't you like to know
Expertise: Watching time pass through my cupped fingers like water through a sieve
Message: message meEmail: email me
Member Since:
4/29/2004
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| Bolivia re-boundMuch has changed since last I wrote an update. At that time I was on the verge of departing Ecuador and heading to Bolivia for the remaining 2 and a half months of my internship with Samaritan's Purse. That time has passed, and passed quickly, and I've now been in the states for one month. It seems surreal at times, as I remember back to the 9th of June when I first headed for South America. I spent nearly 5 months down there, though it seemed less like half a year and more like several weeks.
Part of my hope in undertaking this internship was to obtain employment with Samaritan's Purse at the close of my time with them. God has been good, and that is exactly what has happened. I have been asked to return to Bolivia and work with the office there on a one year contract. Work there promises to be much of what I did during the internship. My primary job will be working with the agronomy team on a water and sanitation program, where I'll primarily be helping with well construction and installation. I'll also be helping out in the main office, putting my journalism background to good use and doing communications work and proposal writing. As well, I'll be coordinating next year's batch of interns and potentially taking part in the disaster response at our office in central Bolivia, which is subjected to annual flooding.
It's not as though I have my entire future planned out, just the next year. But, for me, this seems like the most dramatic step I've taken since graduation from college. It's been nearly a year and a half since I began seriously considering humanitarian work. I'd been told, and read, that finding work in international development is hard and breaking into the field can be extremely difficult without the right connections and experience. The fact that, within this year and a half, I have found employment with a Christian NGO leaves me feeling confident that I'm heading down the right direction. To say I'm excited by the chance to spend a year in Bolivia with Samaritan's Purse is an understatement of enormous proportions!
I had hoped to post more on my time in Bolivia, but as they say, pictures are worth a bit more than words...right? In any case, pictures are forthcoming on Facebook!
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| Bolivia-boundAs it turns out, my time is almost up in Ecuador, and it came around a bit faster than expected--I´ve been down here for 2 months and 1 week already! Whodathunkit? So am I going to miss it all? Well... I won't miss the thick clouds of black exhaust spewing from the rear of buses on my morning walk to the office (It'll be nice not agonizing over how much I'm removing from my life expectancy simply by inhaling that next lungful of Quito air). I won't miss reaching 80% of my maximal heart rate by simply walking up the hill leading to my house (turns out that happens when you live at 9300 feet). I won't miss Ecuador's driving philosophy, which views a pedestrian as of only slightly more worth than the common bug. I don't think I'll miss the (somewhat uninspiring) food that composes Ecuadorian cuisine. But I will miss the wonderful, indigenous culture of Ecuador. I will miss being greeted by towering mountains outside my door every morning. I will miss the falling of the sun as it hides behind the flanks of the Andes every day. I will miss the wonderful friends I've made in the short time I've been here. I will miss the awe-inspiring trip through the Andes to visit the 102 homes we are building in the shadow of the volcano, Tungurahua. I will miss the humility of the Colombian missionaries I met in the jungle area of Shell and the lessons I learned on compassion and sacrifice there. I will miss the Baptist Church in Ambato that received me with open arms and will do the same when I return. I will miss the heart of our program managers working on the Colombian border with the refugees and displaced persons, returning even after being tortured and forced to flee for their lives. I will miss...well, the list goes on and would certainly outnumber the list of things I will not miss. The beauty of it all is that I'm now heading to Bolivia, where many of the same things will be present, in slightly different form. If I thought living at 9300 feet was occasional hard work, I'm pretty sure 14,000 feet will instruct on me how much harder it can be (the elevation of the airport in La Paz). Whereas I've spent the majority of my time in the city here in Ecuador, I'll be treated to the joys of more primitive living in Bolivia, where I'll be spending most of my time in the highlands, working with indigenous villagers (Bolivia is 70 percent indigenous, the highest of any South American country). I'm looking forward to meeting the staff in Bolivia which, if my experience so far with the caliber of people Samaritan's Purse hires is any indication, should be a fantastic time. It's been a while since I've truly felt comfortable with the direction my life is following. It's felt as though I've spent a great deal of time wandering and casting about for something that truly inspired me since graduation from college. For the first time in a while, I have the sense I'm heading in the right direction. Relief and development work feels like the key that fits the lock to my passions and leads me to think that, generally, this is the right path to pursue. Where I fit into this admittedly broad and diverse field, specifically, is still up in the air. But that will come with time. God never seems to show me that far ahead. And I'm alright with that. Keep me in your prayers. I'm leaving Saturday night from Quito and arriving in La Paz, Bolivia the next day. What happens then is anybody's guess, but I got a feeling it's gonna be good. | | |
| Of fastfood and comfort foodIt´s an interesting phenomenon I´ve noticed every time I leave the country. While in the U.S., it is rare that I eat any sort of fast food, unless it is Subway. However, after a month or two in a foreign country, I find myself, almost against my will, drawn toward U.S. fast food chains, typically McDonalds. So it is that within the last two weeks, I´ve probably eaten at McDonald´s 3 or 4 times (and no, I´m not proud of this fact). The only explanation I can think of is that, somehow, in a weird, twisted, and distinctly Kafkaesque (yes, at this point I´m just throwing words in the mix...how about "effervescent" and "rabbinical" as the coupe de grace) manner, American fast food has become a comfort food. Ah, I shudder to think how this may have happened. And so it is that as I sit at this computer monitor, with the beginnings of hunger rumbles in the stomach, I imagine a massive Big Mac before me, steaming in all its MSG-impregnated goodness, beckoning me to partake of its saturated fat unhealthiness. Must....fight...the....urge.....argh! | | |
| Updates from the fieldI'm a bit overdue for an update, so since I have some free time today, I'll get right to it. At this point I'm three days away from turning one month old in Ecuador. As with everything in life that involves time, it's flown. As I sit here pondering what I've done since coming down, I realize again how difficult it is for me to write comprehensive and chronological descriptions of my daily life. I'm sure that is why I've waited this long to write anything substantive about my time down here. I keep telling myself that it shouldn't be this hard to keep the rest of the world updated; but it's always been far easier and more pleasurable to write of thoughts running through my head and relating it incidentally to events ongoing in my life. But that provides very little in the way of satisfaction for those wanting to know what I am actually doing. So I'm going to give it a whack and see what happens. My first week in Ecuador was an extension of my orientation in Boone, NC, but far more specific and slightly less structured. Our intern supervisor, Jeff, was an intern this time last year and has been trying to provide an enjoyable, educational, and occasionally quirky time for both Brenda and I (Brenda being the other intern I have the pleasure to serve with). So far he has succeeded. Friday of our first week in country, the country director for Ecuador showed up and immediately ensured that I would be busy for the next while. I was assigned to report on our use of cement in a housing program ongoing in the country. SP is nearly done building 102 houses to replace houses destroyed in the eruption of Volcano Tungurahua in 2006, Ecuador's largest volcano. A month ago we received a donation of 12800 sacks of cement. For the purposes of transparency, Judd, the CD, asked me to compile a report and show how we used our cement previous to the donation and what we've done with it since the donation. That report took more than two weeks and more hours than I care to count--and all for 9 pages. But it's worth was shown yesterday as we hosted a delegation of individuals from the donor company; we have high hopes that they will be impressed with our transparency and work in Penipe and will continue to support us in other building projects we are in the process of undertaking. This past week has been a mixture of assistance to Judd, Jeff and others involved, ranging from proofreading emails and project proposals to reformatting the report for use as an internal document. In the meantime I've had the opportunity to visit several sites in and around the city of Quito, play plenty of hearts and Texas Hold 'em with the other interns and employees and truly begin to revel in the wonders of this experience. Did I forget to mention that I'm thankful to again be outside of the US, working with Samaritan's Purse? I am, and I thank God every time I'm reminded how great an opportunity I've been given! As with everything in life, I found that I had idealized what it means to be a relief and development worker in a developing country. There's a lot more logistics and desk work than I had originally imagined. But I'm in no way disillusioned; I went in knowing that I had idealized the work, just unsure of how I had idealized it. Now I'm figuring it out, and I'm glad for the chance. A dose of reality is always welcome. Sunday I'm heading out for the port city of Guyaquil to assist in the AIDS program we currently have ongoing and plan to return Thursday. There's much to do for willing hands, and I'm trying to be as willing as humanly possible. Thanks for your prayers and thoughts. Drop me a line or leave a comment when the mood so strikes you. | | |
| Quito Ahoy!Ahem. So I've been a bit tardy in writing. Especially since I am already two weeks into my expedition down to South America. But as I mentioned in my previous entry, consistency in updating this is not my best trait. But it's all good! For those unaware of recent developments in my life, I am currently sitting down at a computer in Quito, Ecuador typing this entry. About two months ago I was accepted to a paid internship with Samaritan's Purse, a Christian relief and development organization. At the time, I was exploring several different options, two of which were the Peace Corps and graduate school. But when this came along, I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that it was God's will for me at this time in my life. It's been fantastic so far. I left for orientation in Boone, NC on June 9th and spent a week meeting fantastic interns and other international field staff. It was truly inspiring to be around such talented and lovely people. Hopefully it won't be the last time that I see them. On the 14th I took off for Quito and have been here since then. I suppose there is much more to say, but that will have to wait for another time. Leave a comment. The more comments mean a greater chance of updates. Yeah! | | |
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