"I learned so much today!"

“Service to others is the price we pay for the space we occupy.” Mother Theresa

 

            On most of my other Global Volunteers terms, I’ve worked with students alone or with one other adult, having little opportunity other than our daily meeting to learn what my other teammates were accomplishing.

            Today, with two other enthusiastic members of the Earth Box team, I was fortunate to again visit several sites, seeing other volunteers at their work. First, we lingered at the Primary School to further examine the 39 Earth Boxes there, where we were rained out yesterday. Important, quick decisions were made: the boxes will be moved to other sites with better security and better buy-in from the stakeholders who will be reaping the benefits.

            The honest, heartfelt communication is a direct result of groundwork carefully laid by Global Volunteers leadership; emphasizing that (a) this is your project, (b) the decision is yours, (c) how can we help?

            At the Primary School, we observed how the situation was improved from Day 1: the principal was back; materials are provided, and students needing small-group help are more clearly identified. I personally was impressed by the order and patience displayed by each of the four team members there.

            Our Earth Box team was less overwhelmed and more focused today as well. With most assessment completed, we and our community partners were eager to be “hands-on” and to see a concrete product.

            Today we literally got down to the bottom of the boxes, checking out how they are assembled and planted. We all had fun playing in the dirt. Our team’s most important victory today was commitment from two community leaders who can recruit others. Yesterday, Miss Mary Louise Reid was skeptical, but curious. Yesterday Miss Catherine Griffith returned from a four-month leave of absence and made time for us in her busy day today- thanks to Miss Reid, a force of nature, who now embraces this technology.

            Finally, enthusiastic heart-felt reports at our end of the day meeting suggest that most of us had successful, productive days and are settling in to the many challenging tasks at hand. Just in case we finish them all ahead of schedule, our dinners generate requested help to meet the needs of another part of this amazing community.

- Barbara