Friday, June 5, 2009

From The Start

Hey there again,

So keeping a blog is a bit harder than I thought... it requires a lot of discipline, time management, and will power to sit down and write regularly (this is going to be a nice challenge for me).
OK, so I figure that in order for the readers to have a better understanding of why I am going to Rwanda, I should give a little background information on how I got the grant and the events leading up to that.

It started last summer (2008). I decided that it was time for me to go back to Burundi and see my family again. The last time I saw my family I was in the fourth grade and things didn't go too well. Emotionally it was very hard on me and I returned to the states with too many questions still left unanswered, and ended up more confused than ever. Sure I was family, but I felt like a stranger invading personal space. I wanted more than anything to just be with my brothers and sisters, to talk to them the way siblings do, to hang out with them and get to know them. There was so much separating us; they had grown up together, as a family in Burundi while I was doing my own growing up, but in Bethesda. So it was like, even though we were from the same tree, we were two completely separate branches growing in opposite directions. I still could speak Kirundi (Burundi’s official language), but I was going through emotional trauma and I found myself, essentially, muted. I was almost unable to communicate with my biological siblings while I had absolutely no problems communicating with my adopted parents and siblings.

Last summer, I felt this urge to see my family. I think that I had decided that I was emotionally able to handle seeing them again and I felt like I would be able to deal with it in better ways. From then on, I set my mind that I would be going to Burundi this summer. All I would have to do is save up enough money for the plane ticket (about 2,000 USD) and from there I would be set because the currency exchange in Burundi is really good for dollars.

So this spring, I met with some people from the CDO (Career Development Office) at Grinnell and told them of my plans to go back to Burundi and possibly working as a volunteer at the orphanage where I had lived before being adopted. To my biggest disappoint, I learned that I would not be able to go to Burundi through any Grinnell Grants because the State Department has travel warnings/regulations because they don't think it is safe enough. I am not going to lie; I was heartbroken and devastated because I did not know how else to get money for the plane ticket.

After talking to the director of the CDO, she recommended that I volunteer in Rwanda because it is the closest to Burundi, and that if I really wanted to help children; a child in need is still a child in need, regardless of the country. So I followed her advice and started looking online for legitimate organizations that I felt I could contribute to and found Agahozo Shalom Youth Village. After 3 letters of recommendation, 3 essays and lots of stress, I received an email saying that even though they thought I was a strong candidate, they only accept college graduates!

While waiting to hear back from Agahozo Shalom Youth Village, I had applied for the Posse Summer Leadership Award and was denied, so I wrote a letter of intent with my background, my goal for the summer, and asking for two thousand dollars to cover the airfare. I then sent Grinnell College President, Russell K. Osgood an email asking if he would meet with me so that he could help me out. (I figured I would start from the top...)

President Osgood emailed me back and suggested that I meet with Houston Dougharty who is the Vice President for Student Affairs. I met with Houston, gave him my letter of intent and my Posse Summer leadership award application as he requested, and told me that he would be in touch.

All this time, I had been emailing various professors on campus, sending my letter of intent as an attachment. I got back in touch with Anthropology Professor Brigittine French, whom I knew from my first year when she had asked me to give her introductory class a lecture about my experience surviving the genocide. She put me in touch with a Grinnell alum who happened to be doing the exact kind of volunteer work that I was interested, and even more, she was working in Burundi and Rwanda! It was fate!

As suggested by Houston, I had also sent out an email to the Vice President of Alumni Relations Mr. Munley. I sent out the email on May 06, 2009 at 4:43 PM and at 6:48 PM, he responded saying that an alum from New York had given me 3,000 USD for my summer. That quickly, my life was completely changed. It felt that at the snap of a finger, my dreams were going to be made true and I felt overwhelmed with emotions.

At first, I cried because I was so surprised at the generosity of a stranger and excited at the thought of working and teaching children. After a couple of minutes, I started bawling in my roommate's and boyfriend's arms because I had come to the realization that it would allow me go to Burundi from Rwanda and see my family again. I was completely freaking out because I felt like this would be another opportunity to get to know my family again, but all the while I was having flashbacks from my last visit, and I cried harder; tears of joys, sadness, and anguish.

Later that night still crying I called my parents to let them know about the good news.

After I found out that I would not be able to work at Agahozo Shalom Youth Village as planned, I got in touch with the Grinnell alum and she introduced me to another children's home. I got in touch with their founder, and after sending my resume etc. I was accepted to work there. So it is settled... I will be working at Urukundo Children's home for the two months. By the way, Urukundo means " LOVE" in Kinyarwanda and Kirundi. I will be paying $70 per week for room and board while there. The village survives through donations, which is why I am paying room and board.

This entry is way too long, so I will write some more tomorrow.

Good night for now,

Nadine

3 comments:

  1. This is wonderful Nadine, you never cease to inspire and amaze. Thank you for being so willing to share your journey with everyone who reads.

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  2. Nadine, Je suis sans nouvelles de toi depuis plusieurs jours. Je sais que c'est dur de maintenir un blog, un petit mot ferait plaisir. Enfin sois sure que je t'accompagne de tout coeur dans ta demarche , Je suis fiere de toi et t'aime .
    Love .
    Maman
    B

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