Welcome!

Not everyone wants to or has the freedom to pick up and go to a foreign country to start working for little to no pay. I have been lucky enough to find myself in such a situation and would like to share this with as many people as possible.After graduating with a BA in Human Services: Social Action/Social Change, I decided to put some of my ideas into practice. I moved back home, got a full-time job, and started saving almost every penny that I earned.

By the end of the summer, I will have saved enough to support me (very modestly) for three months in Mozambique. I leave September 3rd, 2008.I plan to return to the Community Center in Nhamatsane, where I worked for much of last year. This time, I bring with me new information, new lesson plans, and a new mission. In the nine months that I spent in Mozambique in 2006 and 2007, I tried many different ideas and made many mistakes. I have seen the things that work and the things that absolutely do not.

For these reasons, my goal this time around is to completely rethink the words "charity," "poverty," and "development." I feel that a project's capacity for changing lives is not merely determined by how much money it has (though that certainly is a factor!), but who it touches and how.

To be a part of something incredible, we do not have to write a check without ever knowing where it really goes nor do we have to pack our bags and get on a plane. If we all give what we can, I guarantee that we will see amazing results!

While I leave most of you behind in the United States, what I do is not a one person job. I sincerely hope that this will perpetually be a learning experience for all of us, which is why I ask that we share our knowledge, fresh perspectives, and resources with each other.

Enjoy the blog!

Elyse

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

T Minus Seven Weeks and Counting...

Hello and Welcome to the blog!!

Well we are at T minus seven weeks until I jet off to Mozambique. I am in the final planning stages of my projects, communicating with the Centro Aberto de Nhamatsane (CAN), and brushing up on my Portuguese.

Here are the plans I am currently working on:


  • Health and Hygiene classes for adults, teenagers, and children
  • Weekly HIV/AIDS awareness workshops consisting of four parts: a classroom session, group trust-building and support exercises, HIV tests for all willing participants, and subsequent debriefing/counseling
  • Homework help sessions for the four primary schools in Chimoio
  • Community service and team-building projects with teenagers of the village (building latrines, repairing broken houses of the elderly, etc)
More details as I get them!

Elyse
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