Thursday, August 27, 2009

Summary Update

Learning history is fascinating, but learning history from the people who have been affected it provides emotional connection that the books could never give you.

I am only beginning to learn about Liberia. This also means that I am still learning how I can provide meaningful support to my counterparts and international organizations. I hope that I will be able to assist these people because they have had a difficult life after their civil war.

This is a country that has a great deal of potential for future prosperity. The real factor is whether they will decide to take on the an entrepeuner attitude and create the changes they'd like to see in their country. (to paraphrase Ghandi)

I definitely look forward to showing you pictures of this country. It's a beautiful country with a great food and culture.

I must get to work but I wish you all the best. Send me notes, I'd like to keep up with you all.

Thursday, August 6, 2009

Preparation

I have roughly 2 weeks left before I depart to Liberia. These days, I am seeing some of my nearest and dearest friends. It seems quite strange to get close to people just to take off on an adventure. In reality, if I am fortunate enough to achieve my aspirations, I will work in international development and continue this service for the rest of my career. However, I will need to find a graduate program that identifies my potential and desire to serve. This might be a little difficult due to my undergraduate gpa but it is lower because I was working to two vastly different fields; political science and business finance.

I have made ties with Friends of Liberia, a group that I have become a member in. They do very good work in assisting Liberia after their long civil war atrocities. I will do my part in assisting with what I can in the reconstruction of their teaching corps. I am quite certain that this will be much more challenging than my experiences in Moldovan agriculture, when I was a Peace Corps volunteer in Donduseni.

Since time is short, I should get back to searching for a graduate program and spending time with family. I will put a lot of time into discussing the conditions in Liberia and searching for assistance on their behalf.