Samaritan's Purse

Please click on the link above for a fast and informative look at the type of work that Samaritan's Purse does, and the impact that they are having on the world. I am applying to work for this organization, probably within the next two weeks.

Death of an Egotist

September 25, 2007

Soft, what bit of Shakespeare
Can I apply to this moment of my life?
Surely the Bard has words aplenty
On human frailty and endless need.
What wisdom can I pull from the pages of the Greats
Who populate the world with
Anti-heroes
Humble peasants
Prophets and warriors
And maybe, somewhere, someone like me?
Psychology tells me "ego boundaries" decide
Where I end and others begin.
Despite simplicity of key terms, there is no set line.
(That was the Alamo, enviable in a way.)
Today my ego boundaries are "permeable."
If you approach me, I'll let you in
But be prepared to confuse me
When I realize I've grown to need you as much as you need me.
Oh bleeding heart that soon needs staunching by the wound giver.
Where is the staunch MacBeth with his bloody hands?
Boundaries resilient, confirmed, no permeation.
No, I despise his supremacy of self.
Instead, in stead.
To look at someone and see their inherent frailties
To understand and yet truly love
To release the death grip on self, falling, falling
And, continuing sweeter still, to someday reap what you've sown.

Conclusion of Afghanaid Internship

This was the conclusion to my 3,400 word paper about my internship experience. Most of the content was filler, but the conclusion is honest. I was often bored with the actual tasks completed, but I did enjoy being there and was privileged to work with some truly fun and altruistic people.

In addition to intimately learning about a worthy organization, growing professionally, and becoming more culturally versatile, my London internship placement has increased my self-confidence in my abilities to adapt and grow in new environments. Rarely does one get a chance to experience such a safe and beneficial challenge. I leave London satisfied that I am a more capable person than when I arrived and that I was able to help the underprivileged in the process.

Speck and Log

Slightly revised mail I sent to a friend earlier today - a topic of recent contemplation.

Last night I went to a film screening at Canda House in Trafalagar Square. It was a co-sponsored by the Canadian High Commission and the organization for which I am interning, Afghanaid. It seems that Canda is relatively committed to assisting Afghanistan, which was quite gratifying to hear. However, as we consumed delicious refreshments (including delectable cheese mini-quiches, champagne, and Jellie Bellies), I could not help but notice the extreme contrast of wealth between those attending the screening (even myself) and the young refugee boy in the documentary film. Though one of the topics of conversation was the proportionally low amount of income that goes to development, I wondered what our individual levels of aid were. How can we condemn countries for giving away such low percentages of their gross national income to overseas aid if we are not willing to do the same as individuals? As an aside, I discovered the other day when researching a paper that although the US gives the largest amount of ODA (Overseas Development Aid) of any country, it has one of the lowest percentages of giving of the developed countries. I believe that it was a mere 0.17% of GNI in 2005. Sweden and Luxembourg were at the highest with 1.03% and 0.89%. I know that the people attending the filming probably give away larger portions of their incomes. Still, how much of our income finds its way to those who truly have nothing? This is something that I continue to struggle with as a Christian, aspiring development worker, and Western citizen.

The not so green, green grass of home

Last night Greg (flatmate)and I spontaneously created a top five list of things we are most looking forward to on our return to the States. These are things that have consistently been running through our heads and bubbled forth when someone mentioned the H-word.

1.)Seeing family, friends, and pets.
2.)Having prices actually reflect what you are going to pay (i.e. no exchange rate).
3.) Wearing different clothing than we have worn for the past 3.5 months and less of it.
4.) Food - American foods we miss and also free food from parents
5.) Driving

Ah, four days and a travel day away!

"Good art is honest"

This is the first two paragraphs from an assignment I recently wrote asking me to visit Britain's two most famous art galleries, the National Gallery (paintings pre-1900) and Tate Modern (contemporary art post-1900)and explain which I thought came closer to my sense of the purpose that art should play in people's lives. I enjoyed this assignment quite a bit, particularly as it afforded an opportunity to define my perception of art.

Thankfully, one of the few qualities about art on which everyone agrees is that it is incredibly subjective. This was important to keep in mind as I roamed the galleries of Tate Modern, pondering a personal definition of art. Somewhere betwixt and between canned feces and Russian propaganda magazine covers, I realized that I believe art is a created tangible object appreciated by someone. This can include nature, if one believes that it is created by God, or animal creations such as beaver dams and spider webs. This definition lets the viewer deal with the questions of aesthetics, as in the old maxim, "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder." My definition also requires an appreciator; an object is not art if it is not appreciated in some way.

What about the role that art should play? One of my favorite professors once told me that good art is honest, which I find to be a commentary on the ideal function of art as well as a standard for what makes art "good." On this subject, I asked one of my closest friends for her personal definition of art, which turned out to be proactive: “Any creation a person makes to send a message to the world.” My idea of art’s role lies between these two thoughts: Art is a medium for bringing truth into people’s lives and for lifting and stirring people’s inherent self-focus. Truth is more important than beauty, but the two often come hand in hand. Moreover, something traditionally thought ugly can be perceived as beautiful when it is true, such as a portrait of an old woman. Art reminds us as human beings that there is more to the world than ourselves and makes us examine our closely guarded notions of how the world is or should be.

Coypu

For some valid reason elusive to memory I was chatting with my roommate Sarika about the giant rodents that plague Lousiana's swamps. Ah, yes, now I recall that the nutra rats (also known as nutria or coypu) were brought up in the context of being fodder for alligators. We were discussing alligators as a shift from crocodiles, which were sighted by Sarika on her visit to Australia. And we like to talk about travel in general.

So now that explanation is out of the way, I can share this fascinating fact that emerged from a quick visit to Wikipedia:

The coypu somewhat resembles a very large rat in appearance. Adults are typically 5–9 kg (10-20 lb) in weight, and 40–60 cm (15-24 inches) in body length, with a 30–45 cm (12-18 inches) tail. They can also be identified by their bright orange-yellow incisor teeth (unlike rats, which have brownish yellow incisors). The nipples of female coypu are on her back. This allows their young to feed while the female is in the water.

Who knew that rodents were so versatile? Maybe that is why there is such a profusion of them.

Also, today I received my first henna tattoo and also wore my first bindi (Indian forehead "dot" or other geometric forehead decoration). Don't worry, I haven't converted to Hinduism. It was for a charity event.