When I did talk to Ibrahim, the director at G-Youth, about my having to leave Garissa he was so wonderful and understanding. He told me how much he had appreciated the work I had done and that they will really be missing my help in the future. He also happened to mention a woman he had talked to a bit over email about 6 months earlier who was working out in the west part of Kenya in Nyanza Province near Kisumu. She had been interested in the youth organization that G-Youth was working on and he thought maybe she might know of someone who could use a volunteer. I told him that I was really appreciative of any help he could give me or any directions to another possible position that I might be interested in. He sent an email introducing Michele and I while I was sitting in his office.
When I returned to my office, I decided to respond to Michele right away and introduce myself. No time to lose, right? Before I could complete two sentences I got a call… from Michele. We talked a little bit and it became immediately clear that we were the answer to each other’s problems. She said she had been looking for a public health volunteer for a few months and was so frustrated she was on the verge of giving up. Specifically, she was looking for someone with a Masters in Public Health to help out on a program that they will begin implementation on in the next couple months. I could tell Michele herself was very motivated and passionate about the work and that it would be a real working position. Before we hung up the phone I felt pretty sure that this was where I would end up. The program she described was a comprehensive community health capacity-building project working with the entire community health system including the household level, community health workers, community health extension workers, community health committees, orphans and vulnerable children and in- and out-of-school youth. Basically, it is everything I have ever hoped to learn about and be involved with in public health.
I had said that I would not be extending unless I found something really great, which I doubted I would since it seemed my new site assignment would be based on luck of the draw. But when I talked to Michele about this project and heard how excited they were and how perfect it fit into everything I want, I made up my mind. I feel so unbelievably lucky to have had this opportunity fall into my lap. It’s like I’ve been given a job that I would never qualify for in real life, but because I am a volunteer I can have it. This is going to be a great opportunity personally and for my career. When things like this happen, I almost believe things do happen for a reason…
0 comments:
Post a Comment