But I was already hoping and had been for a long time.
So when that invitation packet arrived on my doorstep a week after the Peace Corps Toolkit notified me of my invite-status, I felt a kind of relief and excitement and nervousness and joy all in one Wonka-style, nugget-crunch of emotion. I felt this, because after a year of telling people that I was going overseas to do “not-sure-what” in “not-sure-where,” I finally did know what and did know where. I have a destination and a mission to accomplish when I get there.
On July 5, 2011, I’ll be leaving to South Africa to volunteer as a Resource Specialist for the Peace Corps!
Now, I would like to take the opportunity to thank those that have supported me throughout this journey:
Thank you all. This is not a journey I could complete alone nor would I have wanted to.
I wanted to call this blog something that would draw from South African culture and history. For those that don’t know, “The Great Trek” was a mass exodus by European Africans (Dutch Boers who called themselves “Voortrekkers”) who left their home in the Cape Colony to evade British rule. The British, having recently acquired South Africa through the Napoleonic wars, substituted the official use of the Dutch language for English. Laws like these helped exacerbate an already-ailing sense of sovereignty for the colonists who gradually lost their ability to influence government through magistrates and councils.
In history, these Voortrekkers moved north and east where they encountered conflict with the many tribes already inhabiting the region. In Natal, these whites clashed with the Zulu people and killed many of their warriors. In the east, colonists faced continued aggression with the proud Xhosa, a relationship that would help influence a man from that tribe named Nelson Mandela.
On July 5, 2011, I’ll be leaving to South Africa to volunteer as a Resource Specialist for the Peace Corps!
Now, I would like to take the opportunity to thank those that have supported me throughout this journey:
To Chris: Thank you for giving me an “office” to have my Skype call to Chicago, for being late to work because I didn’t know we needed money for fingerprints and for listening to countless worst-case-scenario terrors I envisioned throughout this process.
To Tanna, Andy, Mrs. Fish: Your references and your guidance through enthusiastic support of this goal of mine.
To Lucas: For giving me some peace of mind when I thought the waiting would drive me crazy.
To Brianna: Because you’ve been the best of friends and the richest of support, my confidence at times and my means of getting through the many sleepless nights where I was not so sure of myself.
To Mom, Dad, Eric and Ezra: Because leaving the family you love is the hardest part about all of this. You gave me the tools, instructions and examples to live by. Because without you, I wouldn’t have asked the questions, read the books and wondered what my place in the Universe is: all things that directly led me to this point.
To The Others: I cannot hope to remember all the many supportive faces that have put their hope where I did, listened when I could not help but worry and share a similar joy to mine at this news.
Thank you all. This is not a journey I could complete alone nor would I have wanted to.
I wanted to call this blog something that would draw from South African culture and history. For those that don’t know, “The Great Trek” was a mass exodus by European Africans (Dutch Boers who called themselves “Voortrekkers”) who left their home in the Cape Colony to evade British rule. The British, having recently acquired South Africa through the Napoleonic wars, substituted the official use of the Dutch language for English. Laws like these helped exacerbate an already-ailing sense of sovereignty for the colonists who gradually lost their ability to influence government through magistrates and councils.
In history, these Voortrekkers moved north and east where they encountered conflict with the many tribes already inhabiting the region. In Natal, these whites clashed with the Zulu people and killed many of their warriors. In the east, colonists faced continued aggression with the proud Xhosa, a relationship that would help influence a man from that tribe named Nelson Mandela.
The Great Trek marks a fundamental shift in the history of South Africa. It is a time where the identity of the white Afrikaans became cemented and it is a time where cultural and racial lines began to scar the beautiful landscape of South Africa. These same scars can still be seen today, just 17 years after the ending of racial segregation under the policy of apartheid. The ghost of apartheid still haunts this culture through the many adaptations blacks and whites have made during its perverse rule.
And here I am, 200 years later about to make a similar journey. I know I’m about to leave the land and family that I love. I have an admitted ignorance of the culture and people I will meet. I have little concrete knowledge of what I will do when I get there. In many ways, I feel very much like these early Voortrekkers…with a difference.
When I leave to go to South Africa, I will be going with an open mind to learn from a people I know little about. Instead of fighting, we will be working together to build something new for the community. We will be working across cultural barriers rather than along them. This will take a lot of effort, a lot of patience and a special kind of wisdom to know where I fit in my new home. This is a different journey from the Voortrekkers; one that I hope will be positive to the people I intend to serve and for me as I learn from them.
I don’t believe this task will be easy, but I didn’t sign up for it because I thought it would be.
1 comments:
Awesome. I was waiting to see when you would put this blog up. We'll be keeping up with ya on the here. Already in my favorites. Good luck with everything man.
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