Zambia 2018

       There were two experiences that really stood out to me during my time in Lusaka these past two weeks. The first was at the Sunday market when I saw someone who was clearly a foreigner like myself (called mizungu by the local people) who was wearing a shirt that exemplified savior mentality in a way that took me aback. His shirt had a picture of the African continent in the background and read “We won’t leave until you aren’t orphans anymore.” While there may be sincerity behind the message and the original idea may have been meant in a positive way, the message itself really displayed what we discussed in the pre-departure seminar regarding savior mentality and the “white-man’s burden.” At Cornell and in our group in particular, I haven’t seen instances of such mentality and that is why it took me aback after seeing that shirt. Savior mentality is not something I have seen around a lot and in my mind was something more associated with the past with ...

The word service has many different definitions depending on the context of the situation. Through my “service work” in Zambia, I have found a new definition for service. Before coming, I always thought service had a somewhat negative connotation. It seemed very one-sided as if service was restricted to one person helping another person who was of lesser rank or in greater need. However, this is not the case of my work at the Zambian Governance Foundation. The purpose of my work is to provide a research basis for a policy that will help the development of Zambia. My project is not to simply help those who are in need, but rather to increase knowledge and start conversation. Additionally, after my peace corps experience, I have found another meaning of service. The underlying mission of a peace corps volunteer is to serve in an under-privileged community. However, while I did find that my peace corps volunteer Bertie does her service work in a rural clinic, she also lives in a rural ...

    Coming into this trip, I was very excited about our homestay as I have had a few before on a trip to China and loved it. From the first day when Brian picked Manav and I up, our host family was amazing. I loved all the amazing food, talking to them about their days, watching soccer and wrestling every night, playing games with Divine and Ta’onga, and dancing with the neighborhood kids. Getting to know more about the family and telling them about my home was really fun and I am going to really miss it as we move in to our new place.        One memory in particular that will stick with me was one morning when Divine was off from school and I was getting ready for work, he came into the bathroom when I was about to brush my teeth. I asked him if he brushed already and when he said no I invited him to brush with me. He smiled shyly and ran to get his brush and toothpaste. Even though it was only a few minutes of brushing together, it...

Blog Post #2 – Define Service. To me, service means a few things and is at risk of being disingenuous, so it’s important to examine our intentions when serving. It seems that a lot of travel and tourist companies have been popping up giving people the chance to go off the beaten path to build a school or play with orphans or something temporary that allows people to get some good pictures for Instagram of them “doing good” while in reality they are satiating some desire for colonial repentance. Sometimes I’m not sure how what I am doing is different (I appreciate nice Instagram posts too), but I think investing in relationships and spending a sustained amount of time in Zambia this summer has shown me much more of this country beyond the “disaster porn” that writers sometimes talk about. Since being in Zambia for a month now, I think service means knowing who, why, and how you are making the positive impact that you intend to make with someone. Not knowing how ...

    Service comes in many different flavors and encompasses a wide range of activities motivated by a variety of feelings and beliefs. While it is hard to come up with a concise definition that does justice to the diversity of actions and the associated emotions that service entails, I believe that at its root, service benefits others. This is not to say that service is a wholly unselfish act as this is usually not the case as everyone has their motivations and despite what they say outwardly, may be driven by hidden gains or future benefits. It is perfectly normal for service to benefit the person performing it but in my eyes such actions are not counted as service unless they additionally benefit others. This may be a small, immediate benefit such as helping someone carry their groceries across the street or a larger, long-lasting ones such as those associated with working at an NGO. Each act of service may mean a lot or a little to different people and thus it is hard...

               While saying all of my “goodbyes” leading up to my departure for Zambia, some of the most interesting conversations ensued while explaining to friends and family what I would be doing in Africa. From their single-story perception of the continent, they assumed that I would be doing typical “savior work,” like building a school or repairing a house. When I told them that I would be conducting research as part of Cornell’s Global Service Learning Program, they were confused. They did not seem to understand how research relates to service in any way.                After working at the Southern African Institute for Policy and Research for the past two weeks, I have come to learn that service extends beyond building schools and repairing houses. Service can also include research, policy reviews, and evaluation of policy recommendatio...

After working at CCZ for two weeks, my definition of service has definitely shifted or perhaps solidified. One of the most important aspects of service is showing up to a discussion, being open to criticism, and listening to different perspectives. During this past week, I was able to go to the Zambian Alternative Mining Indaba with my co-workers, who helped organized the whole event. “Indaba” means a meeting among stakeholders, around mining for this particular event. The purpose of this meeting was for community members and civil society members to bring issues and concerns to the attention of representatives of government, i.e. the Ministry of Mines, Chamber of Mines, and Ministry of National Development and Planning, and representatives from the mining companies, i.e. First Quantum Mining. During the opening ceremony, the Minister of Mines were present and delivered the opening speech. Afterwards, he held a Q&A session with the community members that caused the program to run b...

Redefining service during our time in Zambia thus far has come with a fair amount of cognitive dissonance. Before this trip, I struggled to see ways in which people can serve in a public or global health setting without enacting a savior complex or replicating post-colonial violence. In these past two weeks, I have not necessarily learned how to serve “correctly,” but I have noticed that simple awareness of the confusion I feel about how to serve has brought my attention to the ways that others around me serve. The everlasting debate about service is whether or not service is “valid” when you receive something in return. Since arriving in Zambia, I have noticed that searching for this type of service is futile and closes us from opportunities to engage with those around us. As Tine said, giving service is also about receiving and I have seen this theme come to light several times during our time in Zambia, UTH, and ActionAid. Our academic purpose at ActionAid is to lend our time,...