Today R asked me, "what do you think about your experience in Japan so far?"
It's strange to think that I have been here for as long as any summer internship normally lasts. The time I have spent here so far has been as long as the time I spent in South Africa or at Innosight. I should feel like I've spent quite a long time here, but instead this still feels like the beginning (I guess it's all relative).
At this point I guess I should have an opinion on my time here, and upon further thought, I guess I do.
I came with the expectation, that I imagine a lot of people doing development work for the first time have, that I was going to make a big difference in peoples' lives. Like a prime-time drama there would be tears, confessionals, and a life changing moment. This notion was quickly dispelled. I soon realized that the work that we do here is not life changing. In fact, the last thing the survivors of the tsunami need is more change in their lives. Instead what we do is life supporting and repairing. One of our events happens every Saturday and helps survivors get through their troubled times one week at a time.
For a while it wasn't apparent to me what I was doing was making a difference--each Saturday we would haul tables and chairs from our shed to the community center and then rush around setting up and making meals for the 70 odd people who showed up. Recently however, L, one of the organizers of the event, shared with me one of the ladies' stories. This old lady was having a lot of trouble coping with the aftermath of the tsunami and it was our weekly Saturday event that she looked forward to. It kept her feeling positive about life. L has promised to spend time next week retelling all the stories she's heard from the Saturday events, but even hearing that one story has made me realize that even the most mundane things can make an enormous impact.
Through these past two months I've realized that there is no magic moment where you change someone's life for the better. Instead, recovery is a long day-to-day process of trying to redefine normal. It can be mundane. It can be repetitive. But that's life.
It's strange to think that I have been here for as long as any summer internship normally lasts. The time I have spent here so far has been as long as the time I spent in South Africa or at Innosight. I should feel like I've spent quite a long time here, but instead this still feels like the beginning (I guess it's all relative).
At this point I guess I should have an opinion on my time here, and upon further thought, I guess I do.
I came with the expectation, that I imagine a lot of people doing development work for the first time have, that I was going to make a big difference in peoples' lives. Like a prime-time drama there would be tears, confessionals, and a life changing moment. This notion was quickly dispelled. I soon realized that the work that we do here is not life changing. In fact, the last thing the survivors of the tsunami need is more change in their lives. Instead what we do is life supporting and repairing. One of our events happens every Saturday and helps survivors get through their troubled times one week at a time.
For a while it wasn't apparent to me what I was doing was making a difference--each Saturday we would haul tables and chairs from our shed to the community center and then rush around setting up and making meals for the 70 odd people who showed up. Recently however, L, one of the organizers of the event, shared with me one of the ladies' stories. This old lady was having a lot of trouble coping with the aftermath of the tsunami and it was our weekly Saturday event that she looked forward to. It kept her feeling positive about life. L has promised to spend time next week retelling all the stories she's heard from the Saturday events, but even hearing that one story has made me realize that even the most mundane things can make an enormous impact.
Through these past two months I've realized that there is no magic moment where you change someone's life for the better. Instead, recovery is a long day-to-day process of trying to redefine normal. It can be mundane. It can be repetitive. But that's life.
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