alicia's story

when i first received an email from alicia bruce (of canada) i knew hers' would be a significant story to tell. she had this incredible selfless future planed and she was so articulate, mostly i felt a kindred spirit with respect to a desire to change the world and a willingness to make the sacrifices to see that happen.

we had a brief cross-over while in africa maybe a little over a week, i had a bad cold and she had allergies so neither of us were sleeping well, we both stayed up late chatting and she confided with me about her disappointment with international volunteering and even bigger issues. her plans and ideals around volunteering were being confronted by certain realities and circumstances. she made plans to leave early.

i was really impressed by her honesty. anyone else would have likely kept quiet and accepted it and made the best of it. she didn't. the amazing thing is how she turned this around - to do something even greater.

so now i'm editing this story and of course i can't reveal the details (no spoilers here :) - but being so taken/impressed by her honesty it actually clouded my ability to see how right she is, why she was disappointed in the experience, the SERIOUS flaws of international volunteering.

she's RIGHT!

it's not until i started to edit her story that i'm finally seeing what she was seeing. i mean i heard her say these things and i knew what she was saying - but bringing it together now - WOW! her going not only changed her plans for the future, it not only changed the lives of many woman and kids in molo, now i'm thinking she may change the whole practice of international volunteering itself. she said "it's powerful" she's referring to an insight she had while there. OMG it's POWERFUL! It's world changing and she said also "i'm lucky i went to Chazon" YES! we all were... it's their approach and sensitivities and understanding that helped all of us to come to significant conclusions and revelations. if the flaw she points out is fixed (and it needs to be) - then it'll completely change the face and approach to international volunteering.

i believe alicia is still just 19 :) - so i think we can expect great things from her in the future.