I have worked with some incredible people this year, and I
want to share with you all who these people are! I give you the Southern Africa
Country Program!
Sarah Vatne: Empangeni,
KwaZulu-Natal
As time went by Sarah became less and less intimidating
because she is truly herself. All of the confidence she has, all of the
knowledge she has, all of the talent she possess, are truly Sarah. She lives as
herself with no apologies for it, and when she does, she never comes across as
arrogant or boastful, because she doesn’t live that way to better only herself,
she does it so that people can see that who you truly are is okay, and you
should live that way. She cares about everyone she meets, and she wants
everyone to have the confidence to live as themselves, so she walks the walk to
show people that it is possible. She has helped me to realize this in myself,
and I can walk taller because of her!
Ashley Holbert:
Soweto, Gauteng
The first time I met Ashley was when we were waiting for the
bus to arrive to take all of the volunteers from the airport to our placement
conference. All of us had arrived tired and exhausted from mostly early morning
flights, and out of nowhere here comes this woman, confident, dressed to the
nines, and looking fresh, walking up to the group and just started having a
conversation with a group of people. This was a woman who grew up in Chicago,
was proud of where she grew up, and loved the people she grew up with. From the
second you met Ashley, you could tell she was at home anywhere she went, and if
you gave her the time of day, you would be her friend for life.
As the year has gone one, I have come to know Ashley as the
woman who wears her heart on her sleeve. She feels everything with her full
being, and when she loves, she loves fully. I had the opportunity to go and
visit Ashley in Soweto and see her site. When I arrived, I didn’t see her in a
site placement, I saw her in a new home, a place where she knew everyone, and
everyone knew her. She was so excited to introduce me to people she now
considers family, and she was excited to show me the people she had come to
love. Because Ashley has such a big heart and such a capacity to love everyone,
she truly makes everyone feel welcomed and makes them feel like they are loved
for who they are. Because of Ashely, I know that I am loved, even when I don’t
feel like I am; she is always there to tell me I am.
Michelle Olson:
Atteridgeville, Gauteng:
Michelle is a fellow Minnesotan, so the first time we met
each other was technically on the plane to our YAGM orientation. The only
problem we ran into was that Michelle didn’t say hello to me on the plane, but
then again, neither did I. We both recognized each other, but because of nerves
or exhaustion, we waited for the next opportunity to introduce ourselves. The
next opportunity came on the bus ride to orientation, where we sat and had an
intensely personal conversation right away. I am not one to start with small
talk; I usually just jump in to the deep end and start asking personal
questions. Michelle was kind enough to answer many of my questions, and to even
ask me some of her own. It was great to meet another person who had the
patience to deal with my strange conversation style.
Michelle is one of the most patient people I have ever met.
She will listen to anyone and everyone, and not only listen, but make you
understand that you have been heard. If the conversation gets interrupted, she
will make sure to bring it right back to where you left off. She makes you feel
heard because she genuinely wants to hear what you have to say, even if it is
nonsense, or if it is venting about something going on in your life. She is
also one of the best cribbage players I have faced since my own father. She and
I seem to have a continuous series of Cribbage games, and if I remember
correctly, we are tied, something that hasn’t happened since playing with my
own family! Watching Michelle in her own community, I was able to see how many
people she had spent time getting to know, because they all loved her and were
excited to see her when she walked by. Because of Michelle, I have learned how
to be patient with everyone, and I have learned to see the value in every
conversation I have, even if I don’t understand it!
Courtney Smith:
Spruitview, Gauteng
The first time I met Courtney was at our orientation in
Chicago when the Southern Africa group was hanging out together during one of
our breaks. We had all decided we wanted to get to know each other better, and
somehow the game of cribbage was brought up. Courtney had never played cribbage
before, but was very excited to learn. She could tell it was a game that some
of us were excited about, so she sat down and learned how to play. The first
game we played, she was my opponent, I lost, not just lost, but was demolished.
I have been playing cribbage since I was about eight years old, but I had never
lost that bad, at least not that I could remember. I was more than a little
upset, but the fact that a new friend wanted to play my favorite game was more
than enough to make up for my embarrassing defeat!
Over many cribbage games, I have gotten to know Courtney
better, and she somehow is able to make people feel like they are the most
important person in the room. She has the ability to walk into a room full of
people she doesn’t know, and she will walk out with a room full of new friends.
She cares about what other people are interested in, and she wants to know
about it too. She doesn’t just care what you are interested in, she wants to
know why you are interested in it. She has a heart of Gold, and she will invest
herself into your life, even with little things that you would think are
inconsequential. To Courtney, they are important details that she wants to know
more about. She is also one of the biggest Harry Potter fans that I know, and
if you need to know anything about the series, just ask her, she’ll tell you
right away. Because of Courtney, I have learned how to invest in people with
everything that I have. Not just to talk to them, but how to talk to them to
invest in their life and show that they truly matter! Courtney has been a huge
help in reading and editing my blog posts before I send them out to the world.
Andi Logee: Ndlovini,
KwaZulu-Natal
The first time I met Andi was in Chicago, a few weeks before
the start of our Orientation. We both had to travel to Chicago to apply for our
Visa’s in person. We had spent months collecting all of the necessary
paperwork, had completed numerous checklists and appointments to receive the
paperwork, and this was the day we would complete the last step in the process.
So we thought. Because of a single piece of paperwork having been printed on
the wrong sheet of paper, Andi was denied her Visa, and would have to return
home, and travel back to Chicago again at another point to do the process over
again. Despite the setback, Andi kept her spirits up, and we walked around
Chicago and explored some parts of the city and enjoyed an afternoon in a new
city.
Andi’s ability to persevere is nothing short of incredible.
She knows that things will eventually get better, and she pushes through. She
can see that things need to get done, despite the situation at hand, and she
will continue to push through until the end. She doesn’t quit, and she doesn’t
give up, she just rolls up her sleeves and gets to work. Because of her
perseverance, Andi has the ability to encourage people to continue working and
to push through whatever obstacle they are facing at the time. She has a way of
opening up new ways of looking at situations and a new way of viewing the
world. Because of Andi, I have learned how to take a step back and look at
things before deciding I can’t do it; Andi has many times stopped my train of
thought from being cemented and has taught me that maybe things aren’t the way
they seem!
Solvei Stenslie: Makhado,
Limpopo
The first time I met Solvei, we were planning to sing a song
for the talent show on the last day of orientation. We sat down in a small
practice room with only enough space for a chair and a piano, and began working
on our piece. I would play piano, and she would sing her piece, one she had
written on her own. We spent nearly two hours flipping through her song book
just reading through the hundreds of songs she had already written and had
penciled into her notebook. Just being able to sit down and jam with her in a
language that we both understood was very freeing. We had the chance, just for
a few hours, to speak in music.
Solvei is a fiercely independent woman, and isn’t afraid to
be who she is. She is also one of the few people in the world who can somehow
translate my strange thoughts and conceptualized thinking. We have been able to
sit down and have conversations such as “where does love come from? And are
animals capable of selfless love?” She is another person who doesn’t do well
with small talk, and will choose to dive headfirst into conversations that are
deep and intense and usually can’t be concluded in less than several hours of
discussion. Because of her ability to get to the important stuff so quickly,
people take to Solvei quickly. They enjoy being able to have a conversation
with her and to know that there will be no shortage of thought provoking
questions from her. Solvei has taught me to keep asking my questions, and to
make no apologies for being curious about the world!
Alyssa Buchanan:
Swaziland
The first time I ever met Alyssa was the same day that I
taught Courtney how to play cribbage. There were enough people that wanted to
play, so we played teams. Alyssa was my teammate, and I was excited to help my
teammate with her first time playing cribbage. As you already know, it was a
tough loss, and as much as I would like to blame the loss on Alyssa’s first
time playing, it wasn’t her fault. I had terrible cards, and I just played a
bad game. It was my fault we had been humiliated in her first attempt at
cribbage.
Alyssa is a warm hearted woman who is excited about
everything she is a part of. When she chooses to do something, she doesn’t tip
toe up to it with caution, she just goes for it. That is what she did with
YAGM, and it is what she did with making friends in the group. She was excited
to meet the people in this group and was happy to support the others through
the year. Because of Alyssa, I have learned how to be more excited about the
things life has to offer, and how to just go for things instead of tiptoeing
towards everything!
Emily Dietrick:
Newcastle, KwaZulu-Natal, Umphumulo, KwaZulu-Natal
The first time I met Emily was the day we were given our
placement for the year. The small group of people who had been selected for
Southern Africa was meeting together before we were all traveling back to our
homes. Though I was incredibly nervous, Emily seemed to be relaxed enough to
talk to people, and we started talking about running. Both of us enjoy running,
but Emily is a very dedicated runner, having trained for and competed in
numerous races, including a full marathon. We began discussing the possibility
of running a marathon while in Southern Africa, and I felt comfortable knowing
that there was someone who could help encourage me to keep running, even
overseas.
Emily is one of the most detail-oriented people that I know.
When it comes to making plans, she will be the first to step up and start
laying out ideas and possibilities. I was planning a visit to her site, and I
wasn’t sure of the bus and travel information. I checked my email later that
day and she had clearly laid out my travel dates, travel times, travel costs,
information on where I would catch each bus, and what we would do each day at
her site. She has such a passion for planning and a passion for making sure
that people are successful. Because of Emily, I have learned that it is okay to
make plans, and it is okay to have aims for the future! Emily was also a huge
help and was always willing to read and edit my blog posts!
Tessa Moon Leiseth:
Pietermaritzburg, KwaZulu-Natal
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| This is a bonus, Tessa with my host family, Rev. LM Mdluli, and his Wife, Mbali and my host brother, Izicolo (10 months in this picture) |
Finally, our fearless leader, Tessa. The first time I met
Tessa, I was entering into the room at our placement conference to hear her
presentation on Southern Africa. From that very first presentation, I could see
that Tessa was excited about sharing knowledge with people. The presentation
was only 30 minutes, but in that time, we all learned that there were many
things that we were about to learn on our Journey, and Tessa was going to be
there with us every step of the way.
Tessa has a way of sharing just enough information with us
so that we will be successful, but not sharing too much so that we experience
things through her eyes. Everything that Tessa has taught us has been a way for
us to navigate this new experience in our own way, and how to process through
all the information we have been taking in. Moving to another country and
living among a culture that is completely foreign to you can be incredibly
emotional and terrifying, but Tessa has taught us all to see these things as
wonderful, and to be curious about them. With the immense program library that
Tessa has worked to build, all of us have been able to learn more about
ourselves, our country program, and about the world at hand. Tessa is our
supervisor, but she is more than that, she has been a friend and a confidant,
and someone whom even when we mess up, we can turn to for help and support.
Thank you for all you do for us Tessa!
These people have been incredible to work alongside with during this year, offering me more grace than I deserve, and always willing to listen to me, and to teach me when I need it. I couldn't have asked for a better group of people to have gone on this journey with! Thank you for you support and your love this year!
-Evan
These people have been incredible to work alongside with during this year, offering me more grace than I deserve, and always willing to listen to me, and to teach me when I need it. I couldn't have asked for a better group of people to have gone on this journey with! Thank you for you support and your love this year!
-Evan
