Thanksgiving break

This Thanksgiving break was extremely stressful. Let me tell you a little bit about the events leading up to break. First off I didn't book my flight home to New York up until the day before. Unfortunately as a result I had to take a connecting flight which is the absolute worst. The day of my flight takeoff was at 1:00pm. I had practice that morning and I thought I would get out around 10 a.m. For some reason the coaches decided they would give us a fun circuit to do that was an hour and a half. That set me back and I cheered myself up though, with some good music and a burger.

Africa Post 2

Chapter 5: I really enjoyed reading about the bakery business. She was able to tell a short story about the successes and failures of creating a self suffienct business run by women. I found it unique and educational when she described the woman being shy and often putting their heads down when she told them to be more outgoing and more of salespeople. It was interesting to learn that women in places like Rwanda are regarded a different way in society. It is seen as socially unacceptable as a woman to try and sell or approach people first. A cool example is seen when she trys selling the baked goods on the street and she's accepted because she is white compared to the Rwandan women who trying to sell the goods all day.

Chapter 6: This chapter discusses how aid was more harmful than beneficial. She talks about how more often than not aid money was being wasted on unsuccessful projects. Im beginning to see how harmful aid without direction can be. I found it really uplifting when she described her experience dancing with the woman in the hut. It must of felt completely liberating!

Chapter 7: I felt bad for her when Innocent stole all of her stuff. It just goes to show that when you put too much trust in someone you are vulnerable to being taken advantage of. I like how she felt guilty when she was about to buy the expensive champagne from the store. But I agree with Charles that you have to separate who you are from what you do. I also thought it was really neat how she wants to go back to school. India seems like a hectic place that I would love to go to one day. Her story about climbing the mountain made me want to get active today and workout! I like how she compared the mountain to life in Africa; how it can be so pretty but so difficult and hard.

Africa

Chapter 1:

As I began to read this book, I genuinely became inspired. As an international relations major I constantly think about changing the world. Hearing her story about starting a job out of college and the lust to do more was really relatable. She talked about being successful at Chase but the realization that there was more to life than just success and what others thought of her. I found it truly inspiring with the decision and risk she made to turn down the promising job at Chase and take a leap of faith with the new company run by woman. When she talks about entering Africa for the first time I found it somewhat relatable. This summer I decided to go to Italy by myself. Although I explored culture in Italy, her describing the conditions in Uganda, and the struggles people face made me anxious about someday making an impactful difference.

Chapter 2: She describes disappointment and acceptance. I wasn’t surprised when she described how she wasn’t accepted by the local woman. It is natural for people to feel threatened when foreigners enter native land.  I think it was a good learning experience for her to realize that you can’t help others that don’t want to be helped. The organization that requested her to help with thier finances simply didn’t accept nor want to change. I can imagine how disappointed she must of felt after putting in hundreds of hours to try and make a difference for only nothing to happen. Her resilience to continue is admirable. 

Chapter3: She describes her first success journey. I had optimism when beginning this chapter that something good would come out of this relationship between her and V. Sure enough I was proven right as she described the framework and process to build the first lending institution for woman. It was really neat how in Rwanda she was accepted, and how the woman truly wanted to make a difference. I was really happy that she was turned off by the elites at the dinner party she was invited to and didn’t succumb to their pressure and influence. I truly believe like her that you need to work at the bottom with the people who know whats actually happening on the ground rather than an outsiders perspective from up top. 

Chapter4: “We have to show them what we care” That quote was really interesting. It showed that when you start a business you are gonna face challenges. I found it impressive how the young girl really fought to make a point that the issue with the rice lady needed to be solved or everyone else would think they could take advantage of the loans. It was really upsetting to learn that constance died. Her legacy for contributing so much and caring for the woman of Rwanda will live on. I can’t believe Agnes stole.That was really disappointing; it just goes to show that with power comes corruption.