It’s a situation we Liminas women know all too well: freshly graduated from college and thrown out into the world with nary an idea of what to do next. While most of us twenty-somethings settle for a ho-hum entry level job {if we’re lucky!} or apply to graduate schools, Miranda Adler decided to take a less traditional path. Attracted to the nonprofit world, she took it one step further and turned her interest in humanitarian work into a full fledged adventure. She packed up, moved to Kenya, and settled in a rural village. The obstacles Miranda faced are unique to her experience, but the universality of what she learned is of invaluable importance to all of us Liminas women struggling during this transitional time. Follow along as Miranda shares with us her experiences and lessons learned.
Going to Africa
I didn’t wake up one morning and say, “I think I’ll go to Africa today.” In fact, pretty much every time I told someone about my decision to spend almost two months camping out in rural Kenya with no running water or electricity, I got the same raised-eyebrow-slight-gasp-uncomfortable-giggle reaction. The list of risks and concerns I’d heard from family and friends was just about as played out as a Katy Perry track on the radio.
I was about to graduate from San Diego State and I thought taking the summer to do humanitarian work with a non-governmental organization in Africa sounded like an adventure and a way to help people. I was in for quite the ride.
I had been interning with an NGO for a few months as a copywriter, editing grant proposals and writing blog posts. I was toying with the idea of joining the crew on their summer trip to Kenya, where they had been doing community development work for the last couple of years. I’d done some traveling around Europe during my junior year of college, and although I knew this would be no Eiffel Tower-gazing, sangria-sipping escapade, I felt like I could tackle it. I would be following the group around taking photos and videos and interviewing the community. It sounded interesting enough—not to mention a great resume addition. I was totally unsure whether or not I could actually do it: live in a tent, shower with a bucket of water, endure countless shots and immunizations, not to mention something that would strike fear into the heart of any vegetarian: eat the local cuisine.
It wasn’t until I was offered to chance to be part of the orphan care team on the project that all my worries dissipated. I was going to be part of something way bigger than me, and no African lion or Polio immunization was going to get in my way. As I started going through the volunteer training process I felt like I could envision myself living in Matoso, the small village we’d be living in that backs up to Lake Victoria. Along with one other girl, I’d be finding the most desperate and vulnerable children and helping the African community find ways to solve this problem. Through the research also came the realization that I’d be seeing real poverty for the first time. Not the kind of, “OMG I’m so broke but I really want to buy those new True Religions,” that I had grown accustomed to in college. How was I, the girl who openly sobs during Lifetime movies and has to change the channel during Humane Society commercials, going to react to a completely different way of life?
Follow Miranda’s journey. More to come…
