In Kampala the other day we met 3 young Americans.
Kelly: a 22-year-old from Washington currently on assignment in East Africa to visit with NGOs and to hold workshops on how they could become donor recipients. In August he will spend one month visiting Southeast Asia before heading to Senegal by way of the PeaceCorps. With experience in agriculture, he will spend 2 years there focusing on subsistence farming. He has a keen interest in food shortages and food deserts, particularly in post-conflict zones, and after the program, he will return home to pursue a Masters.
Marissa: originally from Pennsylvania, but been working as a volunteer coordinator for the past year and a half in a small village in Uganda. She helps secure financial sponsors for school children, create volunteer projects, and works with donors from across the globe. She studied Clinical Psychology and History and after working with war veterans and children, she knew she wanted to focus on child risk prevention in post-conflict zones. In August she will return home to pursue a PhD.
Alec: a photographer from Colorado and recipient of the National Geographic Young Explorers Grant. He spent the past month in a small village in Uganda, researching a story about the overfishing of Lake Victoria and the effects on its people. This topic sparked an interest in him the last time he was in the area, learning about the concentration of AIDS within the community. Aside from writing his story, he will be working with other photographers to form a collective upon returning home.
There are inspired youth doing impactful things out there. It made me realize that, at age 33, I have the clarity of a nincompoop.