Lira, Uganda-Personal Narrative Analysis

When I began reading Chapter 1 of “Mistaking Africa,” it reminded me of our first class meeting. Professor Crowley asked us to do the same exercise Curtis Keim talks about in the text. Professor Crowley asked us what comes to mind when we think about Africa. It is a great exercise and allow us to express our perceptions of Africa. Even in class, it took me time to think about what comes to mind when I hear the word Africa, because I have not really heard much about it besides the common misconceptions: “Africa is a primitive place, full of trouble and wild animals, and in need of our help” (5). I frequently see the UNICEF commercial with Alyssa Milano, who asks her viewers how it would feel to be able to save a child’s life for fifty cents a day. The commercial precedes to play really depressing music and shows a slideshow of undernourished children, who fend for themselves in

Everyone needs assistance in their journey in becoming self-reliant. In order to shape a successful child, you must first analyze the foundation of that child. Children of minorities, especially Africans, have every card stacked against them. The schematics of this country is not designed for minorities to be successful and dominate the way it benefits the white man. From the moment the average African child is born he or she is at a relative handicap. This handicap remains with an African child into elementary school throughout high school, through graduation rates and standardized test scores. African are not only at a racial disadvantage, but they are at a social and economic disadvantage as well. Poverty is only a small part of the drawbacks

At the end of my junior year, I took a brave leap and went to Ecuador with a program called Global Student Embassy for a reforestation project. Before leaving, I got cold feet, and started doubting the trip. This trip was massively out of my comfort zone, for I hated heat, humidity, mosquitoes, and gardening. However, this trip changed my life. I met people who would change my life forever. Our trip leader, David, is the most inspirational man I have ever met. He is filled with joy, comfort, and laughs. He lives a nomadic lifestyle, and travels all the time, never settling down in one place. He showed me beauty in things I would have never found beautiful. His philosophy in life is to share love. David carries his own baggage that has given him his deepest and darkest insecurities, but he does not let that get in the way of

I’ve lived in places where healthcare was inaccessible, where doctors were not fully equipped with the tools necessary to preform regular checkups, and where people died chilling deaths from misdiagnoses or lack there of. I was born in Khartoum, Northern Sudan as my parents were in transit to come to the land of the free from Eritrea. In the midst of its 30-year war with Ethiopia, both of my parents fled the compromised country at the age of 18 and 20. The war had made it difficult for children to attend school, therefore my parents fled with what would be considered a middle school education. After two years and through much treachery, we successfully made it to America.

Samantha Nutt, a medical doctor and co-founder of War Child, narrates her sixteen years of experience traveling in conflict zones struggling to help the most vulnerable targets, women and children. Her book “Damned Nations: Greed, Guns, Armies and Aid” strings that bind Western nations to war torn countries and simultaneously critiques the serve of militarism and misguided aid efforts, which she believes to exacerbate their mission in bringing relief from poverty and conflict. The author analyzes from her multiple trips to war zone nations of Congo, Iraq, Somalia and Afghanistan.

Although I loved all of my at home volunteer work, I especially loved doing good in countries that needed more help. I sponsor a six year old girl in Bolivia named Reina through Compassion International, she is one of the most spectacular kids I have ever met. She lives in a barely livable cinder block house and yet she is beyond proud of every tiny detail of it. Reina lives with her 4 brothers, her mother, father, and her aunt in this two bedroom structure and yet they don’t complain one

Back in 2014 and 2015, the school I used to attend in the Dominican Republic organized trips to orphanages in Haiti. 80 percent of the 32 000 orphans across the 760 orphanages have parents who want them, but they are not able to support their children. The organized trips were crucial in forming me as a caring and loving person. Before, I wouldn’t have been able to imagine how heart-breaking watching these starving, cheerless children would be. I always visualized kids as playful, blissful, and joyful creatures. However, looking at the Haitian orphans I realized how cruel reality can be to people. It was the first time I’ve faced such conditions, and I strongly rejected the fact who there are people in the world that may deserve even a little part of it.

For the last 35 years, Sovereign Wings of Hope (SWOH), founded by my father Reverend Daniel Situka, has ministered to families in communities in Uganda. SWOH has grown into a full life cycle community development program through conducting missions program targeting young adults, founding a local hospice program toward six-million people without terminally–ill care, and establishing a school for at-risk children many whose parents were hospice patients. An increasing need to mobilize US resources while directing new advancement efforts led SWOH to offer me a VP position as it continues to serves thousands of Ugandans a year.

Every day the average American wakes up, eats a healthy breakfast, goes to work, then comes home to their family and a cozy bed to sleep in. Most people don’t realize that those things are really a luxury that not everyone is able to have. In Linda Sue Park’s, A Long Walk to Water, the ordinary person can get a bit of insight to what it is like to live in an underprivileged country where those luxuries aren’t attainable. A Long Walk to Water is a story about a Sudanese refugee named Salva Dut. After he is forced to leave his village, where his family resided, he was stuck traveling far from Sudan with a group of people he has never met before. This story takes you through his long journey across Africa during the Sudanese civil war in seek

Narrow hallways walled by human heads and limbs crowding every space between metal bars surrounded me. Children starved on unpaved streets with only rags that wrapped their bodies. I ended my high school career by serving a foreign community. In Chinandega, Nicaragua I had the opportunity to befriend and support the sick, the imprisoned, the orphaned and impoverished. This experience among others shaped me to appreciate the value of philanthropy and social justice.

When I flew to Haiti I was unsure of what to expect. From a bird’s-eye view, I saw a beautiful landscape with a vibrant ocean surrounding the island. Upon arrival, I saw poverty, run down buildings, and very little people with actual homes; however, I saw smiles, laughter, and happiness among the people. I’ve traveled a lot throughout my life, but this trip gave traveling meaning. Experiencing their culture and customs gave me a broader perspective on other lifestyles and what they endure.

The majority of these rural villages, will be less likely to be influenced by the effort to change these villages into a democratic state. However, the Peace Corps is a broad topic meaning much more than the spread of democracy. Nearly 220,000 American associated into the Peace Corps, this is not a waste of taxpayer’s money. These 220,000 people have changed the lives of

Imagine a place so desolate and broken you feel as if it has been forgotten about for ages. There is a sense of despair and a feeling of eeriness that overcomes you. This feeling is not to unfamiliar for John Bul Dau, and those “Lost Boys” of Sudan. Djellaba soldiers invaded John’s village forcing him and many other members of the Dinka tribe to flee to the safety of Kenya. Little did they know this would be a journey of heartbreak, trial, and faith to survive the harsh conditions they soon would have to face.

After we talked about his life in Nigeria, he took a hold of his fork and scooped up a piece of beans and plantain and then he moved the food to his mouth. After he chewed and swallowed his food, we continued our interview. When my dad arrived in America he went straight to college. His experiences back in Nigeria really did benefited him when he came to America because since he was so self-sufficient he was able to balance school and work. Going to college help my dad to become a nerd in learning. He went to school and chose an excellent major, he explained why he chose it by saying,“ I chose Pharmacy because it was a good profession, and it did well, but since I missed a semester of class, I had to retake Pharmacy, but I didn’t want to, so

I grew up in an environment where I was sensitive to the needs of those immediately around me; my family, my neighbors, my classmates but my world was a very narrow one. This course has taught be to look at the world as my neighbors and feel a responsibility to the health, safety and welfare of all. I used to believe there was nothing I could do about the famine in Africa or the genocide in Croatia but I now realize that ANY small step I take is a step toward a path leading to action and understanding. One of my closest friends is a Major in the U.S. Army and she has been to Croatia, Iraq and Afghanistan; I am blessed to have her in my life because through her eyes and her stories, I am more in touch with the trials of our modern day world. “Lao Tzu said, “The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step” (Loeb, 2010).