Bonner Beat

THE BONNER BEAT

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issue 2 LynchburG College

welcome to the second issue

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he few short months between May and September are a treasure. For students, the warm weather and freedom are prizes for what seemed a never-ending stream of homework assignments during the past school year. The fact that the word “summer” gives another level of meaning when placed in front of regular activities like “job” or “vacation” shows that there is definitely something special about the season.

The students you’ll find in this magazine are quite normal in how they spend their summers. But there’s one more word that’s a part of their summer vocabulary, “service.” We love doing community service, and wanted to share with you, dear reader, some of the life-changing opportunities and summer service experiences we’ve discovered while out walking the Bonner beat.

As always, we have stories from Lynchburg College students doing service far off the regularly trodden path, in Togo and on a Native American reservation. From a camp in rural Virginia to cities of urban decay in the Northeast, students have rewarding experiences to share about the lengths they go to improve local communities by lending a hand. We hope this small collection of what we’ve done encourages you to change your community for the better this summer. If you reach out, you might be surprised what sweet reward of service will fall into your hands.

table of contents 4

letters from camp

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appalachian adventures 2

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summer sounds

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phoenix summer

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Peace corps

a walk in beauty

A tale of two cities eating like the johnsons

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staff

!

Chief Editor Conor McFarland

an extra special thank you to

Chief Designer Madeleine Coultrip

Dean John Eccles

Writers/Contributors Mark Reiner Elizabeth Brown Angela Massino Tyler Curtis Hannah Sizemore Brian Wilcox

for his continued support

Special Thanks To Beverly Pfluger Shannon Brennan Katherine Stevens

dedica ted to the m emory of

David L

This second edition of the Lynchburg College Bonner Beat we dedicate in loving memory of Mr. David Hackett, father of Robert Hackett, our Bonner Foundation president who paved the way for intentional community collaboration. As Joseph Kennedy II (Robert Kennedy’s son) stated, Mr. Hackett’s work had far-reaching impact. Mr. Hackett, who led the Kennedy administration’s efforts to stem juvenile crime and helped create a domestic equivalent to the Peace Corps, National Service Corps or Vista died, on April 23, 2011 in Rockville, Md. He was 84 years old.

A close friend of Robert F. Kennedy’s since prep school, he was executive director of the President’s Committee on Juvenile Delinquency and Youth Crime from 1961-1964. President John F. Kennedy created the committee in May 1961 after Mr. Hackett accompanied Robert Kennedy, then the attorney general, on a shirt-sleeve tour of poor New York neighborhoods, interviewing members of street gangs.

During his four-year tenure under President Kennedy, he brought together the best and brightest minds to study the causes of youth crime. Dubbed “Hackett’s Guerillas,” his team came to a consensus that the problem of juvenile

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delinquency could not be distinguished from the broader issue of poverty.

“One of the really critical things Dave did was he gave shape and focus to the issue,” said Adam Walinskay, Robert Kennedy’s former speechwriter. “He was one of the very first people to put forth the idea to say you’re not going to solve this problem with an army of social workers. He was the guy who said you have to get these people involved with solving their own problems. It was a basic elemental insight, but it ran counter to a century of social engineering the United States.”

“In the fight against poverty, there wasn’t a greater warrior in that role than David Hackett,” said Joseph Kennedy. “His dedication never stopped. David just continued the work he dedicated himself too. It’s a beautiful thing.”

Mr. David Hackett was a man with significant influence to many impoverished communities across the United States. His work will live through all those he touched, especially his children and all those Bonners currently fighting poverty throughout the communities in which they learn and serve. Compiled from various sources including the NYTimes.com

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letters from camp These two Bonners spent their summer working for Smith Mountain Lake Good Neighbors Summer Camp elizabeth brown

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ear Mom and Dad, The Smith Mountain Lake Good Neighbors program has been absolutely amazing so far; I love being an intern! This week is Peace Week, and the other five interns and I have been taking each afternoon to teach the kids about “conflict resolution” and what it means to be a “peacemaker.” It has been a challenge to cater to each of the different age levels. But I think they have all grasped the concept of calming down and jumping off the conflict escalator, which is a start, right?

Unbridled Change, a non-profit organization that provides problem-solving programs for children, came to visit the program today.

They brought their two miniature horses and one large draft horse with them. The kids split into their respective age groups and we had different stations for our afternoon enrichment time. At one station they learned the different horse body parts (withers, knee, mane, forelock, etc), at another was a running activity celebrating differences, and at the third they worked with the actual horses.

I thought the kids would be very hesitant and scared to work with the horses. Boy was I wrong. The Koala group (the youngest) was the first to go and all the kids gravitated toward the huge draft horse which they named Russell (the same name as our program director).

These kids were so small compared to this huge horse they could have walked under him without ducking! The Koalas are instructed to introduce themselves to the horses. Other than that single direction, they are given no more guidelines. This is purposeful so they have to work together to figure out what the instruction means. The first up is Jesse, a tiny, confident, snaggletoothed, redhead who walks straight up to the miniature horse, leans over waving, and says, “Hi, my name is Jesse; it’s very nice to meet you.” He walks back to join the other members of his group while another girl walks up and does the exact same thing. I held back laughter trying to remember that it’s open to their interpretation.

I continued to watch as each group worked with the horses. I was amazed at how well the kids were working together to get these rather stubborn horses to go through an obstacle course. I admire my group (the Kangaroos, the oldest) for working collaboratively. And I was astounded to see that the one person who had taken a leadership role was Collin, our one “challenge” of the whole group. Collin fearlessly led the large horse around while taking into consideration the advice his other group members offered to him. I was speechless — this program actually works!

It is these kinds of moments that make this exhausting work worth it. Seeing the silly, unadulterated joy these kids have each day keeps me and the other interns going. Witnessing the type of change that happened with Collin has made this whole program worthwhile and absolutely life changing for me.

Write soon, camp’s great!

Love, “Miss Elizabeth”

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angela massino

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y second summer interning at the SML Good Neighbors day camp is quickly coming to a close. I was conflicted over my decision to return. I thought maybe I should try something new, like interning in D.C. with a news station or applying for an outdoor facilitator job. However, the more I shared stories about the kids from Franklin and Bedford counties the more I realized how emotionally attached I am to this special program, which feeds both children’s minds and bodies.

Every day I am nearly knocked over by a surprise hug from behind, and then reach around behind me, feeling for a head of hair to help me determine whose little arms could be wrapped around my waist. This summer I chose to work with the youngest age group, the 5 and 6 year olds, otherwise known as the Koalas. Though they are physically exhausting, I have learned that I love working with this age group. One minute you are raising your voice telling everyone to quiet down because they are getting out of hand and five minutes later you are overwhelmed by hugs, giggles, and grins because they seem to have forgotten that they were ever in trouble.

The camp was created to meet a need in the community: to feed children during the summer months who receive free or reduced lunches during the school year. However, SML Good Neighbors is much more than a feeding program. We also reinforce concepts such as respecting nature, living peacefully with others at home and around the world, along with healthy living practices. Although the interns know that the kids are from low income families, I was never aware of their home situations.

This year a handful of my Koalas who were or had been in foster care would sometimes, innocently and openly, make small comments about their past home life.

The smallest, spunkiest, most opinionated, and liveliest little girl in camp truly touched my heart this summer. Sometimes she can hug me so hard I have to ask her to let go because she is hurting Miss Angela. You can hear her in the hallways singing, “I Wanna Be a Billionaire,” and having competitions with the other 6-year-old campers on who can sing better.

In the first week of the Franklin County camp,

this little girl’s grandmother, who is now her guardian, asked to speak with Nalina and me about her granddaughter. She wanted to make us aware of the past abuse this child had endured to help explain any flinching, outbursts, or emotional distress she may have while at camp. I was completely taken aback. My stomach, heart, and throat clench up just thinking that someone is evil enough to hurt a child. And here is a little girl who has endured more in her short five years of life than I hope to experience as long as I live. During the four-week camp I watched as this resilient little ball of personality warmed up to each and every intern, even Jake, who she is especially wary of. Every camp day ends at 3 p.m., but this Koala refuses to leave until the interns reassure her that we will see her tomorrow bright and early at 8 a.m.

One afternoon, when once again her grandmother was patiently waiting for the girl to finish a game with one of the interns so that they could go home, she turned to me a said, “She’s going to remember each and every one of you. Even after the camp is over, she’ll keep talking about you.” The grandmother later wrote in an evaluation of the camp something along the lines of, “SML Good Neighbors has shown my granddaughter that people can care for others.”

As interns who double as camp counselors, we strive to be positive role models for these children, hoping that one day they may want to help children like themselves to grow and become confident, healthy, and successful adults.

Through the Bonner Leaders Program, I’ve learned that escaping the circle of poverty is a difficult task. While non-profits work to help end this cycle, we can never be certain whether our actions are actually helping to shape these children’s futures for the better. However, if my little Koala is any testament to the work of the SML Good Neighbors volunteers, board members, and interns, perhaps we have opened their hearts to show that people do care. I know that I care very deeply for these beautiful children and the potential they hold for sculpting their own future with the Good Neighbors values. Just today I asked a 10-year-old “Kangaroo,” what she wants to be when she grows up.

She responded, “I want to be a teacher just like you.” Then a couple little ones who overheard piped up and said, “Me too, me too.”

Through the Bonner Leaders Program, I’ve learned that escaping the circle of poverty is a difficult task.

While non-profits work to help end this cycle, we can never be certain... [but] perhaps we have opened their hearts to show that people do care.

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what is SML good neighbors?

Smith Mountain Lake Good Neighbors seeks to develop good neighbor skills and values in children through programs that nourish, educate, and support them. They provide lunches to summer school students, primarily those who are eligible for free or reduced-cost lunches during the school year. SML Good Neighbors also provides backpacks containing food for the weekend and a new book each Friday of summer school.

They run a summer day camp for children who may need support in any of the following three areas: nutritious meals, reading enrichment, or good neighbor skills and values such as living peacefully with self and others, understanding one’s role in the larger world, and ways to make a positive difference.

This summer our own Elizabeth Brown (Bonner 6) will be returning as the senior intern at SML, and Shelby Kienzle-Pappalardo (Bonner 7) will be participating for the first time. Don’t forget to write!

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a walk in beauty maddie coultrip

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Despite all the poverty and hardships facing the Navajo people, we were overwhelmed by their beauty and enduring spirits.

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he summer I spent on Navajo Nation could be summed up by one phrase I learned from the Navajo: Walk in beauty. Thanks to Lynchburg College and the Shepherd Poverty Alliance, I was given the opportunity to spend my summer out in Arizona at 6,600 feet elevation, in a little town called Klagetoh, where I walked in beauty every day. I was surrounded by beautiful blue open skies, curvy dirt paths which wound through fields of wildflowers, hidden canyons with roaming horses and sheep, and most importantly the lives of the people of Klagetoh.

In the beginning I learned how to trust in the inspiration of the moment and get the locals to open up to me about their experiences on the reservation. I was trained in interviewing, sound recording, and editing within my first week on Navajo Nation. From there, in a way most interns only dream of, my partner Kendall and I were given the responsibility and opportunity to map out our work. With the help of our hosts, Brother John and Sister Monica, we coordinated and set up interviews with community members. Taking turns interviewing, we slowly began to build relationships, create bonds, and form friendships with the people of Klagetoh. Many of the stories we heard were outlined by poverty and challenges in education or employment. Sadness and oppression dominated the stories of many that we interviewed. But Kendall and I could see how

happy the people seemed otherwise. I think Kendall and I both felt that there had to be more to these stories, and soon enough we saw we were right.

We were given the opportunity to attend a traditional Navajo wedding, a festival celebrating sheep as a way of life for the Navajo, a Navajo taco fundraiser, church services, dinner with a Navajo family, amazing flea markets, and historically touristy sights such as the Grand Canyon, Window Rock, Canyon DeChelly, and First and Second Mesa. We were also asked to help with the summer camps put on by the mission we lived on. We were assigned the teen group and asked to find a creative outlet for them.

Through planning, filming, and editing music videos, we slowly bonded with these angstfilled teenagers and tried to let them know we were only there to help.

Through our interviews and experiences, we felt that only one word could sum up what we felt was so amazing to us about the Navajo people: strength, or “bi tske” in Navajo. We chose this as a theme and common message while editing the community sound track to present back to the community.

Despite all the poverty and hardships facing the Navajo people, we were overwhelmed by the beauty and happiness everywhere.

We wanted the Navajo people to see themselves as we had seen them: as a community with a proud history and unique culture which should be preserved and shared.

summer sounds

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conor mcfarland

t’s a simple thing really. A local music group gets together in a neighborhood park to perform on a sunny summer afternoon.

Children play near the swing sets as families and neighbors pause to take in a rhythm that doesn’t thump from the deep distorted bass of a passing car. It’s an unremarkable scene, pleasant but usual and not uncommon in many towns and cities across the country. Yet in Camden, N.J., what passes for a usual part of the urban soundscape is likely quite different from the neighborhood you grew up in. Instead of an open window conjuring images of children playing nearby or backyard summer barbecues, police sirens or the occasional gunshot might shatter the calm in what has been called the most dangerous city in America.

I spent last summer in Camden. Washington and Lee University has a program called the Shepherd Alliance, which lets students combine a minor in poverty studies with a summer internship, and Bonners across the country have the opportunity to be a part of their program.

Serving and getting to know a community’s challenges in person, rather than just reading about it in a textbook, is to me an essential part of studying poverty or any field. So I signed on to see what Camden could teach me.

Walking the streets of Camden I was, for perhaps the first time in my life, part of a minority. White, middle class, educated, and a product of the suburbs, I stood in stark contrast to the predominantly black population, working minimum wage jobs, struggling to meet basic standards of literacy, and who grew up in an isolated urban setting outside of Philadelphia.

“How could I possibly hope to gain any trust from the locals, let alone a level of integration during my two months here?” was a question I recall pondering at the outset of my internship.

One in four homes in Camden is abandoned.

And the city is also stricken with high levels of corruption, government dysfunction, and a violent crime rate which surpasses any other city in the country. Years of broken promises and failed government programs have made the city’s residents suspicious and cynical about any authority’s attempt to help. And so I was there in Camden; I was living in a place that seemed to me different enough to be another country. During the day it was my job to assist the hospital’s foundation with community development and maintaining a database on abandoned homes.

And during the night, well, you can’t really go outside much at night in Camden.

An abandoned home can be many different things. It isn’t simply a vacant home, one that you might notice in your own neighborhood, lifeless looking and with grass that’s too high. In Camden an abandoned home has its windows and doors boarded up, at least if there are windows and doors left to be boarded. Some houses are half burned down, and only a shell of a home. Many of these “homes” are right next door to a house that is occupied.

Though perfectly safe in the middle of the hot summer day, walking the streets of Camden alone was initially one of the most uncomfortable experiences I have had. After many excursions into the neighborhood, moving street by street taking notes and pictures, I began to become more at ease. Residents would approach me regularly to ask what I was doing, and it was during these encounters that I found the most reward from my internship. From conversations I learned of the concerns they had for their neighborhood, the problems they wanted fixed, and that they were as interested in the well-being of their community as any resident is.

I realized whether I was born there or not, I was a person now living and working alongside the citizens of Camden with a chance to make a difference. It was not just their community I was working for, but my own as well.

And now that I’m no longer living in Camden, the memories I recall most are walking down its streets and taking in all my surroundings. I understand why the hospital helped plan the music events in the park nearby. A summer concert series in the park can do remarkable things. It can offer a glimpse of what hopefully lies ahead for a city with a troubled past, give residents pride in the community they live in, and help one forget siren-filled nights.

what is the shepherd poverty alliance?

The Shepherd Alliance unites student interns from Berea, Middlebury, Morehouse and Spelman colleges; Washington and Lee University law and undergraduate programs; and participating Bonner Scholar institutions with agencies that work to benefit impoverished members of society. Students learn firsthand about the multiple dimensions of poverty in the United States by working for eight weeks to strengthen impoverished communities and work alongside individuals seeking to improve their communities.

The agencies, located in various urban and rural sites in the United States, focus on education, healthcare, legal services, housing, hunger, social and economic needs, and community-building efforts.

Students work with agencies that fit their intellectual interests in order to develop their experience and skills for future civic involvement and employment.

This summer, Brenda Martinez (Bonner 7) and Shannon Lynch (Bonner 5) from Lynchburg College are joining the Shepherd Alliance. Brenda will be the Juvenile Justice Intern for the Chester Youth Collaborative in Chester, Penn. She hopes that a hands-on experience with the Shepherd Alliance will provide “a glimpse of what life will be like after college.” Shannon’s internship is still in the works.

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Phoenix suMmer

ast summer I spent six weeks in the historic city of Petersburg, Va. with the Phoenix Project. Once a thriving center of commerce, Petersburg is now distinguished as the municipality with the eighth lowest life expectancy. The city struggles with economic and social issues ranging from devastating poverty, unaccredited public schools, and Virginia’s highest rates of illiteracy and HIV/Aids. Evidence of these ailments can be seen with just a drive through town. A collapsed portion of building has been left on a cobblestone street because the city was too cash-strapped to get a construction crew to pick it up. And a boarded-up complex one would initially think was an abandoned prison is revealed to be a middle school. Neighborhoods look worn down and much of the downtown is boarded up. Yet within this community I spent the most rewarding summer of my life. Like any great experience, there were stressful lows and exhilarating highs.

The Phoenix Project’s Social Innovation Program functions a bit like boot camp for the non-profit sector. The program is di-

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vided into two parts. The first week of the program is devoted to academic sessions on the non-profit world where I learned the lines between the for-profit and non-profit sectors are blurring and that the path to sustainable change is through combining aspects of both sectors.

After the first week, participants are assigned to small teams to work on four capacity building projects for local non-profits over five weeks. My team was tasked with developing marketing materials for a domestic violence taskforce, designing a survey and maintaining a social media presence for a foundation working to raise money for a new public library, writing a report on hiring an AmeriCorps member for an organization attempting to revitalize a historic park, and conducting interviews with students and employers for a program that provides Petersburg students with summer mentorships. The Phoenix Project expects a lot from you and the work is draining. Many a late night was spent on our final reports developing, editing, re-editing, and re-editing again and again until fatigue set in. The local Wawa

mark reiner received a great deal of late night business from the PH-Pro 10. I have never felt a greater sense of relief after delivering our final presentations to our clients. Despite the stress, the projects forced me to hone various personal and professional skills I had not utilized before. Finishing these projects established a great sense of self-confidence.

The Phoenix Project also provided us with many service and social opportunities to bond and get to know Petersburg. I got to live with, work with, and become friends with a great group of people and establish myself in a growing social network of social entrepreneurs. The City of Petersburg is very hospitable and I got to know many of the fine establishments like the Demolition CafĂŠ, Kings BBQ, and the Dixie Diner very well. Petersburg also has a surprisingly active and completely awesome karaoke scene. Service events included spending time with local children, seeing the historical sites, and helping an old lady clean her yard on her birthday. Some of these activities exposed me to situations I had not experienced before. Through exhaustion, after an af-

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When I heard the school had become accredited, I felt an overwhelming sense of pride.

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ternoon spent in sweltering heat having water balloon fights and playing basketball with kids from local neighborhoods, my fellow Phoenix Project students and I spent a good hour digging shards of broken glass from smashed beer bottles out of dirt at a playground. A poster advertising cigarettes was the only colorful thing in the yard.

One of the best aspects of the program was getting to know a community and its struggles. The local high school has become a sort of symbol for the problems facing Petersburg. In a grotesque display of wealth disparity, Petersburg High, the only public high school in the area where the kids from families too poor for private school attend, is surrounded by a manicured golf course.

In the past the school was not accredited, meaning any kid who made it through the creaky education system did not receive a diploma, just a certificate of attendance.

When I heard the school had become accredited, I felt an overwhelming sense of pride. Through hard work and perseverance Petersburg is starting to rise.

what is the phoenix project?

The Phoenix Project’s Social Innovation Program at George Mason University is a cuttingedge program to prepare top undergraduate and graduate students to become our next generation of social entrepreneurs. The program runs for six weeks from mid-June until the end of July. The first week consists of classwork (core concepts of nonprofit leadership, social entrepreneurship, and community change). During the rest of the program, students are trained and mentored by seasoned nonprofit consultants while providing capacity building assistance to area non-profits in the Northern Virginia region.

Nonprofit capacity building refers to activities that improve and enhance a nonprofit organization’s ability to achieve its mission and sustain itself over time. Examples include: identifying a communications strategy; improving volunteer recruitment; learning about complex new IRS and state regulations; adopting new governance practices; identifying more efficient uses of technology; and engaging in collaborations with community partners. When capacity building is successful, it strengthens and enhances the organization’s ability to have a significant, positive impact on lives and communities.

This summer our own Leah Bigl, a Bonner 7, will become a newly minted social entrepreneur at the Phoenix Project. We wish her luck and can’t wait to have her put her new skills to work with local non-profits here in Lynchburg!

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appalachian adventures

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ver fall break of 2010 a group of 12 Lynchburg College students along with two faculty members made their way to Barren Springs, Va. for a service trip with Neighbor-2-Neighbor headed by Sam Crawford and his wife. Over the long weekend the group became part of the local community, chopping wood, churning apple butter, delivering backpacks of food and generally soaking up the Appalachian hospitality.

In response to a series of tornadoes that hit Pulaski County in April, some Lynchburg College Bonner Leaders are brainstorming a trip to Barren Springs this summer, in a disaster relief effort. Details of the service trip are pending; however, Bonners hope that the community in Appalachia can use the extra sets of hands.

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There is no doubt that Barren Springs and the whole region of Appalachia are in a tough uphill struggle…but if communities such as Barren Springs continue to come together as one… and enable themselves to look toward a brighter future…real change can, and already is occuring…

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-Leah Bigl

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I learned that it’s not about what you have or what you are born into. It’s about what you make of it…the people you reach out to, the helping hand you offer, the lives you impact…

-Destiny Reyes

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a tale of two cities

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he concept of having two cities close in proximity yet different in aesthetic seems very familiar. In Charles Dickens’s famous novel it was London and Paris, for me last summer it was D.C. and Baltimore. Two cities, two jobs, one summer.

D.C. is a white-collar town. Home to the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of the U.S. government, it is also home to The Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting. This was my working home three days a week. In the hustle and bustle of Dupont Circle I sat in my shared office on the sixth floor. On my way in I would listen to NPR news to make sure my knowledge of current affairs was up to date and upon arriving I would spend my first hour of the work day reading up on what was happening in Haiti, one of my summer assignments.

Throughout the summer, my day to day would change, new assignments and new tasks, yet each day I would always read stories of what was happening all over the world. As I read about child sacrifice in Uganda and a journalist fleeing Iran, I began to grow. I learned about injustice happening in places I never knew existed and often felt heartbroken. I would hear the needs and ache to intervene.

Baltimore is a blue-collar town. Home to one of the largest ports on the east coast and several prominent steel mills, it is also home to Serve Greater Baltimore which mobilizes volunteers to take part in service projects across the city. In the basement of a church I sat in a storage closet behind a large iMac computer.

On my way in I would listen to ESPN, getting my morning sports fix. I would spend most of my Thursdays working on their website, and much of my Fridays out in the city planning and meeting with non-profit coordinators. As I worked to mobilize volunteers through any means possible, I began to grow. I discovered non-profits all across the city and the needs they were trying to engage. I was inspired. I would hear the needs and desire to do more.

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brian wilcox

The Pulitzer Center aims to share the untold stories of those who are rarely heard, to give a voice to the voiceless. Serve Greater Baltimore mobilizes volunteers to work with existing non-profits throughout the greater Baltimore community, cultivating a culture of service. My mission with each organization was to use my skill sets to serve those around me. At The Pulitzer Center this involved creating a video toolbox so that others can better tell their story. With Serve Greater Baltimore, it meant creating a website and a promotional video to help connect more volunteers with their community. For me it was not about changing the world in three short months, but instead about utilizing my talents to empower others.

‘‘

I learned about existing nonprofits in the city and the needs they were trying to engage and often felt inspired.

I would hear the needs and desire to do more.

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Bonner Bonding 1

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1 The first Bonner dodgeball team competed this fall and took third place, an upset no one saw coming.

2 The Bonners just back from the summer break with one of our favorite community partners (although they are all our favorite) Barb, from Puppets Ala Mode.

3 Dean Eccles and his wife AJ hosted a dinner for the Bonners at their house in the fall to kick off the year right!

4 Shannon Lynch, Brian Wilcox, and Michelle Pfluger act out the lives of the Bonner founders, Bertram and Corella, at orientation in the fall.

5 Shelby Kienzle-Pappalardo, Kenley Hoover, and Liz Clemens join in the apple gleaning effort with St. Andrews.

6 Some of the Bonners played king of the castle at a local farm for some Bonner bonding.

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eating like a johnson

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fter finishing an amazing internship last summer, the stars aligned and I landed a fall position at the Peaks of Otter in Bedford County. The Peaks has long been one of my favorite spots on the Blue Ridge Parkway for the view and for the hiking. While it has been amazing working with animals and kids, and giving people advice about bears and trails, my absolute favorite experience has been working on the Johnson Farm. The Johnson Farm has a lovely house and plot of land that is set up to look like Bedford in the 1930s.

I am absolutely in love with this place and I am so inspired by their lifestyle.

First of all there are the plants. The Johnson Farm has an organic vegetable garden.

Back when the Johnsons lived there, there were enough vegetables to can and then eat throughout the year. They have an herb garden that doubled as a pharmacy, and was used to treat headaches or tummy aches instead of reaching into the medicine cabinet. Fruit trees including several varieties of apple and a yummy plum tree add to the wonder of this farm.

The Johnsons used absolutely everything and wasted nothing. Anyone who knows me knows I’m a die-hard vegetarian, but I think it’s great they used every single part of every single animal that was used for food. And while I don’t feel the need to use animals for food I totally respect their mentality! I hate to know an animal died just to go to waste, so to use as much as possible is the best I could ask for.

Local and organic vegetables, fruit, dairy and meat does more for a family than just reduce their carbon footprint. It’s also incredibly healthy to kick the pesticides, packaging, and shipping waste. This might explain why many generations of Johnsons lived to be in their 80s!

The Johnson way of life reminds me so much of the way my grandparents lived and even how my dad lives today. Both garden and can, and have very little waste when it comes to food. I am looking forward to the day when I can start living off my own land. But until then I can go to the farmer’s market, “borrow” from my parent’s vegetable garden, and check to make sure that no pesticides were used on the food I buy. Sometimes it’s not the single revolutionary life-changing steps we take, but the lots of little ones that make the biggest difference in our lives and the world around us.

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hannah sizemore

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Sometimes it’s not the single revolutionary life changing steps we take, but the lots of little ones that make the biggest difference…

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peace corps

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tyler curtis

y the time this article will be published, I would have spent over half a year in the West African nation of Togo. Togo is a tiny francophone country, about the size of West Virginia, bordering the nations of Ghana, Benin, and Burkina Faso. Togo is an African nation with a very small land mass, lacking in highly demanded natural resources, and also lacking in significant armed conflict since its independence. For these reasons, to the rest of the world Togo is often forgotten. If I had not met a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer who served in Togo while I was in graduate school, I would have never heard of the country.

Despite having the only deep water port in West Africa located in the capital city of Lome — meaning nearly everything that is imported to all ECOWAS (the West African economic cooperative) nations has to go through Togo — Togo is one of the poorest nations with the least amount of current economic growth of the ECOWAS nations. Togo has no significant business investment (like in Ghana) nor is it currently in political and social turmoil (like the Ivory Coast). Even in the midst of a wave of political uprisings throughout North Africa, turning international eyes back onto the troubled continent, chances are your average Joe (or even your college-educated international relations major) has never heard of the country.

So, when I heard I was going to Togo I had mixed emotions of excitement, nervousness, and to be frank, complete ambivalence. Togo doesn’t carry the same romantic imagery of the wild savanna full of exotic wildlife and villagers as do other African nations such as Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Nigeria, or Kenya. Yet, I have found that Togo still has very much to offer. It is a beautiful nation with an incredible amount of climatic, ecological, ethnic, lingual, and religious diversity for such a tiny country. Although it is of course very tough at times living alone as an outsider in a completely alien environment, I feel very fortunate to be here, and in my opinion, the Peace Corps is one of the coolest and most exciting jobs a person can have.

In my six months here, I am beginning to become intimately familiar with the daily rhythms of Togolese life, which has shed a great deal of light on the nature of the lives of the African people in general. From the daily toils of working in the fields with simple hoes and machetes and carrying water several kilometers through the

bush on their heads, to the “marche mamas” gathering at the market, hawking their goods to passersby, to the daily midday rest (“repos”) when the village essentially shuts down and people just hang out for three hours, and to the random celebrations full of singing, dancing, drumming on water bidons, and clanging cowbells, there is much to love and appreciate about Togolese life.

As Westerners, we often have a condescending view that we must “help” Africans by bringing them “development,” and elevate them from their “Third World” nation status. It is true that as a privileged nation, where we have all our material resources met, we have a responsibility to do what we can to improve the lives of others. However, we must not believe that development will simply come through adoption of a Western ethos and policies. We must not believe that we have all the answers. In fact, I have found we have much to learn from the Togolese.

For instance, we live in a nation where statistics show that half of new marriages will end in divorce, leaving many broken families and strained relationships in their wake. Here in Togo, although polygamy is a widespread practice, unions here are much more stable and families remain intact, through thick and thin.

The family is the essential social unit, where members are strongly bound to one another, much more so than in the States. When the Togolese hear that in the States we send our elderly family members to separate living facilities, away from their own families, they are simply astounded. To them, family members must make the sacrifice and care for the elderly individual themselves. In fact, although the quality of homes here may be dilapidated, there is very little homelessness, as families always ensure their members have a roof over their heads.

One of the knocks that some people have against the Peace Corps is that volunteers end up being changed more than the communities in which they serve, thereby making the Peace Corps’ first goal of providing skilled development workers to needed communities largely unful-

filled. I have in fact heard that sentiment from many returned volunteers. While the efficacy of that argument can be debated, I also find the transformation that volunteers experience to be an attractive aspect of the Peace Corps.

I wanted to be shaken a little bit and to come back with a new perspective on my life as an American, the lives of people from another culture, and our lives as human beings collectively.

I would encourage everyone in higher education to do some type of international service, study abroad, or just simply travel. Yet, don’t travel simply as a tourist in a protected bubble, but make an effort to truly experience another culture, another way of life. Compared to the rest of the population, college students and recent graduates generally have more time, energy, passion, optimism, and knowledge to do great things in this world and to experience the world in a way in which others may never have the same opportunity. Take advantage of any opportunity that comes your way and don’t be afraid to take a little bit of a risk. It doesn’t take a special kind of person to do exciting, significant things (I am certainly evidence of that fact). Be willing to step outside your comfort zone and take advantage of opportunities presented to you. I am certainly glad I did. I have found that the Peace Corps recruitment literature was right, the Peace Corps really is “the toughest job you’ll ever love.”

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