A resolution
It is midday on October 24th, and I decide to gift myself a moment to pause and reflect on what has been a relatively emotional past several days... emotional in a hypothetical world, that is. Part of the Rotary Peace Fellowship is an 'applied field experience' over the vacation months, and in my purusing options I was connected with Saji, the director of the Center for Peace Building International. One of their projects is the development of an International Retreat Center for Youth whose vision is to bring young people from six southeast Asian countries together for a three-week workshop next August in Sri Lanka. Saji and I discussed possibilities for my collaboration on the initiative, and I organized my proposal to Rotary around a four-month stay in Colombo, Sri Lanka.
As I was firming up flight itinerary plans, the protracted ethnic conflict between the Sinhalese and Tamils began to escalate, and what was violence confined to the north and east provinces spilled over into other parts of the island. On October 16, a suicide bombing killed 75, and October 18, another one killed 16. The Australian government website warns of plans of truck bombs in Colombo, and danger of kidnappings of foreign nationals. I know through experience to take these advisories with a grain of salt since they do err on the side of extreme caution, but more than that the dilemma through me into a deep tailspin questioning, yet again, who I am and what I'm about. Millions of people live in a condition as what again presents itself in Sri Lanka, and nonetheless life goes on... there's no other choice. What our world needs in the face of such extremes of violence and despair are equally extreme and courageous acts of love which transcend.
My tailspin sputtered out to an impasse of a battle between myself and fear. I wouldn't let myself budge, and before I located an exit for fear, the Australian website upped its travel advisory to "do not travel." This would have potentially relocated my battle to one between myself and university policy. Before this, Saji and I got back in touch and we decided to relocate my work to Kathmandu, Nepal through one of their partner organizations, Youth Action Nepal. We had discussed this option at the onset of our conversations, so the idea and mechanisms were already in place. All in all, the changeover has several positive aspects...
Nepal also suffers from a long history of conflict between the Maoists and the Nepalese government, and though the potential is there for an escalation as that currently happening in Sri Lanka, I won't be arriving into the thick of it. A 'wise move'? A 'weak move'? What is asked of us? All a matter of listening to the heart, pushing all of its walls to the precarious edge of growth and risk, and trusting the everpresent guide.
Now it's back to a few papers that need to be turned in before flying off in two weeks. More adventures to come as I slide back into my favorite classroom of life...
hugs,
amanda
As I was firming up flight itinerary plans, the protracted ethnic conflict between the Sinhalese and Tamils began to escalate, and what was violence confined to the north and east provinces spilled over into other parts of the island. On October 16, a suicide bombing killed 75, and October 18, another one killed 16. The Australian government website warns of plans of truck bombs in Colombo, and danger of kidnappings of foreign nationals. I know through experience to take these advisories with a grain of salt since they do err on the side of extreme caution, but more than that the dilemma through me into a deep tailspin questioning, yet again, who I am and what I'm about. Millions of people live in a condition as what again presents itself in Sri Lanka, and nonetheless life goes on... there's no other choice. What our world needs in the face of such extremes of violence and despair are equally extreme and courageous acts of love which transcend.
My tailspin sputtered out to an impasse of a battle between myself and fear. I wouldn't let myself budge, and before I located an exit for fear, the Australian website upped its travel advisory to "do not travel." This would have potentially relocated my battle to one between myself and university policy. Before this, Saji and I got back in touch and we decided to relocate my work to Kathmandu, Nepal through one of their partner organizations, Youth Action Nepal. We had discussed this option at the onset of our conversations, so the idea and mechanisms were already in place. All in all, the changeover has several positive aspects...
Nepal also suffers from a long history of conflict between the Maoists and the Nepalese government, and though the potential is there for an escalation as that currently happening in Sri Lanka, I won't be arriving into the thick of it. A 'wise move'? A 'weak move'? What is asked of us? All a matter of listening to the heart, pushing all of its walls to the precarious edge of growth and risk, and trusting the everpresent guide.
Now it's back to a few papers that need to be turned in before flying off in two weeks. More adventures to come as I slide back into my favorite classroom of life...
hugs,
amanda
posted by Amanda Joy at 7:10 PM
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