{"id":60,"date":"2016-09-30T22:29:09","date_gmt":"2016-09-30T22:29:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/dmthomas\/?p=60"},"modified":"2016-10-13T22:32:03","modified_gmt":"2016-10-13T22:32:03","slug":"auntie-florence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/dmthomas\/2016\/09\/30\/auntie-florence\/","title":{"rendered":"(Auntie) Florence"},"content":{"rendered":"

Like most international experiences I have come back a different version of myself. I cannot look at anything the same again. When I buy things I think \u2018is this okay to burn?\u2019 When I have to use the restroom I no longer have to prep myself to squat (praise). But more than these surface level changes in my mindset the connections to people I made in Uganda are what stick with me the most and have changed me the most.<\/p>\n

\"screen-shot-2016-09-30-at-3-01-37-pm\"
Florence [Champion. Mother. Teacher.] posing in front of the primary school she works at.<\/figcaption><\/figure>I will never forget what it was like to meet Florence. She was one of the last Champions we met during our research. Something about her reminded me of my aunt Esther. She looks nothing like my aunt, but we walked into her home to eat lunch and talk to her and I felt like I was meeting a long lost family member. Florence\u2019s charismatic and funny personality was contagious. Even though they were speaking in Luganda and I was in a stranger\u2019s home I couldn\u2019t help but be comfortable.<\/p>\n

My admiration of Florence has to do with more than her personality, but also her passion. When we were talking about the impact her role as a Champion has on her role as a Senior Women at her school she was passionate and \u201cmatter of fact\u201d about how it helped her support the girls at her school. (A Senior Woman is a woman at schools in Uganda that deals with the issues of all the girls at the school, so menstruation, other parts of puberty, among others) She is committed to changing the lives of her daughter and the children at her school. Meeting her reminded me why were their helping Bana. At that point the interviews became routine, and school visits slightly predicable. But, Florence reinvigorated my passion for this research project. This was probably the best interview Christina and I conducted. It truly flowed like a conversation, and towards the end I started to ask question that was more aligned with my interests than that of the research\u2019s.\u00a0was more aligned with my interests than the of the research\u2019s.<\/p>\n

\"Florence
Florence teaching the girls at her school business skills<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I think what really drew me to Florence\u2019s story was her efforts of bringing her privilege to the rest of the community. She is able to take the knowledge and advantages she has in life and make life better for those around her. All while being the most jubilant person I have ever met.<\/p>\n

Looking back on it I realize that she reminded me of my aunt, all the women in my family, and myself because of both her charismatic personality and passionate determination to help others. In my first blog post I wrote about how my family has constantly helped others, so not helping others is more alarming than the former. Florence\u2019s passion and personality reminded me of my family. I didn\u2019t really connect the dots until writing this blog post, but that is why her story and our interaction meant so much to me. After meeting her I told Christina we have to include her in the case study, period. Florence showed me how becoming a Champion is not a job, but rather an added identity. With this new identity Florence can better support her students, daughters, and community members.<\/p>\n

\"Florence
Florence talking to the girls at her school<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

What\u00a0Florence is doing for her community, and I what I am doing for her is what I have found I love. She is using her own privilege to give a voice to the girls at her school, and I am using my position as a fellow to tell her story, and stories like it, to a broader global community.<\/p>\n

This is where my passion lies. If anyone asks me what I plan to do after graduation I can list several different options and opportunities, but they all come down to using my position to give a voice to those without it. Regardless of the exact path I take, from changing the narrative of environmentalism to be more inclusive and less purists or including marginalized communities in the problem solving process, I now know that what ever it will involve connecting with communities on an authentic and \u201chuman-to-human\u201d level before ever attempting to tell their stories.<\/p>\n

\"The
The Bana family (minus Richard and Jeremiah)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Personal and vocational growth aside there is so many small things I miss. I miss Jackie\u2019s sly looks, Grace\u2019s sense of humor, Shannon\u2019s giggle, and so many other small things. Even though I\u2019m done unpacking my suitcases I will never be done unpacking this experience, and for that I am forever grateful. This fellowship has been the gift that will continue to give for the rest of my life. The more I talk about my experience the more I realize how it has effected me. Today I realized how much meeting Florence effected me, and I’m sure a month from now I’ll have a light bulb moment and realize how some other interaction changed my perspective. The learning did not end in the field, but rather is kick started and will continue for the rest of my life.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"The
The last sunset at Bana HQ.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Like most international experiences I have come back a different version of myself. I cannot look at anything the same again. When I buy things I think \u2018is this okay to burn?\u2019 When I have to use the restroom I no longer have to prep myself to squat (praise). But more than these surface level … Continue reading (Auntie) Florence<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":608,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"qubely_global_settings":"","qubely_interactions":"","kk_blocks_editor_width":"","_kiokenblocks_attr":"","_kiokenblocks_dimensions":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-60","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"gutentor_comment":0,"qubely_featured_image_url":null,"qubely_author":{"display_name":"dmthomas","author_link":"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/dmthomas\/author\/dmthomas\/"},"qubely_comment":0,"qubely_category":"Uncategorized<\/a>","qubely_excerpt":"Like most international experiences I have come back a different version of myself. I cannot look at anything the same again. When I buy things I think \u2018is this okay to burn?\u2019 When I have to use the restroom I no longer have to prep myself to squat (praise). But more than these surface level…","post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/dmthomas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/dmthomas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/dmthomas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/dmthomas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/608"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/dmthomas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=60"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/dmthomas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":74,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/dmthomas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60\/revisions\/74"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/dmthomas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=60"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/dmthomas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=60"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/dmthomas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=60"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}