Anika's Summer of Service
Donation protected
Hi, friends (or friends of friends),
You probably saw my goal and was like, "Woah, this girl is a bit ambitious," but let me tell you where this drive and ambition comes from (but if you wanna skip the backstory, move ahead to the line of *s).
If you know or have heard anything about me, you know I love to serve people in any way I can. This could possibly be attributed to a variety of factors, from my mother's warm and inviting nature to the fact that I spent the majority of my life in a developing country, so seeing and being a part of the struggle narrative isn't really new to me. Whatever it was, there was a radical shift in my perspective sometime around July last year.
Well, actually, let's rewind to my first Alternative Service Break in April of 2017. Instead of choosing to spend my time on a cruise or exploring a different country or state, which, by the way, is a totally reasonable way to spend any vacation away from The Institute, I decided to, *very last minute* (what's new?), go on a trip to Biloxi, Mississippi with a group of fifteen complete strangers. A friend of mine (hi Catherine!) told me that a spot randomly opened up and she mentioned service and teeny tiny tots, and I was like "Say no more, I'm in it for the tots." Needless to say, even though I was nervous to travel 380 miles to a town I'd never heard of with people I'd never met but I knew my heart and hands were meant to serve after spending a week in this quaint Mississippi town, sniffing baby heads and meeting some of the most unique, kind-hearted people in my life.
Before ASB, I'd never really done service for an extended period of time. Sure I'd done volunteering on a consistent basis but never had I bonded with a whole community for 96 uninterrupted hours, and after this trip, I have no idea why I'd never done an Alternative Service Break before. ASB Biloxi allowed me to completely remove myself from the Georgia Tech bubble and appreciate every breath, moment and giggle for a week. For one week, I didn't worry about what the future held. For one week I didn't care about what my GPA was. For one week, I lived in every moment. For one week, I reflected on every action of service that I did and how it could change a life.
This service trip allowed me to eschew the everyday hustle and bustle of college life in the city and stop and smell the roses. ASB has not only allowed me to meet lifelong friends but has allowed me to appreciate the value of people and their stories. Because of ASB, Biloxi and its people will forever be in my heart.
Above: Me and the Alternative Service Breaks gang literally living our best lives before taking care of wonderful tiny humans.
Did you tear up yet?
Good, 'cause I have another story. This one's about service and sisterhood. So, fast forward to July 2017 where I had a complete shift in perspective in how I viewed community, sisterhood, and service. After my life-changing ASB experience, I naturally, pounced on the opportunity to serve with a group of twelve women from all over North America that just happened to be in the same sorority as me. This time my heart took me to the vibrant city of New Orleans, but honey we were not there to party. We were there to sweat and work and share and reflect and cry and serve and become closer sisters that I could have ever imagined.
From the get-go, I knew my perception of service would be totally shattered from this simple reading we were required to do before the first night of the trip.
So what's the first thing you think of when you think of New Orleans, LA?
No, not Mardi Gras, the other thing.
Yeah, that thing. Katrina.
Katrina had been a name that would constantly be in my brain. People in Biloxi were still struggling from the impacts of Katrina, people in New Orleans were still struggling from the impacts of Katrina, soon my sorority sisters would be calling me Kat(rina) (if you know, you know). But what the heck was I supposed to do about that? How could I have helped these victims of something so horrific and unforgettable? I'm a tiny gal from an island with student loans and a big heart. Talk is great but how could I help?
Step 1, realize that helping is not the solution.
Yup, I said it, helping is NOT the solution.
So now you think I'm crazy. Great. But I promise this is going somewhere. So before this trip to Louisiana, we read this article called Helping, Fixing or Serving by Rachel Remen and I was wrecked after reading it. It's linked if you're interested but basically, that article was there to show me I was going about the whole service thing all wrong. I got it so, so twisted. I'd fix and I'd help, but I'd never serve. One tidbit from the article that stood out to me was,
"When you fix, you see life as broken. When you serve, you see life as whole. Fixing and helping may be the work of the ego, and service the work of the soul."
Isn't that poetic?
So honey, that Lousiana trip I served. I served with my heart and soul and everything inside me. And it didn't feel good, it felt gooooooooooood. If you know anything about me, you know that I suspect my body releases anti-endorphins when I exercise, (if you want proof, catch me struggling up the CULC steps at Tech) but serving is my exercise! That's when I feel whole. That's when I feel well and good.
I want to serve again. I want to spend my summer creating and communing and hearing stories and shedding tears and meeting people wherever they are.
Above: Me and Rupert basking in the Lousiana summer sun serving looks on the Theta Service Trip!
***********************************************************
So that being said, I want to take this summer not to fix, not to help, but to serve. I want to spend the summer creating and connecting.
I want to spend the summer doing what God made me to do. I want to do the work of the Spirit, share my experiences and serve with my entire self but I don't have the resources to do this, and I need YOUR help. Embark with me on this journey of self-discovery, healing, and servitude. Enable me to dive heart-first into my summer of service.
Currently, I have two trips planned. The first is going to Puerto Rico to provide hurricane relief from May 6 - 20, 2018. As most of you know, I'm from the Caribbean and I've witnessed first hand the detrimental effects a hurricane can have on a tiny island nation. After all the noise and the media and the publicity, a whole nation still hurts and I want to be with them in whatever way they need me. For more information about the Puerto trip, click here .
The second trip is to the nation of Kosovo from June 3 - July 4, 2018. Kosovo is a country in Southeast Europe, between Serbia and Macedonia. On this trip, I'll serve alongside a Kosovar non-profit organization, Kosovo Hope, and be a camp counselor at a camp for Kosovar high school students serve families in poverty that live in villages surrounding the city of Suhareka. For more information about the Kosovo trip, click here and scroll down to the Kosovo Student trip.
Above: A short documentary film about a beautiful friendship that has formed between two cities - Lilburn, Georgia, USA, and Suhareke, Kosovo.
If any of you need more information on different ways to donate (such as in-person monetary donations, giving me items to sell for a garage sale, or Venmo) please please text me at + 1 (863) 303 - 2992. I really need and appreciate any help/support that I can get for this trip.
Please share my link with your friends and family and keep me in your prayers. You can use the hashtags listed below to help spread the word about the people I feel called to serve this summer!
#katchherinkosovo
#noolvidepuertorico
#anikassummerofservice
I'm open/available for phone calls or coffee dates if you want to discuss other ways that you can support me.
You probably saw my goal and was like, "Woah, this girl is a bit ambitious," but let me tell you where this drive and ambition comes from (but if you wanna skip the backstory, move ahead to the line of *s).
If you know or have heard anything about me, you know I love to serve people in any way I can. This could possibly be attributed to a variety of factors, from my mother's warm and inviting nature to the fact that I spent the majority of my life in a developing country, so seeing and being a part of the struggle narrative isn't really new to me. Whatever it was, there was a radical shift in my perspective sometime around July last year.
Well, actually, let's rewind to my first Alternative Service Break in April of 2017. Instead of choosing to spend my time on a cruise or exploring a different country or state, which, by the way, is a totally reasonable way to spend any vacation away from The Institute, I decided to, *very last minute* (what's new?), go on a trip to Biloxi, Mississippi with a group of fifteen complete strangers. A friend of mine (hi Catherine!) told me that a spot randomly opened up and she mentioned service and teeny tiny tots, and I was like "Say no more, I'm in it for the tots." Needless to say, even though I was nervous to travel 380 miles to a town I'd never heard of with people I'd never met but I knew my heart and hands were meant to serve after spending a week in this quaint Mississippi town, sniffing baby heads and meeting some of the most unique, kind-hearted people in my life.
Before ASB, I'd never really done service for an extended period of time. Sure I'd done volunteering on a consistent basis but never had I bonded with a whole community for 96 uninterrupted hours, and after this trip, I have no idea why I'd never done an Alternative Service Break before. ASB Biloxi allowed me to completely remove myself from the Georgia Tech bubble and appreciate every breath, moment and giggle for a week. For one week, I didn't worry about what the future held. For one week I didn't care about what my GPA was. For one week, I lived in every moment. For one week, I reflected on every action of service that I did and how it could change a life.
This service trip allowed me to eschew the everyday hustle and bustle of college life in the city and stop and smell the roses. ASB has not only allowed me to meet lifelong friends but has allowed me to appreciate the value of people and their stories. Because of ASB, Biloxi and its people will forever be in my heart.
Above: Me and the Alternative Service Breaks gang literally living our best lives before taking care of wonderful tiny humans.Did you tear up yet?
Good, 'cause I have another story. This one's about service and sisterhood. So, fast forward to July 2017 where I had a complete shift in perspective in how I viewed community, sisterhood, and service. After my life-changing ASB experience, I naturally, pounced on the opportunity to serve with a group of twelve women from all over North America that just happened to be in the same sorority as me. This time my heart took me to the vibrant city of New Orleans, but honey we were not there to party. We were there to sweat and work and share and reflect and cry and serve and become closer sisters that I could have ever imagined.
From the get-go, I knew my perception of service would be totally shattered from this simple reading we were required to do before the first night of the trip.
So what's the first thing you think of when you think of New Orleans, LA?
No, not Mardi Gras, the other thing.
Yeah, that thing. Katrina.
Katrina had been a name that would constantly be in my brain. People in Biloxi were still struggling from the impacts of Katrina, people in New Orleans were still struggling from the impacts of Katrina, soon my sorority sisters would be calling me Kat(rina) (if you know, you know). But what the heck was I supposed to do about that? How could I have helped these victims of something so horrific and unforgettable? I'm a tiny gal from an island with student loans and a big heart. Talk is great but how could I help?
Step 1, realize that helping is not the solution.
Yup, I said it, helping is NOT the solution.
So now you think I'm crazy. Great. But I promise this is going somewhere. So before this trip to Louisiana, we read this article called Helping, Fixing or Serving by Rachel Remen and I was wrecked after reading it. It's linked if you're interested but basically, that article was there to show me I was going about the whole service thing all wrong. I got it so, so twisted. I'd fix and I'd help, but I'd never serve. One tidbit from the article that stood out to me was,
"When you fix, you see life as broken. When you serve, you see life as whole. Fixing and helping may be the work of the ego, and service the work of the soul."
Isn't that poetic?
So honey, that Lousiana trip I served. I served with my heart and soul and everything inside me. And it didn't feel good, it felt gooooooooooood. If you know anything about me, you know that I suspect my body releases anti-endorphins when I exercise, (if you want proof, catch me struggling up the CULC steps at Tech) but serving is my exercise! That's when I feel whole. That's when I feel well and good.
I want to serve again. I want to spend my summer creating and communing and hearing stories and shedding tears and meeting people wherever they are.
Above: Me and Rupert basking in the Lousiana summer sun serving looks on the Theta Service Trip!
***********************************************************
So that being said, I want to take this summer not to fix, not to help, but to serve. I want to spend the summer creating and connecting.
I want to spend the summer doing what God made me to do. I want to do the work of the Spirit, share my experiences and serve with my entire self but I don't have the resources to do this, and I need YOUR help. Embark with me on this journey of self-discovery, healing, and servitude. Enable me to dive heart-first into my summer of service.
Currently, I have two trips planned. The first is going to Puerto Rico to provide hurricane relief from May 6 - 20, 2018. As most of you know, I'm from the Caribbean and I've witnessed first hand the detrimental effects a hurricane can have on a tiny island nation. After all the noise and the media and the publicity, a whole nation still hurts and I want to be with them in whatever way they need me. For more information about the Puerto trip, click here .
The second trip is to the nation of Kosovo from June 3 - July 4, 2018. Kosovo is a country in Southeast Europe, between Serbia and Macedonia. On this trip, I'll serve alongside a Kosovar non-profit organization, Kosovo Hope, and be a camp counselor at a camp for Kosovar high school students serve families in poverty that live in villages surrounding the city of Suhareka. For more information about the Kosovo trip, click here and scroll down to the Kosovo Student trip.
Above: A short documentary film about a beautiful friendship that has formed between two cities - Lilburn, Georgia, USA, and Suhareke, Kosovo.
If any of you need more information on different ways to donate (such as in-person monetary donations, giving me items to sell for a garage sale, or Venmo) please please text me at + 1 (863) 303 - 2992. I really need and appreciate any help/support that I can get for this trip.
Please share my link with your friends and family and keep me in your prayers. You can use the hashtags listed below to help spread the word about the people I feel called to serve this summer!
#katchherinkosovo
#noolvidepuertorico
#anikassummerofservice
I'm open/available for phone calls or coffee dates if you want to discuss other ways that you can support me.
Organizer
Anika Boyd
Organizer
Atlanta, GA
