Monday, November 8, 2010

Repair the World: My Story, Dahlia Norry '12

My name is Dahlia Norry, and I spent this summer in Lurinchincha, Peru with 14 other college students and 3 group leaders. The program, Volunteer Summer, was organized through American Jewish World Service (AJWS), an outstanding organization that acts upon the Jewish obligation to pursue social justice. For seven weeks, we worked to construct a “Ludotecha” recreation center in the mornings and in the afternoons, we studied, discussed and spent time with the community members.
I am still processing what this trip taught me. I feel blessed, and sometimes guilty, to have had this opportunity. AJWS helped and is still supporting me as I try to better understand what my role is as a global citizen. I hope with every fiber of my being that this summer helped me change. I hope that I internalize a new view of our globe and each of our capacities to make a difference.
At Tufts, a globally conscious university there exists an inherent challenge: to make a difference for our larger world by working through an American framework. This struggle is both extremely difficult and extremely well supported here at school . Organizations around this campus inspire me everyday but at the same time, I feel stuck in a bureaucracy and that my efforts will help myself more than they will help others. I wonder if the resources I am utilizing are being put forward in productive ways.
Whether or not I always succeed, AJWS has showed me the importance in trying. We must engage with these questions about how to be active citizens and try to make educated decisions with regards to putting ourselves forward. Lurinchincha taught me humility and the beauty of an intentional community, and I hope to use their model to create spaces in my life where I can walk forward as a global citizen. Thanks AJWS!


Posted by Tufts Hillel at 11:47 AM

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