Well, it's almost been two weeks of interning at World Vision so I thought I'd so some blogging on the experience for my own reflective purposes as well as to brief everyone on what it's like working there. After being taken out to lunch on the very first day, another kind staff member took me out later that week. We're both Catholic and seem to hold vastly different political views. He treated me to lunch and we had a 1.5 hour discussion on the political applications of our faith. Honestly a great conversation and a great person to work with.
The team and many of the people are just so incredibly kind and passionate about their work. On Monday, Richard Sterns, WVUSA's president, met with our team and I had an opportunity to meet him, which was a privilege. The discussion was how to balance advocacy with education so that we are not moving separately from the church and that Christians are moving together in the fight for justice. I wrote a reflection for my supervisor on how WV might need to engage with my generation. I volunteered to do so and he said he would be happy to read it. I felt compelled to because my generation of the church is quite different from our parents and grandparents' generations. I basically wrote that engagement strategies have to account for the diversity of the church in more ways than one and that over-catering to one demographic can result in irrelevancy in the future if the next generation of advocates isn't invested in. I had only been there at a week up until that point and I was lucky to even be present at the meeting. Consequently, I knew a meeting with the president was not the place for a weeklong intern to speak up on these issues.
Today was a rougher day, but I am so grateful to be in this environment that my appreciation overpowers my fatigue. It was tough because I was given less than a day to prepare the intern devotions, which about 20 people attended last week, and only four of us ended up attending this morning. I don't know what happened, but I felt a bit disrespected by those who didn't attend. Of course, there may be factors I don't know about and so I just brushed it off.
This week, I helped my supervisor prepare for a testimony before a congressional committee that will be happening tomorrow. He actually included some of my research in two appendices attached to his written testimony submitted to the commission. It was such a blast and I loved the work. He's taking me to watch his testimony tomorrow and I bought him an American flag lapel pin to express my gratitude.
Honestly, I love working here and I love this type of work. I also love the church, social justice and advocacy. This type of work is so much more rewarding at the moment than anything partisan because we get to critically engage so many different types of people to advocate for social justice. If things continue to go so well, I'm going to discuss options regarding returning after Peace Corps for another internship (which I can afford with the readjustment allowance) and/or a job. The field experience should make me a desirable candidate for employment. Of course, a lot can change in 27 months, so who knows what will happen? Still though, this or ministries like NETWORK and Sojourners seem like wonderful places to apply and I know the work would be very rewarding.
At the very least, I will schedule an appointment at the end of my internship to meet with my supervisor and ask what I will need to do to work for this type of organization in the future, even if I don't posses the current qualifications now.
Here's a link to info on the hearing (and where it can be watched on television): http://tlhrc.house.gov/hearing_notice.asp?id=1267
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