In truth this is a question I have been asking myself for the last few days, I’m so happy here- am I crazy? Maybe a little, but there is also a part of me that knows I need to leave and to live in the developing world for a while. Since high school I have wanted to work in the field of third world development. Maybe it’s because I grew up in South Africa where I saw for myself the disparities between the way I lived and the extreme poverty that people experienced in townships not even 15 minutes from my house, maybe it’s because when I was young and impressionable I read the book “the end of poverty” and naively believed as Jeffrey Sachs put it- “we can end poverty in our time” (I also read Exodus and became a Zionist so maybe I should be more careful what I read). At some point I realised that the best way to combine my love for Israel with my desire to work in the developing world is by working as an Israeli/Jew in the developing world. I’m sick of conventional hasbarah/Israel advocacy- it is frustrating and often unrewarding work and although I realise it is important, I don’t want to be the person doing it. I would rather focus my efforts on helping and working with people and give them firsthand experience of what Israelis/Jews are, which I believe often is more effective than lectures on why Israel is “the only democracy on in the middle east” etc.
So now I’m at a time where I need to start putting these ideas into practice and I’ve come to realise that if I want to work in development, some firsthand experience is a must. Since I am adamant I want to live in Israel where the opportunities in development are limited, (thanks Leon Uris- my life would have been a lot less complicated without the Israel aspect...) I think it’s particularly important to get some first-hand experience under my belt. So the next four months in Nepal are my chance to get a little such experience. After looking at all my options, the organisation I’m volunteering with Tevel Be Tedek seemed to be the perfect choice- they seem to take their work seriously, focussing on the impact they make, ensuring sustainability and outcomes and not just making the volunteers feel good about themselves. They have become a real development organisation focussing on education, agriculture, public health and women’s empowerment, all relevant fields that I am excited to learn more about. In addition to this there is a Jewish component, every 2nd week there is a communal Shabbat, the kitchen is kosher and the volunteers consist of a diverse group of Israelis interspersed with Diaspora Jews. As much as I wanted to work in the developing world the Jewish aspect concerned me, not only kashrut and Shabbat but also sense of community, this program offers all that and I also strongly associate with its philosophy that Jews (and orthodox Jews for that matter) need to be involved in and care about the world at large.
So I guess in a nutshell this is why I’m leaving, because as much as I love my life, I don’t think it’s enough for me just yet, I’m not ready to just find a job and settle down. I need to first follow my passion and this is what I am doing. Where this 4.5 months stint in the East will take me, what I’ll do when I get back to Israel, or at any point after that for that matter, I don’t know. But as William Easterly (Jeffrey Sach’s nemesis) says in development “the right plan is to have no plan” so for now I’m planning to not have a plan...
No comments:
Post a Comment