Nicaragua: By the rivers of Babylon

What does it mean to work in international development? Are we superheroes working to save the world? Are we naive, wannabe philanthropists working towards a lost cause? Or are we simply just seeking the experience of living "elsewhere"?

It is neither a glamorous field nor a job of endless suffering. Certainly, it is challenging. A Peace Corps volunteer is said to have the "toughest job he or she will ever love."

There are the on-the-surface challenges, such as the following:

-I show up to school, ready to give a 90-minute entrepreneurship class on the topic of break-even point and start-up capital, and upon my arrival I find that the students have not done their homework, my co-teacher won't be showing up to class that day, and the classroom smells of dog urine. 

-While riding the bus from one of my schools back to my town, a young mother sits down next to me with her cute toddler; two minutes later said child proceeds to vomit into a plastic bag and continues to be sick for the duration of the ride. 

-I sit down on the sofa in my house with a book in hand, anxious to unwind from the day's events and then a giant rat scampers across the floor. 

Then there are the invisible yet more tolling challenges. Cultural differences, finding a sense of belonging, forming trusting relationships, listening to the needs of the people, etc. I've been told that a year in the developing world passes as a month would in the developed world. What does that mean? In my two years of service I will be lucky to complete projects which one could accomplish in two month's time in the States. Things simply take longer to get done here, for a multitude of reasons.  

So to be clear, I am not a superhero and my efforts alone are not going to save the world from death, destruction, or any other bad thing by any means. My biggest hope is that I can contribute to making the world a better place in my current role as a volunteer. In fact, that is my wish for myself and everybody else no matter where or in what position we may find ourselves.   

I recently listened to a fantastic talk about the challenges faced in the field of international development. It is worth checking out, so in closing I encourage you to have a listen too.