Sonny Boy Williamson One week from Monday, I leave on my trip to Glendora, MS. Glendora is a small town along the Mississippi Delta Region struggling under extreme poverty.
There will be a group of approximately 15 of us who will serve on one of four teams:
We will be staying at the Sonny Boy Williamson B&B. The official website of Glendora describes the B&B:
"The “Sonny Boy” Williamson Memorial Bed and Breakfast is Glendora ‘s tribute to its own native son and legendary blues harmonica player. This Bed and Breakfast, as well as the Blues & Cyber Café it will soon contain, feature memorabilia associated with the life and music of this internationally acclaimed Blues music master."
Amongst my traveling companions are:
As I think about going on this trip, and the types of conversations we'll have (each day concludes with a facilitated conversation by the Partners In Development Folks), I reflect on the paradox of large and small. I imagine my world views and perspective getting so much larger-- rich with insights gleaned from the work; the community interactions, my traveling companions, and the PID staff.
In the same vein, I think about my world becoming smaller... in that the distance between those who live in very different geographic and economic areas and myself will decrease, and I'm sure I will learn that we have more in common than I may have previously imagined. I look forward to sharing that with you.
You can read more about Glendora and PID at the following link.
There will be a group of approximately 15 of us who will serve on one of four teams:
- Medical Assessment
- Library and Learning Center
- Design/ Documentation Team
- Small Business Assessment and Consultation
We will be staying at the Sonny Boy Williamson B&B. The official website of Glendora describes the B&B:
"The “Sonny Boy” Williamson Memorial Bed and Breakfast is Glendora ‘s tribute to its own native son and legendary blues harmonica player. This Bed and Breakfast, as well as the Blues & Cyber Café it will soon contain, feature memorabilia associated with the life and music of this internationally acclaimed Blues music master."
Amongst my traveling companions are:
- A photojournalist who has traveled internationally to document her service trips and raise money for underprivileged areas.
- A lawyer who has spent 20 years on the Board of HIPPY: "Home Instruction Program for Parents of Pre-School Youngsters." HIPPY was founded in Israel to help integrate Ethiopian Jews into the Israeli Schools.
- A gentleman who holds a MPH in epidemiology and has a data collection and analysis background
- A nurse who has over 27 years experience in public health nursing and oncology nursing, and who has implemented community health assessments for lung cancer patients. She summarizes our community attitude as: "service above self." Love that!
- We have a couple of "network" and technical folks who will be instrumental in setting up the library and learning center.
- And I will be attending as a former behavioral health nurse with a community health background and my coaching experience which is grounded in inquiry, possibility, and appreciation.
As I think about going on this trip, and the types of conversations we'll have (each day concludes with a facilitated conversation by the Partners In Development Folks), I reflect on the paradox of large and small. I imagine my world views and perspective getting so much larger-- rich with insights gleaned from the work; the community interactions, my traveling companions, and the PID staff.
In the same vein, I think about my world becoming smaller... in that the distance between those who live in very different geographic and economic areas and myself will decrease, and I'm sure I will learn that we have more in common than I may have previously imagined. I look forward to sharing that with you.
You can read more about Glendora and PID at the following link.
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