Tag Archives: Austin

Lessons from Water to Thrive by Nosi Oleghe

Having an internship this summer was a huge adjustment for me, and I’m glad to have worked at Water To Thrive. On our last day at work, they threw us a goodbye pizza party. My experience here was different than what I expected. I was lucky to work under the accounting manager for Water To Thrive which was cool for me since I am an accounting major. I also got to help create a budget plan for the well projects that my supervisor got to use on her trip to Ethiopia. Majority of my time at W2T was spent planning our Chef’s Table Austin fundraiser which will take place in September. I contacted restaurants in order to get gift card donations for the silent auction part of the fundraiser.

One part of this internship that I didn’t get to experience was traveling to Ethiopia with my supervisor Susanne and other interns. However, I plan on going on a trip with this nonprofit sometime in the future and staying connected with them and the work that they do, because their mission is something that I have always been very passionate about.

My time in Austin is coming to an end. I have learned so much about myself this summer. From shopping for groceries, budgeting money, and exploring Austin to balancing my internship at Water To Thrive while taking two summer classes, it has been a very fun and growth filled summer. I feel a lot more prepared for senior year and my future career. I am starting to think about the kind of jobs I will be applying for by graduation. I always thought that I would live in Chicago after I graduate, but since moving to Austin this summer, I have loved it here and would consider a job here.

Austin is a great city with so many opportunities, and I look forward to being back here sometime soon. I am going to miss so many things about this place. I’ll miss the unlimited food trucks down every street, the food in general (especially the tacos), the live music, going downtown on the weekends, attending free events in the city, and movie nights with Madison and our deep talks about literally everything. I am going to miss everything about this experience, and I am so grateful to Valpo and CAPS for giving me this amazing opportunity. I can’t believe that in about a year I will have to start looking for jobs, but I am also confident that my experience here has brought me one step closer in preparation for the future.

Finding My Purpose by Madison Magiera

So, I am back from Ethiopia now and I have pretty much gotten adjusted back to living and working in Austin. I absolutely loved my time in Ethiopia! I learned so much about the global water crisis and about the lives of our Water to Thrive beneficiaries. The people of Ethiopia were consistently so friendly and welcoming. Despite not having many of the luxuries and comforts that we enjoy in the U.S., like running water, hot showers, washing machines, microwaves and accessible clean water, the people I met in the villages we visited were so joyful and thankful. They are grateful for the things they do have: friends, family, faith, love and happiness. It truly made me reflect on my life in the U.S. I think that a lot of times in the U.S., we connect happiness to material wealth and things. In reality, it is not things that create happiness. Our beneficiaries showed me that first hand. They lead hard and physically demanding lives, but the children are curious, playful and giggly, and the adults are humble and faithful, praising God over and over for the clean water they have received (I doubt any of us in the U.S. have thanked God for our tap water lately).

Driving for hours to water project sites gave me a lot of time to reflect on my life and all that I was learning on my trip. For most of the trip, we did not have Wifi or internet, which I actually enjoyed because it gave me time to disconnect from the busy world of texts, emails, and social media. Being in Ethiopia with Water to Thrive, I felt so purposeful. Visiting water projects and seeing the impact that Water to Thrive has made first-hand made me feel like I was part of something life changing. For me, it was a very natural transition going from the U.S. to living in Ethiopia, but I definitely experienced culture shock when I came home. I was thrown back into the world of Wifi and the Internet and back into my life of comfort and privilege, but I couldn’t stop thinking about my Ethiopian friends. So many people are drinking dirty water and getting sick everyday back in Ethiopia. I felt guilty for enjoying things in Austin, like drinking $6 smoothies and going shopping. I never really felt guilty about doing these things before. I have realized more how lucky I am to have an education, to have my own apartment, to have all the food and clean water I need. Many times since returning, I have wondered why I am so lucky to have these things and others are not as fortunate. But, sitting around and feeling guilty does not solve anything. I have learned that the way to solve problems, like the global water crisis, is to use my privilege to help others with less privilege. I don’t know why I have been so blessed in my life, but I do know that with my blessings comes a responsibility to share those blessings, to use my voice to amplify others’ voices and to use my education and experiences to create awareness around social issues.

I struggled with feeling less purposeful once I was back working in the office. However, I tried to remind myself that sorting through pictures from my trip, posting on social media for Water to Thrive and writing blogs to share my experiences are still important to spreading awareness about the water crisis. The path to meaningful change is not a sprint, but a marathon, and even small tasks like posting on Facebook contribute to more awareness, more donations and eventually more water wells built. Through my experiences so far this summer, I have learned more about the water crisis and become passionate about working to end it. I have been reaffirmed of my desire to help others, which I plan to carry out by working in the non-profit field. Now, I am on the hunt for a job where I can fulfill my passion of helping people. Whether I work with people affected by the global water crisis abroad or marginalized communities in the U.S., I am not sure (wish me luck on figuring that out). But, overall, thanks to CAPS, I have a better idea of what I want to do in my career. I am so thankful to CAPS for giving me this experience and truly helping me find my purpose.

My Biggest Adventure Yet by Nosi Oleghe

Living far from home was something I had always wanted to experience, and the CAPS Fellows Program gave me this opportunity while doing something I am passionate about, and that reminds me of home. I have had a lot of firsts this summer. It was my first time getting on a plane by myself, living by myself, and learning how to budget money. This might not seem like a lot to some people but I have always had my family to rely on for a lot of things, and as I will be graduating college in a about a year, I figured now is the time for me to experience actual adulthood.

Living in my own apartment has been very fun and interesting. I have loved living with Madison for about a week before she left for Ethiopia. We got so close in that week as we spent a lot of time together whether exploring Austin, or watching the bachelorette together on Monday nights (#TeamJed). I am excited for her to return and hear all the amazing things she experienced in Ethiopia. After Madison’s departure about a few days later, we got a new roommate Theresa who is over 60 years old, and is taking summer classes at the University of Texas at Austin. She is such a sweet and nice lady, and I have also learned so much from her already. She worked on the 2008 Obama Presidential Campaign, and told me many stories of her experience during that time, and her passion.

Working for Water To Thrive has been so amazing. This organization builds wells in Ethiopia, Uganda, and Tanzania, providing safe and clean water for the people. All the people I work with are so kind and very helpful. It is obvious how passionate everyone is about the mission of Water To Thrive, and it makes me love working here even more. It also provides a very positive working environment and promotes a good organizational culture. The first week here, I dove into my first project which was to create the budget plan for the 20 well projects, and I had to have this done before Suzanne, the Executive Director and the two other interns Madison and Kendall left for Ethiopia. I liked doing this project because it helped me apply the skills I’ve learned in the classroom as an accounting and math major. Currently I am working on organizing information from restaurants to partner with in order to get donations for the projects.

Living on my own in a new city away from my family and friends has been quite challenging, but very rewarding as I have learned a lot about how I deal with being alone which is rare for me, an extreme extrovert. I have learned how to manage my time, knowing when to rest, and when to explore. Taking random walks downtown by myself which I have found to be very therapeutic. I have tried out a lot of foods in Austin, and it has been amazing. I am looking forward to growing and learning more from this experience in the next months to come. I miss my family, and friends but I am happy with where I am and my progress so far.

Austin to Addis Ababa by Madison Magiera

Wow – so much has happened since I began my CAPS Fellowship! I moved to Austin, TX almost two weeks ago and moved into my own apartment for the first time.  I really enjoy being in my own apartment and I love living with Nosi as my housemate! Together we have started exploring Austin and we have found there is so much to do there! Austin is a unique blend of being proudly Texan, but welcoming to all, liberal and conservative and business-oriented with laid-back, bohemian vibes. So far I have found that the city possesses lots of live music, record stores, cute coffee shops, funky art museums and a profound (and inspiring) love for tacos. Nosi and I are staying in University of Texas housing so there is quite a few shops and restaurants within walking distance of our apartment, which is really nice.

After getting settled in at Austin, I started work at Water to Thrive! Water to Thrive raises money to build wells in communities in Ethiopia, Uganda and Tanzania, where there is little or no access to safe, drinkable water. The organization builds wells in the central hub of communities, provides easy access for the whole community to safe water and saves women and children from spending hours in a day walking miles to collect water. As an intern, I am currently working on marketing strategies for the organization and running their social media. So far, I have created a best practices guide for social media use (as volunteers also post on their social media), created a calendar to plan posts, created goals for the marketing of the organization and started posting in hopes to grow their social media following (shameless plug: you can find/follow us @WatertoThrive on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter😊).

After being placed with Water to Thrive a while ago, I was made aware of the opportunity to travel to Ethiopia with the Executive Director, Susanne, and another intern, Kendall. Of course this was an opportunity that I knew I couldn’t let go. So, after spending one week in the Water to Thrive office in Austin and meeting all of the amazing womenwho work in the office, I left for Ethiopia! We had to fly from Austin to Washington D.C. before flying to Ethiopia and we had a free night in D.C., so Kendall and I met up with CAPS fellows Jade and Maddie! They gave us a tour of their apartment and then we went to a rooftop restaurant in the city! The next day we boarded our plane and thirteen hours later landed in Addis Ababa, the capital city of Ethiopia. We have now been in Ethiopia for three days and I have already learned so much about Ethiopian society, customs, food and the Amharic language! Throughout our trip we will be visiting old and new water project sites and talking to the local people about their current access to clean water. I will still be running social media as well as taking pictures and blogging about our experiences for the Water to Thrive website. We have already visited four villages, and the people have been so friendly and welcoming to us when we enter their spaces. I am so excited to continue to travel throughout Ethiopia and learn more about the effects of the global water crisis and Ethiopian culture!

Unexpected Home

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the book The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver. This has been one of my favorite books since I first read it when I was 13. The novel follows protagonist Taylor, who, realizing that she needs to escape her small hometown in rural Kentucky, buys a VW Bug and vows to drive until it breaks down. She ends up in Tucson, Arizona, and through a strange series of events finds herself caring for a three-year-old girl who she calls Turtle. There are a lot of reasons this book could be on my mind lately – besides the Southwestern aesthetic that characterizes both Tucson and Austin (my home for the summer), it touches on perennial themes like immigration rights, environmental responsibility, and coming of age. But most of all, it is a book about building a new home in a foreign place.

Taylor draws together eccentric characters: anxiety-prone fellow single mom Lou Ann and her son Dwayne Ray, undocumented Guatemalan immigrants Estevan and Esperanza, used tire store/refugee sanctuary owner and activist Mattie, and grumbling neighbors Virgie and Edna, to name a few. Little by little, Taylor builds herself a home and a family in the “foreign” land that is the southwest, and eventually feels that she belongs there more than she ever did in Pittman County, Kentucky.

I don’t necessarily identify with Taylor’s need to escape her hometown. The opposite, actually: I am a homebody at heart. There is nowhere in the world I like more than the old red armchair in my living room at home, curled up with a book and a cup of coffee, listening to my family rustling through the house around me. But in the past few years I’ve found myself drawn farther and farther away from home, not pushed by a desire to leave but pulled towards the unknown. I’ve spent my recent months first studying in Spain, then traveling to Uganda with Water to Thrive and living in Austin as a CAPS fellow. By the time I move back in at Valpo for my senior year, I will have been home for a grand total of 8 days in the past 8 months. And though I miss my home, my family, my friends, and that red armchair, I’ve been learning to take a page out of Taylor’s book and build a new home through my community here.

Exploring Austin with Grace!

As happens when you move somewhere new, distant networks have become friends. In addition to Grace, my wonderful fellow CAPS intern, I’ve found strange connections that have slowly built this city into a home: like friends of friends who are visiting Austin for the weekend, old acquaintances I was vaguely friends with in high school who have since moved to Austin, or my CAPS assigned alumni mentor, who had me over to her house for dinner. I spent the evening talking with her and her husband, who met in the Peace Corps and encouraged me to pursue this dream, and, after playing outside with her three-year-old son, sent me home with raspberry bars and an open invitation to stay with them any time I find myself back in Austin.

Last weekend, I drove down to San Antonio to visit Elanore, a donor who was on my Water to Thrive trip to Uganda. She is a 65-year-old former Navy Commander. On paper, we have very little in common. But we quickly bonded in Uganda, sharing snacks and motion sickness medicine and stories on long, bumpy van rides, and so I spent the weekend staying with her and her husband. We spent one day shopping and going to museums and eating tacos on the San Antonio Riverwalk. People kept asking us if we were related, assuming she was my mother or grandmother, to which one of us would reply, “No – we’re friends.”

Visiting Elanore in San Antonio.

My community has turned this city into a home, made up of eccentric and unexpected characters. As my time here in Austin ends, I find myself reflecting on not just the exciting travel and meaningful work I have been lucky enough to be a part of, but also the community and home I’ve built in each new place I go.

Traveler/Tourist: Reflections on Two Weeks in Uganda

One month before I left for Uganda, I called my parents to share the news: “Hey, remember how I’m going to Austin for that internship this summer? Well now they’re letting me go to Uganda first!!” They knew that I was excited about the chance to work with Water to Thrive (W2T), a nonprofit that builds wells in sub-Saharan Africa. However, they were somewhat concerned about the two-weeks in the African bush with such limited communication. I’d already been studying in Europe for five months, so they had been looking forward to my return to the U.S. On this call, I didn’t tell them that I’d already booked my flights to Uganda, nor that I didn’t know if I’d get any funding. I had made up my mind to go. And nothing, not worried parents, nor homesickness, nor the crazy logistics of getting there, would stop me.

Visiting a primary school in the Mityana district.

My role on this trip was mainly as an observer — to gain some first-hand knowledge of the culture and various water projects.  Upon returning to the states, I would be doing research and data analyses on the impact of W2T’s partner organizations and drafting a grant proposal and newsletters.  So I had a role or a job to do — sort of. But as I stepped outside the Entebbe airport on my first day, anxious and sleep deprived, and not sure if I had the right VISA, I felt mostly like an outsider, and a spectacle. Robert, the driver who picked me up from the airport, laughed and told me that he’d immediately recognized me. My colleagues had told him to look for a “young woman with long hair who looks like it’s her first time in Africa.” And I did look that way: like a tourist.  Travel writer Paul Theroux writes that “Travelers don’t know where they’re going; tourists don’t know where they’ve been.”  I like this idea: while tourism is about arriving at a carefully packaged destination, travel is about the detours, the ongoing journey, and paying attention along the way. It’s not about arriving.

Jerry cans (the most common method of gathering and storing water) lined up next to a well.

In Uganda, I traveled with Susanne (the W2T director, aka my boss) and Gashaw (W2T’s Ethiopian hydrogeologist). Susanne called our trip a “vision” trip, to distinguish it from the many mission groups that take trips to build wells in Africa. While our visit was short term, W2T’s commitment to the communities it serves is long term and community based, and always works through local community organizations. But unlike Gashaw and Susanne, I didn’t have any real skills to offer the communities. While they analyzed water projects and worked out funding with partner organizations, my biggest role on this trip was simply to watch and listen. I could collect the stories and learn what these people had to teach me.  And in those two weeks of travel –– of bumpy car rides on roads built for cattle and bicycles, of celebrating and singing and impromptu dance lessons –– I learned that it’s not just about the water, not just about jerry can contamination and borehole depths, but also about history, and race, and what is enough.

Armed with a camera, a journal, and my hiking boots, I spent ten wide-eyed days trying to take in everything around me.  At the very first well we visited, I met a 23-year-old woman named Grace (two years older than me), who told me

Grace, age 23, is married with four kids.

that she was thankful that her four young children now didn’t get sick so often. In another village, one of the elders who spoke a little English told us that the old women were “crawling on the ground in happiness” now that they had water within easy walking distance. I chased kids as they shouted “Muzungu, muzungu!” (white person), who would 

“accidentally” let me catch them and then shriek with laughter as I scooped them up. Yet other villages would explain that their new well still frequently ran dry from the sheer volume of people using it.  They wondered if we might work on a second well to better sustain their needs.  I stood with villagers and listened to humbling and heartbreaking prayers. They asked God to bless the water he had brought them and to remember those villages who still need a water source.

I have more questions than ever, about race and privilege and responsibility. Questions that I’m only beginning to be able to articulate, questions laced with uneasiness and discomfort. But these questions feel big and important and relevant, and I’m excited to keep exploring and learning about these themes as I continue my work here.