Subject: Privilege and Opportunity: Pre-Departure for South Africa
Frequently Asked Questions:
Where are you going?
What are you doing?
When do you leave?
Where are you living?
Do you have a mailing address?
Are you scared or worried?
What's this I hear about a web site?
Do you have a back up e-mail should this e-mail address not work?
Grahamstown, South Africa. It is on the southeast corner of South Africa 30 miles east of Port Elizabeth in a college town.
What are you doing?
I am only partly sure. In the afternoons I will be working with 6 rural African high school students who struggle with learning in an after school program. The morning time I'll have is yet to be filled, but there are opportunities to work in an AIDS/TB clinic.
When do you leave?
This Tuesday July 17 at 7:30 am out of Spokane International. I fly to Minneapolis, then to Amsterdam, on to Johannesburg. I arrive in Johannesburg at 9:30 pm on the 18th and fly to Port Elizabeth on the 19th.
Where are you living?
I don't know yet. I may be house sitting for a couple months with a friendly golden retriever.
Do you have a mailing address?
No, not yet, but when I get one I'll send you one.
Are you scared or worried?
No, maybe I should be.
What's this I hear about a web site?
I have a web site that I will be updating at least once a week. If you have time check it out. It has some pretty cool features. Feel free to write a response. the web address is: http://kellegraham.blogspot.com/
Do you have a back up e-mail should this e-mail address not work?
Privilege and Opportunity
I was born into a life of privilege; much of it unearned . By being a white Anglo-Saxon male in the United States with a middle class family, I have been offered many rights and privileges that most people in the world have not. The list is endless of the incredible blessings/opportunities/gifts provided me due to my place on the globe,
the color of my skin and my citizenship that past generations have toiled to provide. For this privilege and grace I am so thankful -- undeserving, but grateful.
With the great privileges I have been offered to pursue my ambitions, to eat when I'm hungry, to feel safe in the suburbs, to be financially secure, to be in good health, I feel a call to offer what I have to others. Given these privileges, I now also own the incredible
responsibility to advocate for those who do not have the same opportunities who are as equally or more deserving than I. Christ tells us that we are freely given grace and that we should freely give. How do we respond?
This July I'll be going to South Africa where there is a visible distinction between privilege and injustice, wealth and extreme poverty. While apartheid ended nearly 20 years ago, change takes time. The country was at one time racially divided, leaving the black population to fend for themselves with few resources and corrupt governmental sanctions. In conversations with people who have been in Grahamstown, Johannesburg, and Capetown, I hear many conflicting stories of what life is like in South Africa. I hear stories of extreme poverty, violence, corruption and AIDS as well as stories of high society, beautiful scenery, sandy beaches and fine pubs and eateries. What will my experience be?
My job description will be to work with 6 rural African high school students in an after school program. My mission is to save the world.......just kidding. Through my interactions I hope to first provide these students with a general education to further their opportunities to get jobs and have equal opportunity for success, however that looks in South Africa. I also intend to learn from these students, about their culture, what brings them joy, and about what it means to live in poverty. Equally important, I want to share my experience with others (you all) and work to better understand and deal with how to offer support with cultural integrity. I do want to save the world from poverty and injustice, but I also know that the only way change can occur is through the day to day challenge to live a life like Christ: loving God by caring for his people; that being all people.
I realize that this e-mail may seem pretentious and idealistic. It probably is, and I am excited to see how my experience will change the way I view the world. This is where I am right now.....anxious to serve, sure of my mission. I expect it to change. That is what this opportunity is all about. If I didn't have the privileges provided my by my family and friends, and community, I wouldn't have this opportunity to learn and grow and advocate for change, and for that I owe you my gratitude. Most people I talk to say this will be a life-changing experience. What will that look like? What will I learn?
What will my experience and the relationships I build in South Africa teach me? I am not weighed down by these questions, rather, these thoughts carry me, excite me, encourage me. Here I go, open to what Christ has to offer......
In faith,
Matthew Kellen
P.S. If you have any thoughts about my perspective, please by all means keep me accountable. You are my support.
What can you do to support those with fewer opportunities than you? This note is specific to all you Episcopalians out there. Many of you are already supportive of the underprivileged, and have been supportive by supporting my mission year. There are so many other opportunities to serve in the Episcopal Church alone that often go unseen by local congregations.
While in Manhattan I had the opportunity to see at 815 (Episcopal Church headquarters) some of the amazing things the church has to offer. Your church can volunteer to support refugees coming to America. We also have an amazing program called Episcopal Relief and Development (ERD) who works to effectively support the urgent needs of developing countries and countries recovering from natural disasters with cultural integrity. They also work to enable the communities to be self-sufficient in managing the support we provide.
See how your congregation can get involved There are local programs in your communities already supporting people in your community. I urge you to respond to that call of responsibility to support those in need. Get involved.
the color of my skin and my citizenship that past generations have toiled to provide. For this privilege and grace I am so thankful -- undeserving, but grateful.
With the great privileges I have been offered to pursue my ambitions, to eat when I'm hungry, to feel safe in the suburbs, to be financially secure, to be in good health, I feel a call to offer what I have to others. Given these privileges, I now also own the incredible
responsibility to advocate for those who do not have the same opportunities who are as equally or more deserving than I. Christ tells us that we are freely given grace and that we should freely give. How do we respond?
This July I'll be going to South Africa where there is a visible distinction between privilege and injustice, wealth and extreme poverty. While apartheid ended nearly 20 years ago, change takes time. The country was at one time racially divided, leaving the black population to fend for themselves with few resources and corrupt governmental sanctions. In conversations with people who have been in Grahamstown, Johannesburg, and Capetown, I hear many conflicting stories of what life is like in South Africa. I hear stories of extreme poverty, violence, corruption and AIDS as well as stories of high society, beautiful scenery, sandy beaches and fine pubs and eateries. What will my experience be?
My job description will be to work with 6 rural African high school students in an after school program. My mission is to save the world.......just kidding. Through my interactions I hope to first provide these students with a general education to further their opportunities to get jobs and have equal opportunity for success, however that looks in South Africa. I also intend to learn from these students, about their culture, what brings them joy, and about what it means to live in poverty. Equally important, I want to share my experience with others (you all) and work to better understand and deal with how to offer support with cultural integrity. I do want to save the world from poverty and injustice, but I also know that the only way change can occur is through the day to day challenge to live a life like Christ: loving God by caring for his people; that being all people.
I realize that this e-mail may seem pretentious and idealistic. It probably is, and I am excited to see how my experience will change the way I view the world. This is where I am right now.....anxious to serve, sure of my mission. I expect it to change. That is what this opportunity is all about. If I didn't have the privileges provided my by my family and friends, and community, I wouldn't have this opportunity to learn and grow and advocate for change, and for that I owe you my gratitude. Most people I talk to say this will be a life-changing experience. What will that look like? What will I learn?
What will my experience and the relationships I build in South Africa teach me? I am not weighed down by these questions, rather, these thoughts carry me, excite me, encourage me. Here I go, open to what Christ has to offer......
In faith,
Matthew Kellen
P.S. If you have any thoughts about my perspective, please by all means keep me accountable. You are my support.
What can you do to support those with fewer opportunities than you? This note is specific to all you Episcopalians out there. Many of you are already supportive of the underprivileged, and have been supportive by supporting my mission year. There are so many other opportunities to serve in the Episcopal Church alone that often go unseen by local congregations.
While in Manhattan I had the opportunity to see at 815 (Episcopal Church headquarters) some of the amazing things the church has to offer. Your church can volunteer to support refugees coming to America. We also have an amazing program called Episcopal Relief and Development (ERD) who works to effectively support the urgent needs of developing countries and countries recovering from natural disasters with cultural integrity. They also work to enable the communities to be self-sufficient in managing the support we provide.
See how your congregation can get involved There are local programs in your communities already supporting people in your community. I urge you to respond to that call of responsibility to support those in need. Get involved.
