There's something in the air and I think it's derived from all this sunshine. Everyone seems to just be in a great mood. Ahhhh...I love summer! I love friends even more!
World Affairs Council happennings a wonderful, my photography business is getting me from being a freelancer to someone with a good portfolio, and I'm reading up to get ready for Morocco.
I am preparing for an exciting academic year. It will be a very, very long one too. I have lots of faith things will be okay :)
Goodnight! Bring on Monday!
Carpe Diem,
Asil
Sunday, June 20, 2010
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Delegation Celebration!
So I'm in the middle of my second week of my internship at the World Affairs Council of Dallas/Fort Worth and I am absolutely LOVING it! I feel like I really am doing something productive for the community and I am encouraged to actually take part in the activities that these international delegations are involved in.
Quick summary of my job:
I work with the International Visitors Program of the World Affairs Council. The US State Department has representatives in different countries throughout the world. These people identify and invite potential and rising leaders in each country to come to the United States for a period of three weeks to observe and learn about their field in more detail. These leaders work in all aspects of the development of their country -- from improving its political and/or economics structure to improving its human rights record to being more productive with their agricultural methods.
So the World Affairs Council here gets an email from the State Department saying that they think Dallas would be an awesome place for people interested in ________ to meet with CEOs and their colleagues of institutions and programs dealing with _________. Just fill in the blanks and the rest is up to us!
We pick out appropriate non-profits, government agencies, grassroots organizations, and/or Fortune 500 companies in Dallas/Fort Worth that we think would be great for a particular delegation to meet with. We typically will brainstorm and put together a proposal of about 12 resources and the State Department picks out maybe 5 or 6 they think may be most beneficial to a particular delegation staying in Dallas for 3 or so days.
Once we get the OK from the State Department, we start making the appointments and getting the details set. That's what I spent my day doing actually. We have a multi-nation delegation (20 people from 20 different countries ranging from Algeria to the Czech Republic to Syria to Thailand) coming in to learn about small business development with an emphasis on using exports to expand their business. That may sound like a pretty narrow topic, but you cannot believe what Dallas has to offer!
They'll be here for three days of programming next week and I CANNOT WAIT!!!! I'll probably head down to the airport on Monday evening with some of my coworkers to greet them and give them their welcome packets.
As an intern, I'm privileged to sit in on any of the appointments they have set up and accompany them to wherever they're going. I'm spending my evening tonight researching each of the 20 countries so I can better gauge where they're coming from. I think it would be helpful so I could have more interesting conversations during those lunch and dinner breaks with them.
Anyways, I am blessed to have such a wonderful experience thus far and thank God every day for having an opportunity like this! Yesterday was such a difficult day for me actually and I could hardly get myself out of bed this morning. But once I'm getting things done, I think the sense of accomplishment overpowers all those terrible, negative thoughts that run through my head. I just need to keep going. That morning cup of tea is helping a lot too :)
I've realized how much I love learning. Since I've had a couple of weeks off since exams finished up in May I've done some reflection about this last year, particularly my GO Fellowship in Lebanon. I wrote Todd and Abby Williams, my benefactors for my travel last summer, an email summarizing a few of my thoughts. When I last met with them at their house for a briefing with the other GO Fellows, I don't think I had all my thoughts gathered and I certainly think about my experience in a completely different way now than I did right after I came back from Lebanon.
Those kids give me so much freakin strength!!! If anyone is facing a midlife crisis, you best visit an orphanage. Or really anywhere where people are suffering -- not from indecision or routine (as we often are) -- but from not being able to put food on the table, access education, or be healthy enough to work.
So back to the World Affairs Council...I'm glad I went to the orphanage prior to starting this internship. When these delegates start talking about the poverty in their country, I think I may have an idea of what exactly they mean...
Carpe diem,
Asil
Quick summary of my job:
I work with the International Visitors Program of the World Affairs Council. The US State Department has representatives in different countries throughout the world. These people identify and invite potential and rising leaders in each country to come to the United States for a period of three weeks to observe and learn about their field in more detail. These leaders work in all aspects of the development of their country -- from improving its political and/or economics structure to improving its human rights record to being more productive with their agricultural methods.
So the World Affairs Council here gets an email from the State Department saying that they think Dallas would be an awesome place for people interested in ________ to meet with CEOs and their colleagues of institutions and programs dealing with _________. Just fill in the blanks and the rest is up to us!
We pick out appropriate non-profits, government agencies, grassroots organizations, and/or Fortune 500 companies in Dallas/Fort Worth that we think would be great for a particular delegation to meet with. We typically will brainstorm and put together a proposal of about 12 resources and the State Department picks out maybe 5 or 6 they think may be most beneficial to a particular delegation staying in Dallas for 3 or so days.
Once we get the OK from the State Department, we start making the appointments and getting the details set. That's what I spent my day doing actually. We have a multi-nation delegation (20 people from 20 different countries ranging from Algeria to the Czech Republic to Syria to Thailand) coming in to learn about small business development with an emphasis on using exports to expand their business. That may sound like a pretty narrow topic, but you cannot believe what Dallas has to offer!
They'll be here for three days of programming next week and I CANNOT WAIT!!!! I'll probably head down to the airport on Monday evening with some of my coworkers to greet them and give them their welcome packets.
As an intern, I'm privileged to sit in on any of the appointments they have set up and accompany them to wherever they're going. I'm spending my evening tonight researching each of the 20 countries so I can better gauge where they're coming from. I think it would be helpful so I could have more interesting conversations during those lunch and dinner breaks with them.
Anyways, I am blessed to have such a wonderful experience thus far and thank God every day for having an opportunity like this! Yesterday was such a difficult day for me actually and I could hardly get myself out of bed this morning. But once I'm getting things done, I think the sense of accomplishment overpowers all those terrible, negative thoughts that run through my head. I just need to keep going. That morning cup of tea is helping a lot too :)
I've realized how much I love learning. Since I've had a couple of weeks off since exams finished up in May I've done some reflection about this last year, particularly my GO Fellowship in Lebanon. I wrote Todd and Abby Williams, my benefactors for my travel last summer, an email summarizing a few of my thoughts. When I last met with them at their house for a briefing with the other GO Fellows, I don't think I had all my thoughts gathered and I certainly think about my experience in a completely different way now than I did right after I came back from Lebanon.
Those kids give me so much freakin strength!!! If anyone is facing a midlife crisis, you best visit an orphanage. Or really anywhere where people are suffering -- not from indecision or routine (as we often are) -- but from not being able to put food on the table, access education, or be healthy enough to work.
So back to the World Affairs Council...I'm glad I went to the orphanage prior to starting this internship. When these delegates start talking about the poverty in their country, I think I may have an idea of what exactly they mean...
Carpe diem,
Asil
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