A picture of Katerina Canyon taken outside Advocacy Project office on May 28, 2014.

I honestly do not know what I should expect from this fellowship opportunity.  In my experience, the minute you make plans or set expectations, something colossal will happen to change those plans and expectations. Therefore, I expect anything to happen, and I am prepared for everything to happen. I have spent a great deal of time researching Nepal, the Advocacy Project,  CONCERN, and the work that the people with these organizations do to help improve the conditions of the lives of children in Nepal, and I am in awe of the work that has been accomplished so far.  Looking forward, I see there is still a good deal of work yet to do.

I have been thinking about the services I plan to provide which require a certain level of understanding of human rights and nonprofit management.  All Advocacy Project fellows are specially trained for the areas in which we are assigned, and we are a diverse group of people working any vast and differing areas.  However, we all share one common quality: hope.

Personally, I hope that when I arrive in Kathmandu  I get the opportunity to work closely with the people of CONCERN, and I am able to contribute work of substantial use.  I grew up as an underprivileged child with a lot of hope.  I hoped that someone would just take the time to stop and look at me and see what I was going through, but not just look at me.  I wanted someone to do something to help change my circumstances, so upon more reflection, I have to change what I said earlier in this blog about expectations.  I do have expectations.  I expect to see a lot of children, try to understand what they are experiencing, and help them achieve a positive change in circumstance.  Hopefully, I will do this in a way that allows me to gain long-lasting memories and experiences.