A group of anticipating PhD candidates of The Chicago School
of Professional Psychology (TCSPP) arrived from all over the world to engage in
service learning, fulfill a corner stone of field experience requirements and
to most importantly put theory into practice. Jet lag aside, the delegation hit
the ground running and took in a country vastly different from what most people
call home or experience on average. There was as much diversity as similarities
to be found. For example, the students could not stop laughing at the dance
competition blaring until 3am showcasing Justin Bieber and Usher songs.
Similarly, whilst watching children day school parades, playing familiar US band songs
left the PhD candidates heart warmed. Nearly everywhere was juxtapositions of
wealth and poverty: The UK High Commission side by side with corrugated tin
roof huts, a Bus full of Westerners taking Kodak moment photos with shades on
and children as young as five selling fruit.
Everything that seems natural or automatic was necessarily
challenged: running water, electricity, paved roads and even quantity of food.
There can be no greater preparation on understanding another's life, another
world and becoming International Psychologist than travel and compassion.
Speaking to LemonAid Fund's director and founder and adjunct
faculty of TCSPP, Dr. Nancy Peddle, she recalls her over 15 years of experience
on the ground in Africa. In the midst of
strife in SL, Peddle was able to be evacuated without a second thought, with
white peace flags waving from her car. This experience was deeply engraved in
her heart as she wondered what the people who couldn't leave would do. Making
good on the thought in her heart, she set up LemonAid fund to collaborate with
people on the ground in SL to improve life from the grassroots level. The fund
is involved in many areas including early education, female genital mutilation
and forgiveness.
The PhD delegation is here in the capacity of consultants
and will work on a variety of levels to tighten efficiency and help build
capacity. After the first day, it was very evident that a whole new world
exists out there, that the learning will be deep and mutual.
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