SERVE: Nepal 2014

Service learning. Learning service. Community engagement. Community development. There are more terms that I could add to this list as well, all attempting to capture the essence and focus of development work through service. I could make this a discussion about what qualifies as service, what doesn't, and how we can make it sustainable. But instead of that, I want to talk more about the experience itself and my own personal reflections from this past week in Nepal.

Over Spring Break I had the privilege of bringing 19 University students to a rural village in Nepal called Tikapur. We were accompanied by a local organization called Reach Out to Asia (ROTA) who played an instrumenal part in establishing the community partner. While in Tikapur we had three main projects. Build a wall, teach computer classes, and create a library. This might sound like a short list, but we had our work cut out for us and had to push to the end to finish it all.

A few things really struck me about the trip. The first was the nation of Nepal. Nepal is a country prone to natural disaster, has a history of political instability, and is stricken by extreme poverty. The village we were working in had only dirt roads, the vast majority of homes were mud walls with thatched roofs, and the only vehicles were tractors for farming and construction. Needless to say this was a far cry from the glitz and glamor of Doha. The contrast isn't what struck me though, it was the quality of life and the feel of the place. Tikapur was a place that wasn't striving, wasn't looking for the greener grass on the other side. They were complacent. And not in a bad way. But they accepted what they had and worked through their simple daily routines. Now the negative side of this complacency is that it is actually a learned helplessness. This likely comes from years of neglect, lack of economic development, and lack of access to education. The positive side is that these people were happy. Happy with their lives, trade, family, and community. It was refreshing to see life simplified to this level and understand that happiness is not materials it is a way of life.



 Another striking part of the trip was our students. In my time in Doha I have had several disappointing moments working with students here. Lack of commitment, not taking intiative, challenges developing a culture of involvement, etc. These challenges are part of working in Student Affairs and don't only exist in Doha, but they are challenges none the less. The group that took part in this trip was a shining example of my faith in college students and the reason why I feel so lucky to work in this field. This group was made up of 19 of the best and brightest students I have come across. Going into the trip I wasn't sure how the group would react to difficult conditions, a foreign environment, exposure to various social issues, and a long draining week. Our students respondent with critical reflection, resilient attitudes, support, teamwork, and appreciation for our host community as well as their own. It was a privilege being part of the trip and learning from these students and I hope to have more experiences like this in the future.

Finally the trip continued to spark my interest in global education. Earlier this year I attended the World Innovation Summit for Education (WISE) here in Doha. It opened my eyes to an entire new world of Education! From that point I have been captuivated by the idea of working in global educaiton delvopment in a future life. This plan continued to affirm that. There is so much great work being done in global education development but so much more left to be done. This was a great opportunity to not only contribute in a small way to the educational culture of that community, but also to expose our students to the inequity of education globally with the hope that they contribute in some way in their adult lives. Not sure where this interest will take me in the future, but for now it is one of the many paths I am looking to for future endeavors!

There is SO much more I could say about this trip. When I say it was an emoitional roller coaster, I mean it brought up a lot of questions. Why do we do service trips? Who learns? How do you close the educational gap globally? What is sustainable development? Are we objectifying the local community? What do you tell a crying child as our bus pulls away from the school? How do you communicate with people when there is no common language? And many more. I had many moments of reflection and am still processing through them now. I am so thankful to have had this opportunity and look forward to future experiences as well.

Next on the agenda? South Korea for an international education conference next week followed by a week with Kristal in New Zealand!!! Never did I think I would get to NZ 3 times in one year...the crazy things we do for love! Until then, thanks for keeping in touch and talk soon!

Calling all Visitors and Farewell William

So one of my favorite parts about being in Doha so far has been hosting visitors and giving them a glimpse into what life is like out here. These visitors have come in many forms, there was Brennan last Christmas, countless couchsurfers, my family this past January, and most recently I was graced with the presence of not one..but TWO of my best friends. Thank you Chris Rielly and Sarah Marr for making the trek out and I just wanted to give a quick recap of what we did. Please also consider this the OPEN invite to any future visitors. I promise you nothing but the best time! So much fun you might just stay (see: Brennan Biddle circa 2013)

The trip lined up quite brilliantly. Sarah was in between terms and had a week off. Rielly was ready to pull the trigger on his flight plan. The two essentially booked alertnating trips with Doha being the common ground in between. Sarah flew NY to Dubai to Doha to NY while Rielly opted for DC to Doha to Dubai to NY. This past weekend the reunion included myself, Sarah, Rielly, and even Brennan made the trip over!!!

We started off with "Bring Your Friends to Work Day" as Sarah and Rielly joined me for the average work day in the Student Center. We had a pizza and bowling party, they met some of my colleagues, many of the students I worked with, and explored a bit on their own. After work we had dinner in the Souq and caught up about life.

The next day Sarah and Rielly went to the Museum of Islamic Art while I wrapped up the work week. The met me at the end of the day to head back home. Afterwards we had a little welcome party/going away party at my new apartment. We said "see you later" to the one and only Will Nestor...more to come on that later...and they got to meet some of the incredible people I call friends here.

The next day we were up and at 'em nice and early for a desert camping adventure. I was able to convince Will Nestor (with little convincing) to change his flight so we could get one more night with him. We then took my 4x4 out to the sand dunes and raced an hour into the Qatari desert to park on top of a massive sand dune overlooking Saudi Arabia. On the way out we felt like we were on top of the world, taking in the scenery, in disbelief that we were all together, and just rocking out to the randomness that is Qatar radio. We watched the sunset, had a BBQ dinner, made a bondfire, and had the best damn sing along that has ever been seen. After camping under the stars we made our way back to Doha to say our goodbyes. It was more of a warm embrace than a teary goodbye because we just had So. Much. Fun. It will go down as one of my best Doha weekends by a long shot.

The most difficult of the goodbyes was to Will Nestor. I have made some great, life long friends since arriving in Doha. But none can compare to Will. He was one of the first people I met when I moved here and unfortunately his time was cut short in Doha. I only learned Will was leaving about 5 days before his final flight and it came as quite the shock. I can't think of a better send off for him and he deserved even more. To Will, I say thank you for so many good times. I know we will be back at it soon enough but I admire you and can't wait till our paths cross again.

In the next epic adventure, I travel tomorrow to rural Nepal with a group of 19 undergraduate students for a service trip. We will be teaching computer literacy in local schools and helping to build a community library. It will be approximately 10 days and I am beyond excited to leave! So let me sign off for now and will check back in after "Spring Break"!!!

The Surprise

Valentine's Day has come and gone. But for me and Kristal it is one that will never be forgotten. It took about 3 months in the making but I was able to fly halfway across the world, without Kristal finding out, to surprise her and celebrate Valentine's Day together...in person. I have had a lot of people ask me..."How did you do that?!?!" So I figured I can give a little breakdown here in 7 easy steps...(7 just sounded like a good number)

Step 1: Idea
I got the idea for the trip just before Kristal and I were getting ready for our Christmas trip. We were struggling with going 3 months without seeing each other and I thought it would be nice if we could see each other before 3 months for the next trip. It ended up that Valentine's Day was exactly 6 weeks from the end of our Christmas trip...so the timing was perfect.

Step 2: Book Flights
After a bit of price hawking, I stumbled on what must have been an airline error. I found a roundtrip ticket to NZ at about 30% off the normal ticket price. The dates perfect lined up around the Feb 14 holiday so without much thought...I booked the sucker!!!

Step 3: Plan Trip
Once I had my ticket it was decided I would have about 72 hours of actually being in Auckland. So I started to plan out of trip. It ended up being a B&B in Auckland followed by a little road trip to an area called Whangarei Heads on the North Island. I had some help from one of Kristal's friends, Kate, in making great reccomendations!


Step 4: Deception
Once it was all set up I had to keep my mouth shut. I started dreaming up ways to keep her from finding out, which is no easy task when you need to account for 24 hours of travel and a 10 hour time difference. I decided I couldn't do it on my own and started looking for conspiritors.

Step 5: Accessories
There were two main accessories to this plan. On the NZ side, there was Kate. Kate helped plan the trip and then was a trooper in helping set up a scavenger hunt to lead her to our meeting location. She also make "plans" with Kristal for the weekend to make sure she would be available. On the Doha side we had Kevin. Kevin had made arrangements with Kristal to take me out on the 14th to celebrate. The two of us decided to go out a week earlier, save the photos, and send them while I was in the air from his phone. He also used my email account to send her messages I had drafted while I was flying. As far as she knew, there was NO possible way I was not in Doha.

Step 6: Make Her Work For It
I couldn't just show up at the front door and yell SURPRISE!!! Where's the fun in that?! Once Kristal was done with work, Kate had taped a set of clues that would take Kristal all around Auckland before arriving at our B&B. While she was on the hunt it was time for me to "wake up" in Doha so I was messaging her as she got to the end. When she arrived at Bella's B&B she had no idea what would be waiting for her there.

Step 7: SURPRISE!!!
As Kristal opened the door her face was pure shock, mixed with joy. After a long, weary day of travel it was SO refreshing and I would have gotten on the next flight out of Auckland and it still would have been worth it. She was speechless, confused, and most of all wanted to know "What happened?!?!" As I explained it all to her she continued to be in disbelief. In all the entire weekend was this euphoric, blissful experience as we enjoyed "bonus" time together. Usually we look forward to our trips for so long and then know it will be quite a while until the next one. That weekend was basically free time so we cherished every second.









The Surprise will go down as one of the best weekends of my life. Incredible hikes, home cooked meals, more B&Bs than we knew that to do with, and of course great company. We are so lucky to get these kind of opportunities and it looks like our next trip will be in 4 short weeks! I will be going back to NZ in March after a conference for one more hoorah!!! So thank you to all of those who helped with the Surprise, kept their mouths shut, and cheered us on from all around the world. We appreciate your support!!! Until next time!!!

The Witt Clan Invades Doha!!!

Well it only took 18 months to get them here, but 2014 brought a new year and the Witt Clan! Mom, Dad, and Brandon all arrived January 11th for a week long visit to the Gulf. Now I understand this post is LONG overdue but that is because I have frantically been catching up and traveling since they left as well. So now that I finally have the chance to sit down, let me tell you a few highlights from the trip.


So the fam arrived around 10:0pm on the 11th and I was SO impressed with them. After 18 hours of travel they were in good spirits, dealing well with jet lag, and our first order of business was a Christmas celebration! We exchanged gifts under the tree I had left up for them and enjoyed the start to our first time traveling as a family in years! We had a busy week ahead of us and our first day was spent in Doha touring around Education City.

January 13th was a special day, not only was it the Prophet Muhammad's (peace be upon him) birthday it was also the birth of Don Witt! What better way to celebrate than at the top of the world's tallest building the Burj Khalifa. I was really glad we got to see both Dubai and Doha on the trip because it gives a good comparison. Dubai is a polished, posh, well oiled machine compared to the younger more developing Doha. Both have their benefits but it serves as a good look into what Doha's future might be. In addition the Burj we visited the Center for Cultural Understanding. Brennan and I had visited last year when he came to Doha and it was a good chance for the family to learn about Gulf culture and traditions. We had a VERY animated host and ate a traditional khaliji meal in majilis style seating. I think it dispelled a lot of myths and we learned quite a bit!

Once we got past the Dubai part of the trip it was back to Doha. Our next stop was Doha's majestic desert. We did an overnight camping trip which including dune bashing on the way out to the campsite. I have not heard my mother scream like that in a LONG time as she was convinced our driver was trying to kill us! As we were speeding up, down, and around these dunes he was playing classical music to calm our nerves. On the trip we had a family camel ride, a private beach resort, FREEZING weather (by Doha standards), and quite a few laughs along the way.

Our last weekend in Doha held two very different experiences. First, we had ANOTHER birthday on the trip. The birth of the one and only Brennan Biddle. He flew back to Dubai to celebrate and we went out with a group of friends to a nightclub called Qube. Now Qube is a place of the people. Doesn't matter if you are rich, poor, big, or small. The Qube is the place for you. Mom and Dad made it out with us and stayed out until about 2am!!! When did they get so cool?!? This night was juxtaposed with the following night where we were hosted by one of my Qatari colleagues and friends, Ameena. Ameena and her husband had my whole family over for dinner. We shared traditional food, stories, and histories from home. It was a really wonderful night and from there we headed to the airport.

It was amazing how fast the trip went by. We went non-stop the whole time and I hope it wasn't too much to handle. If you were to ask the family what they thought, I think they would tell you they had an even better experience than expected. They saw the quality of the people, of the city, and of life that I am so privileged to enjoy here in Doha. It isn't easy being so far from home, but Doha makes it worth it. I feel so lucky to have had the whole family visit and I hope we get to do another trip in the near future!!

As for me, I am moving to ANOTHER new apartment this weekend. I will be moving to the downtown area with two friends in a high rise apartment. I welcome the change and am not excited for packing but can't wait to move in!!! We are also counting down the days until Chris Rielly and Sarah Marr come to town!!! Still can't believe how many visitors I have had since moving here. Some of you better catch up. I promise to try to write more, but until next time!!!

A Holly Bali Christmas and More!!!

My latest adventure was one that took me from the mountains of Oman, to the beaches of Bali, to the glamor of Dubai all in a matter of two weeks! I traveled to Oman for work to do a site visit for a program called Outward Bound Oman. We are planning to take 25 students to the mountains of Oman in May to spend 4 days and 3 nights hiking and camping through the wilderness to work on their leadership skills and teamwork. During my visit I camped in freezing weather at the top of a mountain, spent more social time with Omanis in 4 days than I have with Qataris in over a year, Couchsurfed on a floor, wandered aimlessly, swam in an Oasis, and MUCH more. I was amazed at how impactful the trip was to me in just 4 short days but if you want the fully stories you will just have to ask. Because this post isn't about Oman, it's about Bali Bells for Christmas!!!

The last time Kristal and I saw each other was the "Meet the Family Trip" in September. While that was a very special trip in its own ways, we didn't get to spend much quality time with just us. Enter, Christmas. We chose to visit Bali for its remote location, the fact that Kristal had lived there for 4 months, and that we could just get away. We spent our trip in 3 main places; the Gili Islands, Kuta, and Ubud.

We visited during the rainy season and our trip started with just that...rain. Lots of it. Kristal and I arrived in Bali on Christmas Eve and once we did it was off to the races. To be to Gili Meno (where we would be spending Christmas) we needed to take a 90 minute bus to a 90 minute boat to a private boat before reaching our island. Unforunately the rough seas and rain made this especially difficult. On the 90 minute boat 4 people vomited, our private boat barely made it to the island, and when we arrived on the island we had to lug our bags through the mud and pouring rain to find our accomodation. Did I mention there are no cars or roads on the island? But once we finally arrived at our private bungalow, it was alllllll good.


We celebrated Christmas in our own way, bringing TONS of decorations to make it our own. Although it was difficult to remember it was in fact Christmas, we hung lights, exchanged gifts under the tree, wore Santa hats, and watched Christmas movies. Who cares if it was 80 degrees? It was a very relaxing two days and we were surprised to see how many restaurants and bars on the island had decorated for the holiday as well. So Christmas in Bali 2013? Check!


After Bali it was off to Kuta which is basically a touristy beach town. There Kristal had the distinct honor of finally meeting Kevin, from the famous/infamous duo of Kevin & Evan. We spent a full day and night with Kevin before he had to leave for other adventures. For our second day in Kuta we had no idea what to do. We ended up grabbing a cab and visiting a cliff temple, secluded beach, and found our way to the most incredible sunset dinner I have ever had. The sunset dinner was a long strip of beach that perfectly lined to the sunset and was filled with fresh seafood restaurants. Kristal and I sat there for no less than 4 hours taking it all in, being serenaded by the local band, and eating to our heart's content. It was our last night in Kuta so we had one last hoorah before it was off to Ubud for our last stop!

Ubud was the cultural stop on the trip. It is a quiet town more inland from Kuta and had an array of temples, craft shops, traditional performances, and artwork. We walked the streets and markets, went to a traditional Kecak dance, and even made time to visit the monkey forest (it was JUST as awesome as it sounds!). The best part of Ubud though was taking a 15 minute drive outside of it to Bedulu, the village that Kristal lived in for 4 months as part of a study abroad. We got to visit her study abroad center and the home that she lived in. While visiting that home we even ran into her host mom and they were able to catch up after 5 years!!! Amazingly Kristal still knows some basic Indonesian and I was amazed to see her connect with many locals throughout the trip.

Overall Bali was even better than I thought it would be. There is so much to see and do there that you could spend months. I was really happy with the places we (and by we I mean that Kristal) chose to go. It was a great balance of beaches, tourism, culture, and needed time together. Saying goodbye was difficult as we continue this binging relationship of seeing each other every several months. We are not sure exactly what our next meet up point will be but now we get to figure that out!!!

Until then, I am working a leadership program outside of Doha for the next week before Mom, Dad, and Brandon FINALLY come to visit!!! We have some amazing things planned and I just can't wait for them to get here. It was an incredible end to 2013, a year that will always stand out in my life. Now on to 2014 and hoping for no bigger and no better, just more of the same. Happy New Year and always remember Beware Wild Monkeys!!!

India: In Anu We Trusts Leads to the Guru and the Emerald

Of the countries that I have visited India has to be one of the most difficult to understand. It is a country that is home to over 1.2 billion people, hailing from 28 different states, with nearly 70% of these people living on less than $2 per day. As a country India is incredibly diverse. Many states have their own language, traditions, culture, and standard of living. In many ways it appears as if India is a grouping of independent states under the country title of “India”. My most recent trip to this country spanned only 6 days and only covered a very small piece of its soil. But in my short time there I had an incredible wealth of experiences and learned quite a bit about the country and of myself.

The first thing I wanted to know in India was “how do you not get ripped off in India?!”. I arrived in Delhi airport at 4am on a Thursday morning. Considering it is a city 22 million people (almost 3 times the size of New York City) I figured I would be welcomed by an onslaught of sights and sounds. Well if New York is the city that never sleeps, Delhi is the city that…well…sleeps. When I arrived there was hardly a car on the road, hardly a sound in the air. I proceeded to have a sketchy arrival where I was brought to an information center, told over the phone my hotel reservation had been canceled, and was brought to a hotel I did not have a reservation for to sleep for a few hours until the rest of the city woke up. After I woke up I went to the hotel I had originally booked and they said they had been waiting for me and received no call the night before. So not the best of starts but from there it was all downhill!

I had the first day to sight see by myself before Brennan arrived that night around 6pm. In addition to sight seeing I did some research on what we would exactly do in India. We knew we wanted to go to Delhi, Jaipur, and Agra but weren’t sure if it would be by bus, train, or driver. After a LOT of conversations, negotiations, and research it was clear that a driver was our best option. For a mere $250 each Brennan and I had a personal driver for 4 days and 3 nights including some meals and accommodation!!! The driver we were given was a God send. A man by the name of Anu. He was funny, caring, responsible, sarcastic, welcoming, and most of all he put up with Brennan and I for 4 days. After the first day it simply became Evan and Brennan visiting Anu and he would just show us around. We went out with his friends, put our lives in his hands, and exclusively took his advice. He could do no wrong in our eyes and he led us to SO many great stories.

 

The trip as a whole only had good days, but the best day from start to finish was our full day in Jaipur. This day started like any other travel day, with some sightseeing but then spiraled out of control. Once we finished sightseeing we proceeded to a carpet factory where Brennan and I bargained the shop owned down nearly 50% and even got a bag of Lays thrown in for free (even though we wanted pringles). Then came the big question from Anu, “Do you want to go to a gem shop with a Guru?”…YES!!! Of course we do!!! Pause. What’s a guru? A guru is a glorified fortune teller that can tell you what your lucky gem stone is as well as things about your family and personality. So we head straight to the Gem shop and are greeted by a man, speaking perfect English. After a few minutes Brennan asks if  someone can tell him his luck gem stone and he replies, “Yes. That would be me. But only if you’re brave enough!”

We were sold. We end up in a back room with just the three of us. The guru proceeds to read Brennan and I. In summary…Brennan is crazy. Evan is 4 years older than Brandon. Patsy (Brennan’s mom) allegedly has been pregnant 3 times. Evan is balanced. Brennan will be a great father. Evan will be a great husband. Evan has healing powers. Needless to say Brennan ends up buying an Emerald (his “lucky” stone) from this guru which also came with an invitation to an Indian wedding that night. This wedding crashing was the first of back to back wedding nights. At this first wedding with the guru Brennan and I were a HIT with the age 8-12 demographic!!!

The final shout out I will give is to the Taj Mahal. Better than advertised and sunrise was a great call. We were accompanied by a guide named Ricki who ended up being our personal photographer and teacher. I pulled a Will Nestor and read up on the Taj and watched a documentary before going so I tried to go fact for fact with Ricki. He won…Being at the Taj was a humbling and breath taking experience. It is incredible to think that this building was only completed in approximately 1654. To see this kind of achievement compared to the current state of the country is just remarkable. If the Taj isn’t on anyone’s bucket list for some reason, please go add it now before reading further.

 

To wrap up this rant, India left me very reflective. It is a country that is so much different than anywhere else I have been. They have such a strong culture not only in history and tradition but also in music, film, and food. Many other countries I visit seem overtaken by western influences but India seemed to lack that for me. Speaking to an Indian colleague today she disagreed and said India does have a lot of western influence perhaps just not what I saw. Either way, India’s massive population and incredible history left my mind spinning. With the current low standard of life, how do you change that for so many people? How does that standard become acceptable by the people? Where has democracy failed in the country? What does the future hold for a country with so much human potential? I definitely have plans to go back to India to see other parts of the country but for now I am content with my first experience.

 

As you can imagine there are MANY more stories and details from the trip. December is another busy month as I head to Oman to plan a student trip, then get to see the beautiful Kristal Sawatzke in Bali (Indonesia) for Christmas, and round it out with New Years in Dubai with Brennan. Happy holidays to everyone and hope to catch up with many of you this next week!

Power to the MO

November is the MOst wonderful time of the year. When the air gets cooler (even in Doha), the holidays come around (mostly in America), and facial hair is embraced (all around the world!!!). This Movember has been my most successful Movember season to date. When I moved out to Doha I wasn't sure if my Movember involvement would be able to continue and even remember asking my supervisor last year, "So...ummm...is it ok if I grow a hideous mustache during November?"

This year my Movember partner in crime, Kevin D'Arco, and I wanted to take Movember to the next level here in Doha. It all started with a simple facebook page (like us at Movember Doha), followed by a twitter account (follow us @movemberdoha), and the rest spiraled from there. In the end we got involved with 4 major fund raisers that took place this past weekend:

• Movember Brunch at the W Hotel
• 1st Annual Doha Stache Bash at the Hilton Hotel 
• 10k at the Grand Hyatt
• California Tortialla Movember Lunch

The crown achievement of this bunch was the 1st Annual Stache Bash. With the lovely help of Sheila Dohmann we were able to throw a private event at an outdoor pier of a 5 star hotel fully equipped with a private bar, appetizers, and giveaways. We were able to charge and keep $25 per person at the door and raised a total of $5,500 just from that one night!!! The support has been far great than we ever could have expected and I am very proud of what we have been able to accomplish.

Luckily Movember is not over!!! You still have the chance to donate to the cause and support 100 Mustaches Strong for 2013 as our team is now in the top 25 for fundraising teams in the entire US!!! If you would like to donate to my page visit mobro.co/EvanWitt!!

Thanks for all the support and here's just a few more of the great images from this month!