My Office

It can be said that a person's office says a lot about them. I am no exception to this. First of all, I am very unorganized. My desk reflects the fact that I must force myself to put everything in its place. When times are busier, I often forget to do this. But there are other things in my office that are much more important than folders, binders and desktop calendars. In my office I keep many of the gifts I have been given during my travels to Africa. On my desk sits a pair of Giraffes that were given to me by the president of a Rwandan HIV/AIDS co-op in 2008. On my bookshelf, I keep a beautiful basket given to me by the wife of my good friend Jean-Claude Ndagijimana honoring my and my wife's years of support of her husband's college education. The front of my desk adorns a picture of me and Jean-Claude's family: his wife Christine, and two sons Werner and Weber. Behind me hangs a Rwandan flag. Why do I keep all of these things in my office? Besides the fact that it looks cool, these things are constant reminders of why I chose to come to work for Church World Service. It reminds me that every day when I come to work, that what I am doing has the opportunity to positively affect the lives of the people I met in Rwanda and Kenya, and others in many places all over the world. You see, many people dread each day that they have to see their office, but I have been blessed enough to have a job with an organization that is making a real difference, a job where every hour I spend, every phone call I make, and every dollar I raise gives to the amazing work of CWS all over the world. When I get stressed, I don't have to do much more than close my eyes and remember the children in Rwanda, who, because they didn't have something as simple as a pencil or a school bag, could not attend school, or the street children who had been thrown into the streets either as orphans or because their parents chose them as the ones who they couldn't take care of. When I think about these things, my stress goes away, and I am able remember why I am doing what I am doing, and for that, I am truly blessed.