Our Volunteers: Anne Miller
Anne Miller travelled to Tanzania on the Exposure Trip organised by Oxfam Ireland. She gave this speech about her experience there at the 2007 Staff Forum.
Hello. My name is Anne Miller and I'm the shop manager in Derry. The trip to Tanzania was the most humongous experience of my life.
Although I had the itinery and the literature, I couldn't imagine anything. The trip was outside of my imagination. It was great meeting Oxfam staff in Dar es Salaam. To meet the people work with our partners.
Jumbe escorted us throughout the week and everywhere we went we were received with high regard, tremendous welcomes and great hospitality. Not if I swallowed a dictionary, could I even begin to tell you what the week was like for me. It's completely beyond my powers of expression. I would encourage you all to go and have your own experience. Oxfam is all about people, so I'm going to try to tell you who some of our female partner members are.
The women of KIWAKKUKI (Women's Aids Alliance) and the women of the Tumaini Income Generation Group, who are part of the MVIWATA network of small farmers groups. But, I want to tell you about the women themselves, rather that talk about the work they do or the issues they face.
These women were impressive.
Not so much at the time the words were spoken, but coming back on the plane, a sentence several words and couple of phrases used by the women drifted in and out of my head. These words floated around my head even when I was back at work. I knew they had special meaning for me personally, and that they said something very special about the women who uttered them.
The following is a sort of collage of the words and language used by our female partner members; a very small collage. I'm giving their words to you and adding a few of my own, hoping to give you a more rounded image of the women of KIWAKKUKI and MVIWATA. Their words could be interpreted as a philosophy for living. Or they could be viewed as the women showing us their essence or spirit. Every day we make choices, in our personal and working lives. The women we met were no different. They also make choices.
They chose action over dependency.
They chose education over ignorance.
They chose empowerment over helplessness.
They chose respect over disregard.
They chose dignity over self pity.
They chose happiness over misery.
I was back at work 4 or 5 days, on my knees sorting bags, as you do, when another phrase floated into my head. One of the female farmers we met made a reference to "letting her light shine". Where I was sitting I could not see her, but I felt an immediate connection to her. I remembered hearing the phrase years before and loving the whole idea of each of us reaching our potential and becoming the very best we could be.
Conversation moved on and I completely forgot about her and what she said until I remembered her phrase 10 days later.
I knew the source of that phrase. I was 100% sure it was from Nelson Mendal's inaugural speech. I checked it out but apparently it was not part of his inaugural speech. However I do believe he quoted the passage in another speech. He was quoting from literature by Marianne Williamson. If it is good enough for Nelson Mendela it's good enough for me, so I would like to read you that passage.
"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our light not our darkness that most frightens us. Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of god. Your playing small doesn't serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us, it's in everyone.
And as we let our light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear our presence automatically liberates others."
I think this expression, about letting our light shine; personifies the women of KIWAKKUKI and MVIWATA. I think this passage says beautifully what these women are about.
I believe our female partner members are an inspiration to each other and to all of us. I think they are creative, courageous, entrepreneurial, resilient and strong. I think all these women are shining lights and with the work they do and the issues and challenges they face they are fully deserving of our continued support.
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