Will someone just accept my help?

Although Everett, Washington and Korphe, Pakistan are thousands of miles apart, the experiences found by those wanting to help can be very similar. In Three Cups of Tea, Greg Mortenson ran into many obstacles while trying to help the people of Korphe, much like the bumps in the road I have encountered while trying to volunteer my time at the VOA food bank in Everett.

When I first thought about volunteering my time to help others, I realized that even though I feel my everyday job is a service learning project, this donated time would be very beneficial to my community. As I began reading Three Cups of Tea, I learned from Mortenson's experiences and thought that the small amount of time that I would be donating each week paled in comparison to the time, money, and effort he has put into helping villages in Pakistan.

Greg's efforts inspired me and made me even more excited for my experience at the VOA food bank. It wasn't that simple though. I showed up once at my assigned time and was sent away since the person who was supposed to give me an orientation was not there. After a week or more of no returned phone calls or emails, I finally was able to contact someone at the food bank who set me up with a new time. Finally, I made it in for my orientation, hoping I would be able to stay and actually work that day. After my hour long orientation I was told that there was no work in the warehouse and was again sent away. I understood, but felt frustrated that here I was, a community member ready to volunteer my time, but yet I was not needed.

This situation reminds me the frustration Greg must have felt when trying to go back to the village of Korphe and build the school he had promised the Pakistanis. He had everything he needed except for money. He was willing to donate all of his time, energy, and even sell his personal possessions, but the remaining funding he needed was not given to him for quite some time. As Mortenson writes in his book, "other steps came all too slowly. Six months had passed since Mortenson had sent the first of the 580 letters and finally he got his one and only response...a check for one hundred dollars and a note wishing him good luck. And one by one, letters arrived from foundations like hammer blows to his hopes, notifying Mortenson that all sixteen grant applications had been rejected" (Mortenson 52).

Although I am sure that Mortenson's frustration must have been much stronger than my own, I can somewhat relate to him at this point. Hopefully I'll be able to put in some time next week at the food bank, but up until now I have felt defeated. I am willing to give my time, but there are always obstacles along the way!