How My Time in Ireland Fits Into the Rest of My Watson Year
By now it is an apparent running theme that nothing has gone to plan during my time as a Watson Fellow. In the beginning, this impacted me a lot and in a very negative way. But, at this point (more specifically 2.5 days away from returning back to the USA and 366 days since I last stepped foot on American soil), I have come to view this turbulence less harshly.
Often these last-minute changes to my plans have made my itinerary more engaging, varied, and beneficial for my goals than the schedule I had initially envisioned. In New Zealand, a month before departing for my time abroad, I had to reimagine my plans as the group that I thought I'd work with for my entire three-month stay could only host me for a week. That upheaval allowed me to spend time in four major cities, with dozens of charities, and all of the best pediatric palliative care providers in the country.
When I was awarded the Watson Fellowship, I envisioned going to El Salvador, but I ended up in Chile. Upon arrival, I didn't have any firm confirmation of the work that I would be doing or exactly with whom for how long, but that flexibility and living in the uncertainty permitted me to have meaningful conversations with questions that I could not have prepared in advance. Especially because I didn't have the Spanish to do so at the time!
I landed in Senegal just a day after the hospital that I worked with confirmed that I could spend time with them. And after several weeks of being there Monday through Friday, they allowed me to double the length of my stay working with the team. But, that meant canceling a planned trip to another part of the country for a few weeks to work with a clinic run by a single doctor, since my team in Dakar advised me that it might not be the safest place to go alone.
While in Senegal and planning for my time in Belgium, I got out-of-office replies after out-of-office replies. Not wanting to arrive in the country at the same time that everyone else had left the country for a holiday, I sent emails and set up Zooms and was able to arrange a 3.5-week stint working in Kuwait. This was finalized a little under 2 weeks before my plane touched the ground there.
Then, those extra 3.5 weeks to plan my work in Belgium permitted me set up my time with the memorial photography group and get the green light to serve as a volunteer based on the application and portfolio I was able to cobble together while in bed sick with Covid-19.
And in Ireland, background check issues made it so that I couldn't act as a volunteer at Barretstown for their bereavement camp for families who have had a child die, despite having been in discussion with them since August. But, I could still work with FirstLight, a group that provides counseling, free of charge, to families who have had a baby or child die suddenly. In the additional time that I had available, I was able to have so many meetings with other groups, attend conferences, collaborate with Liz Gleeson and support the work for the Shapes of Grief podcast and grief training course, and serve as a play volunteer at Temple Street Children's Hospital through Children in Hospital Ireland.
Again, I could not have planned how nicely this time in Ireland would have been to conclude my project. Through my work with the Shapes of Grief podcast and training course and with some of my tasks for FirstLight, I was able to start applying and sharing what I have learned. I helped compile resources and offer insight. I pulled articles and perspectives from a variety of countries using diverse search terms based on all of the conversations I had up to that point. I assisted with putting together presentations, infographics, newsletters, and publications to normalize conversations about grief and increase community knowledge about how to support those that have had a child die.
With FirstLight, I also saw and learned firsthand what it takes to run a charity that offers some of the necessary support to families after the death of a child. There are so many tasks and considerations needed to maintain this type of service. free of charge -- fundraising, data collection, administration tasks, email work, budgeting, training, meetings, recruitment, awareness campaigns, and so on.
I feel like this is what my year has been building up to. I have learned so much at every step and every stage. And in Ireland, I continued to explore what it looks like to provide support before, during, and after the death of a child in this cultural context. At the same time, I began to engage in ways of providing that support how I am able and qualified to at this stage in my journey.
The opportunity to be serve as a hospital play volunteer was uniquely valuable to me at this point in my Watson project too. I have spent the last year (more if you count the application process) focusing all of my time, energy, and thought on child death. Most people need the reminder (or unfortunate realization) that sometimes children die. But working as a play volunteer did the opposite for me and reminded me that, most of the time, children live. This reality check helps to keep me motivated and dedicated, but also optimistic, positive, and hopeful.
This has also helped ground me recently. On July 16th, I had the pleasure of volunteering at Barretstown for the Big Picnic. The several hours I spent there had me dwelling in the "what ifs" for a few days and missing my own summers working at sleep-away camps. There is such fun electricity in those environments. I felt down and like I had missed out on a unique experience of being able to work at those bereavement camps while in Ireland all due to some silly bureaucratic delays.
But I had to remind myself that the end of my time in Ireland and the end of my time as a Watson Fellow abroad does not end my commitment to nor my involvement in this work. And now with Aer Lingus offering direct flights from Cleveland to Dublin, it will be easier than before to come back. As I have left every other country I have been able to recognized how much I still had to learn about my topic in that place, and Ireland is no different. And there are so many places that I have not even been yet.
Even though I have only 2.5 days left on my Watson Year abroad, my project will not end when I get back home. I know that we, as a global community, are on a trajectory of improvement in how we care for the bereaved. I am proud to be part of that progress as a witness and participant.
If you want to stay up to date on my blog, consider subscribing to be notified when I post!
Kommentare