Blood:Water, Interns and Potluck Dinners

For the sake of a good (or maybe just subpar) analogy, imagine a church potluck dinner. Most of you with any background in the church will resonate with this description: a long row of tables covered in Tupperware and Pyrex containers with family-size portions of every entrée and side dish known to man. People line both sides as they serve themselves unnecessarily large scoopfuls. Now, if your church is like mine, everything is delicious. But if your church is like most, there are the good dishes, which are eagerly awaited and gone within the first few minutes, and there are the not-so-good dishes that remain on the table untouched until the late-comers have to settle for them and the leftover scraps from the homemade mac'n'cheese.

When we desire to "make a difference" in Africa, we must first ask, what are we bringing to the table? In other words, what are we doing that genuinely changes things? Are we bringing what is most effective and useful there? Or are we bringing something we may think is good but, in reality, it sits and goes to waste because it simply isn't practical? Are we a part of the solution or a part of the problem? These are questions essential to evaluate in our obedience to the command to care for the poor and the orphaned, the oppressed and the naked, and the hungry and the thirsty. Non-profits are not exempt.

I've been a supporter of Blood:Water Mission for several years now, as I'm sure many of you who read this have been as well. I hope you'd all agree when I say that I have never once doubted that what they bring to Africa is effective, useful, and sustainable. The beauty of being an intern at Blood:Water Mission this summer is that, for a few months, I feel effective and useful in bringing it with them.

Whether it is day-to-day tasks like responding to emails and stuffing envelopes, or a bigger project like planning an event, the intern experience at Blood:Water Mission is the chance to answer this whole table question as an individual. For the brief time that I am here, what can I bring to the table for Africa? What are the things I can do at the office today that might, in some small way, help move us closer toward this greater goal of clean water and lives free from disease and HIV in Africa? It is the chance to offer up whatever small amount of knowledge, skill, and passion I have to be put to good use by an intelligent and encouraging staff of people who have dedicated this season of their lives to doing the same. It is the chance to take part in the many things that must happen before a well can be drilled or a clinic can be opened. It is the chance to be practical and to act with purpose. It is the chance to bring something good to the table- to truly, really, actually "make a difference." 

~ Melissa Barber, Former Blood:Water Mission Rockstar Intern

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Interested in internships?  Each semester Blood:Water Mission offers internship opportunities for college and grad school students as well as recent graduates - apply by Nov 12 for a spring internship! If you are interested, please click HERE for an application and more information. An internship with Blood:Water is a great opportunity to work hands-on with Blood:Water staff, learn more about how non-profit organizations function, and gain helpful experience in a workplace environment while nurturing your passion to make a difference in this world.