By Mandy Carter
It may not be unusual for most pre-med students to take a break between undergraduate studies and medical school. In fact, it's probably a good idea, but Hartshorne native Justin Colvard is taking a break of epic proportions.
For the past three years, Colvard has taken a summer mission trip to Africa, lending his time and talents to improve the lives of others for a few weeks, or maybe a month. The first year found him in East Africa, serving in orphanages in Kenya and Sudan.
“There's so much unrest there, it was pretty dangerous,” he said. “And then I found another orphanage in the Cameroon, a country in West Africa. I've gone there the past two trips with a non-governmental faith-based organization called Cry Cameroon.”
The first time Colvard went to the Harvest Children's Home, located on the mountainous Nigerian border, he went alone for a month in the summer, working with the kids on their medical databases, doing public health education, Bible studies and volunteering at the local church.
“It's an interesting mesh of culture, some French, some English, mixed with African,” he said. “I was the only white person in a five or 10 mile radius.
“The staff at the orphanage is all volunteer, and they're worn out. When we come in the summer to help, it lightens the burden a bit. I spent a lot of personal time with the kids. It's awe inspiring to go and listen to their stories. They've lost their parents to things like typhoid, malaria, AIDS. It's heart wrenching.”
The orphanage is home to 72 children, most of whom will still be there when Colvard returns this winter.
“They're all more or less clothed in rags, all speak broken African/English. At first they all look like that same little kid you see on the Discovery Channel,” he said. “Then you start to see the different personalities emerge and develop, with identities all their own. You get addicted. I had to go back.”
And return he did, the next time with another med-student friend who wanted to help, too.
“It's had such a powerful effect, when I'm home, I spread the word to get support,” Colvard said. “I have to spread the passion for this orphanage.”
He's decided two weeks is just not enough. This time, he's going for an extended stay of five to seven months, time enough to leave a lasting impression.
“A native of the region got the opportunity to be college-educated in the United States. The experience showed him how much need there was at home,” Colvard said, explaining the origins of the orphanage. “He started the Children's Harvest Home using American donors, and American teams to go and work with the kids, but the facility is run entirely from Africa.”
As a result, summertime sees many American volunteers coming to lend a hand through time, education, and a yearning to help. The problem is the need for help continues all year long. That's why Colvard has made it his mission to go for a more extended stay, and possibly set a precedent for more long-term volunteers, while at the same time fostering skills within the child population of the orphanage to encourage them to make contributions of their own.
“I spent a lot of time this summer with the older kids, working on leadership training and discipleship,” he recalled, “and encouraging them to step up and help the staff — not just be another one of the kids.”
While Colvard's work with the children of the orphanage is comprehensive, touching their educational, physical, medical and spiritual needs, it's not all laborious. Physical activities and recreation times are important tools for health, and learning opportunities, as well.
“This is a mountainous area, so towards the end of the stay, we took about seven of the older kids hiking,” Colvard said. “We got them up at 5 a.m., and had them hiking by 5:45. It's a time to learn more about the kids, share our stories, etc. It was the last thing we did right before we left. It marked our departure and their taking over the work we'd been doing.”
Colvard and the other volunteers that frequent the tiny village live as the natives do while they are there. They eat the same food, do the same work, help plant and harvest, and dress as their African counterparts do.
“Your feet get dirty,” he said. “The common footwear is sandals, and there's a lot of dirt. On the way back down the mountain, we stopped at a stream and had the kids take their shoes off, and we washed their feet, telling them the story of Jesus and His disciples.
“There are a few Christian churches there. The orphanage native volunteers are Christians. We don't push our religion on the kids, but we expose them to it. We try to help meet their spiritual needs while helping meet their physical needs, too.”
The remainder of the trek down the mountain was completed in silence, a time of reflection for all.
Colvard comes home from each trip with a drive to do something more next time. On his first trip, he took donated clothing with him. When he returned and told the story, his grandmother was so moved she made dresses for all the girls for him to take on his next trip. The brightly colored clothing matched the equally bright smiles of the recipients, and the contributions just keep adding up.
“There was one little boy that everyone thought was deaf,” he continued. “They didn't know how to properly clean his ears, and he had so much wax in them, he could not hear. We introduced them to hydrogen peroxide, and showed them how to clean them so he could.”
In addition to clothing and hygiene items, Colvard has been instrumental in adding elements of fun.
“I want to give them the chance to just be kids, and it's fun for me to be a kid again for a while, too,” he said of the part he played in introducing orphanage residents to Kool-Aid and water balloons. Play time is vital amidst hours of hard work doing laundry by hand, mopping floors on hands and knees, and cooking meals for such a large group.
“This upcoming trip is the first of its kind, because I am going for a longer time than an American has ever gone, and I'm going during the school year. I really want to dive in and work as a staff member to help these kids with their everyday life.”
Cry Cameroon has given Colvard a to-do list for this next extended stay, but he has a list of his own, as well.
“I'd like to look at the long-term needs not addressed during the shorter summer stays,” he said. “Like public health, personal health, and nutrition. I'd like to contribute to fulfilling kids' basic needs, take some of the burden off the orphanage.
“They face a huge burden. I'd like to work on adding more fruits and vegetables to the kids' diets so, not only can they be full at the end of the day, but healthy, too. I'd also like to research adoption possibilities.”
Colvard looks forward to fostering a sense of security and ownership in the children while he's there, too.
“My grandma sent 100 Beanie Babies, and they each got one. The expressions on their faces were almost heart-breaking, like they could not believe they actually owned something,” he remembered. “Ownership is not something commonly experienced in an orphanage in a developing country. I am going to build them cubbies for their personal belongings.” He added that generally, a few days before his previous trips ended, he sensed an emotional shift as his day of departure for home loomed.
“About a week before I leave, a lot of the kids start to pull back. They know we are leaving,” he said. “They already have abandonment issues. This time, they'll know I am going to be there a while, and I'll be back again.”
In the meantime, there's just as much work to be done here for Colvard, who is also a part-time tutor at Jones Academy in his “spare” time. His attention is currently focused on what it will take to get him to Africa this time, and keep him functioning while he's there.
“The staple diet there is red beans and rice,” he said. “Last time I lost 10 to 15 pounds in two weeks.”
Knowing he can't afford that rate of loss over an extended period of time, he's been working to keep himself healthy and acclimate his body ahead of time as much as possible.
He also has the responsibility of raising the travel expenses it will take to get him there.
“I typically raise around $2,000 for travel and basic food expenses for a four-week trip, and supplies needed at the orphanage,” he calculated. “For a six month stay, my goal is $6,000. I am working three jobs, sending out support letters, and I get donations from churches, family and friends, and even strangers, too. Without these donations, these trips would not be possible.”
Colvard said there's an Internet café in the local village, about a 20 minute walk from the orphanage. He goes there a few times a week to keep in touch with family, and update them on progress.
“I'll be blogging the whole time,” he said, adding that he has to time his communications around irregular spurts of electricity in the village. He hopes to stay until late May or early June, giving him the opportunity to transition summer American volunteers, and maybe begin to build a regular rotation of volunteers who can keep the momentum going.
“I am trying to give this amazing place a face,” he said.
For a virtual visit to the Cameroon with Colvard, log on to lifeofawanderer.com.
