Former UNK student searches for answers in Africa |
| Posted by Administrator on Apr 01 2009 at 2:06 PM |
Photo courtesy of Levi Jacobs
Jacob takes a moment to read while eating.
By Kylie Tielke
Antelope Staff
Across the world, one UNK philosophy major searches for answers to many of life's questions, traveling around the world helping others, and at the same time, learning important life lessons.
Levi Jacobs lives and works in Uganda, a small east-central African country, finding basic answers for himself in a simple life that evokes feelings of peace, love and satisfaction within.
In an Internet interview Jacobs said his path has been different from that of most others who pattern their lives around a career.
"Living in Africa has opened my mind to how people live in different economic circumstances. It has taught me a lot about myself and about life, the lessons you cannot find at home," he said.
Jacobs explains he understands that true wealth is the ability to do what you want with your life and find your dreams and live them. "Instead of a career choosing a life path, my life path chose my career and is still doing so," Jacobs said.
Jacobs grew up in the Midwest living in North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana and Nebraska. After graduating from UNK, he went to Japan to pursue a career as an English teacher. Following that, he traveled the world, finally ending up in Uganda.
"Seven months on a boat, four years in Japan, countless jobs and 33 countries later, I find myself in Africa, still seeing new things, still learning and still loving every second of life," Jacobs said.
Jacobs works at the Hope Destitute Children's Center, an orphanage for more than 60 children, documenting his experiences for all to read on his blog. He writes about children from the orphanage, including one child in particular, John, whose father died from HIV-AIDS. John was then forced to live with his grandmother, who sold drugs from home, and a grandfather who beat him.
In his blog Jacobs writes: "He is the one who always runs to see me and gives me a big hug. John is a tiny little guy with a big heart and sharp mind who looks at me with big earnest brown eyes and says 'daddy.'"
One of the greatest benefits of his administrative work is all the good work he does with great people, knowing he is there because he wants to be and taking off as much time as he wants to be fair.
He also mentioned drawbacks: no income, being thousands of miles away from family and old friends.
Jacobs said he chose this challenge because he wanted to understand what life is like in an economically impoverished country.
In his blog he writes about the feeling he gets from the life so different than in the U.S.: "Handmade. Everything here looks, feels and operates as though it's handmade. All the chairs are crooked, repaired, the automobiles old and held together by strings, the buildings not quite straight or clean, products sold in the markets made of recycled materials and ingenuity. I love it."
According to Jacobs, people often ask him why he volunteers in other countries, and he answers: "Volunteering here has taught me home is planet Earth, and all these people are neighbors. And when I finally come home, learning what I have learned, I think I will be better able to do good and needed work right in the U.S.A."
"I think the main message I would like my fellow students at UNK to get is that the world is wider and richer than you can imagine. You just have to go and see for yourself. In the process, you will get a closer look at knowing where you came from, who you are and where you want to be and have an absolute blast," Jacobs said.
He also encourages UNK students to think big, push themselves and ask what the best possible life would be, then try to live it.
For the next several months Jacobs will continue to work and find answers in this Oregon-sized country. To read about Jacobs' experiences, visit his online blog at www.looseleaflife.blogspot.com.
To learn more about or to help Hope Destitute Children's Center, visit www.hopedcc.org.
