Julianna Lewis graduated from Tulane University in May 2018 with a Bachelor of Science in public health and a minor in Spanish. She is now doing a year of service with VIDES+USA, where she will spend September through December in Bogotá, Colombia, tending to and accompanying elderly Salesian sisters in a care home and January through April in Geneva, Switzerland, assisting at the Istituto Internazionale Maria Ausiliatrice Human Rights Office, which has special consultative status with the United Nations. After her gap year, she hopes to continue her studies and passion for health by attending medical school.
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A lesson learned: God as a source of trust
Notes from the Field - Although I still have a couple of months left with VIDES, I've had some major takeaways from this experience so far. I have also come to discover that first opinions are actually not everything. I had many expectations and visions of how this year of service would turn out.
I'm learning how to recognize God in the office work
Notes from the Field - Sitting in an office most days, reading technical and political reports and dense documents, hardly seems like the idea of service I had envisioned as a volunteer.
Transitioning from Colombia to Switzerland brings new challenges
Notes from the Field - The adjustment to my new placement site has not always been easy, due to the many differences I have encountered. The climate is much colder, there are language barriers, and the nature of the work here in Veyrier contrasts with my work in Bogotá, which was very hands-on.
Trust in God stems from our limitations
Notes from the Field: Living with the Salesian sisters at Casa Madre Mazzarello taught me the importance of "wasting" time in prayer, especially in the modern age. Being limited is a good thing.