Change Alumni - Sandra

Alumni Blog: Meet Sandra Larsen

The Story of a CFC Brochure that changed a life

Sandra Larsen is a CFC participant from Norway (2013). She shares a story about how a brochure handed over to her when she was 15 years old ended up opening an opportunity that changed her life and the way she views the world:

How it started

It all began one day in ninth grade, the year was 2012 and I was 15 years old. I was handed a brochure from one of the stands which were visiting our school to talk about career and educational choices. “Communication for Change (CfC)” was written on the front and there was a promise of an exchange-period to either South-America, Asia or Africa. Right then and there I was taken back to all the hours spent in front of the TV watching nature documentaries and the beauty of Africa, with my dad. After a day spent receiving a lot of brochures and flyers, that particular CfC brochure was the only one I kept. Before this I had not considered joining an exchange programme. 

Waiting for the opportunity

Keep in mind that the CfC program was for youths between the ages of 18 to 25 years. During the time from when I received the brochure to when I applied I was a fan of the program. I started following along on Facebook and I started to picture myself joining the program. I always kept thinking of CfC as something I would do once I had finished high-school, but it wasn’t until I briefly had looked at other exchange programs that I decided to make my dream come true. My dream was to experience Africa, the Africa I had seen in all those nature documentaries; free, wild and beautiful. I also wanted the opportunity to see if working with NGO’s was something I would like to keep doing in the future.

Living the dream

My dream came true. I was lucky enough to travel to Haydom in Tanzania and spend almost three months with the 4 Corner Cultural Programme (4CCP) in a place rich in nature and culture. But our time in Haydom was not only one full of joys and adventures, there were struggles to reckon with. We spent time with local families in the area, and lived like them. They were able to share their struggles to be heard by a government which did not care for the nomadic culture of for example the Hadzabe-tribe. I recognised the same struggles of my Sami-family one to two generations ago and I felt for the Hadzabe people. 

Learning opportunity

We went to schools in the area and we learned about access to water and hygiene products and how girls often lose a week of school every month because of a lack of sanitary facilities in the schools. As a young woman I felt for them. We even spent hours walking from house to house to do research on people’s access to water in the most rural places. I remember a child getting muddy water from an almost dried out waterhole. I felt for that child and that family. 

Taking action

Although there was, and still is, a lot of struggles to deal with in Tanzania I was lucky enough to work with people who deal with these issues every day. Every day, they find new ways to overcome struggles by uniting people. By the spirit of ubuntu, a sense of community, they were able to find solutions which elevates the everyday life of people in and around Haydom. And though these short term solutions are needed, we also need to work with the systems in place in the world today which are the cause of poverty and bad health. We need to make sure that the systems in place are designed to give everyone access to clean water, wherever you live in the world. I got inspired by the trip to start working in the youth organisation called Changemaker, an organisation which focuses on working with the structural issues, or the root causes of poverty and injustice in the world. 

Inspiration

Some particular people from Haydom also stood out in their dedication and work against injustice, and I want to mention Mama Selina. She is a retired nurse who now works with 4CCP on a more or less daily basis. She inspired me to go beyond my own limits, and beyond any borders to learn and to make a change. She inspired me to become a nurse myself and tackle the issues we were faced with in different ways. So both as a nurse and as a board member of Changemaker I work with making a change in the world every single day.

Commitments moving forward

Right now my focus is on how youths in different places in Norway can change the world by changing local policies. Later I will once again focus my work to a more global scale, but in which direction I am not certain of yet. 

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