Ride in a truck, nap on a hay bale, wink at a peanut, tour the slum theme park

Hi, OK, life newz, this week I accepted a job at Habitat for Humanity. Habitat is my favorite nonprofit*, I’m thrilled to be working for them, and my job will be Volunteer Engagement Specialist, coordinating build trips to Africa and the Middle East.

Here is the weird part: I will be moving to Americus, GA, the absolute middle of nowhere, one town over from Jimmy Carter and this 15’-tall fiberglass peanut with squinty eyes and buckteeth, three towns over from the Watermelon Capital of the U.S., and zero towns over from lots of cows and pigs. I am going to live in the country. It’s probably only for a while; they are trying to move the position to Atlanta.

Questions like What will I do there? and Who will I do it with? and Will I be miserable? feel so distant that I can’t imagine answers to them. All that is in my head now is that I’m curious, excited, and confident that I am making a good decision. Historically my blogs are funnier when I’m bored or lonely, so we could be heading into Peak Eddie Blogging.

You are invited to my going-away party with the “Dress Sexy at My Funeral” theme. 



*Habitat is my favorite nonprofit because: (1) They don’t do that imperialist charity bullshit where a bunch of white people in the U.S. tell brown people in the majority world how to live. They partner, not bulldoze. (2) These trips do new construction but also building repair and water treatment projects. There’s merit to the work beyond photo ops. (3) North American teams who go on build trips must contribute double their expenses; the second half remains in the community they visit to fund further projects. (4) If you accept “human rights” as that which people have a responsibility to provide for each other, then I take housing as a human right, and Habitat is excellent at building decent, affordable housing.

**P.P.S. So it’s a Christian organization, but look: if you don’t have much patience for Christians, you can be glad that they’re spending their money building houses and hospitals and water treatment, right? It’s work that we all want to see done. Habitat is run by a bunch of communitarian hippies and libs, and it’s an advocate for the poor to shitty governments and corporations, a rare opportunity to come by.

14 Notes/ Hide

  1. mypinkrazr said: congratulations that is awesome!
  2. runoffatthemouth said: Same peanut that’s off of 75? That looks like a totally happening place! You’ll be a watermelon cocktails expert!
  3. reelecteddie posted this