In 48 hours I will be on a plane heading to Miami and then onto Guatemala. It is the culmination of a two year Global Justice fellowship with American Jewish World Service.

American Jewish World Service works in 19 Global South countries to partner with local agencies to ameliorate poverty. Along the way, they have discovered they need to work on a reduction of violence, especially for women, girls and the LGBT community.

I became a fellow as part of my commitment to professional development. I work hard on issues of social justice, especially partnering locally with organizations like Habitat for Humanity, the Community Crisis Center, the 16^th Circuit Court Steering Committee on Domestic Violence. AJWS’s global approach to these issues might inform the work I do here.

It has been a privilege to be part of this group. Along the way to Guatemala, I have learned much. Read much. Done all my homework (well almost, there is this nagging last project about the story of self that I have not completed). Learned the Wellstone Organizing method. Lobbied for IVAWA, the International Violence Against Women Act. Met my congressman in his office, at our synagogue and in Washington.

My congressman recommended that I read a book, The Locust Effect. It was not on the “official” reading list but I read it anyway. I have found this book especially haunting. The author shares much of the opinion of AJWS and Nicholas Kristof who wrote Half the Sky. But he seems to take it a step further. Its premise is that without an effective and safe legal system, violence against women and girls, the amelioration of poverty cannot happen.

These issues and more are part of what AJWS works on and I look forward to seeing the agencies that AJWS supports and the impact that involvement has had. I look forward to meeting real people and seeing how these issues effect them directly. I look forward to running and maybe meeting one of my running buddies. I look forward to the bright colors, the mountains, a mythical lake, some Mayan ruins. I look forward to chocolate and coffee. And all of the experiences I can’t really prepare for or predict.

This fellowship builds community too. It builds it with a network of rabbis who participate with me. We have studied in chevruta. We have discussed classical Jewish texts and difficult books like Bitter Fruit. We have spent time in Los Angeles, New York and Washington. Along the way we have become friends. We have become a community–virtually and occasionally in person. And in Chicago, there is another group of “fellow travelers” who work locally.

I am hoping to continue this blog, so watch this space. My understanding is I have free data, so text and email and not voice. And it will be over almost before it begins.