Living in Waterfront Southwest, Washington DC, from September, 2017 had always made me admire the people on a boat cruise as I overlooked the waterfront from my house, 1466. This year in particular, I always told my roommate, Mariam that I have to go for a boat cruise before the end of the Fellowship. No matter how much I planned, I just seemed not to make time to embark on this relaxing journey to enjoy the water, cool breeze, trees and nature surrounding the Potomac River. From out of the blues, an invite from Atlas Corps to go on a sunset cruise came and I immediately jumped at it, as this was actually an important pending activity in my bucket list.
The sunset cruise finally came to pass on June, 16th, where I and 3 of my Fellow friends had to go on this cruise, enjoy the ride, nature, and everything that came with it and most importantly together with the Atlas Corps staff make a case to prospective donors to fund the 2018 end of year gala by sponsoring a table. We had time to interact with all the guests, ask them about their work and lives and also share our own experiences of being Atlas Corp Fellows and living in the US from the time we came.
What was most remarkable for me, was telling our stories and sharing our own journeys as Fellows. Of our experiences have been mixed with the good, the bad and the ugly, but to be able to share in an empowered manner, that which we have benefitted from the exposure that has come through this Fellowship and our hopes and aspirations for the future, was a basis for reflection, gratitude, and possible improvement, not only for ourselves as current fellows but also for future Fellows and funders to really believe that this Fellowship is a true meaningful opportunity for young leaders being brought on board from all over the world.
I also take this opportunity to thank the organizers of the cruise (Emma, Lisa, Scott, et al) and my Fellow friends for being chosen optimists. I can only say all the best to us in our future endeavors.
By Julie Lwando
June 30, 2018
