Who Am I

My name is Nikki Cochrane and I am from Burlington, Ontario. I grew up there with my parents, Jim and Cathy, and my younger sisters, Kristin and Meghan. I moved to Hamilton, Ontario when I was 18 to attend McMaster University, in the cultural anthropology program. My birthday is June 24 (1989) and I am 20 years old.

I went on my first volunteer trip when I was 18, to Sosua, Dominican Republic, for 2 weeks. I returned the following summer as an Intern with Hero Holiday for one month. I then went to Ethiopia for 2 weeks in February of 2009, and back to the Dominican for 2 months in May-June 2009. While in the DR that time, I made a short trip into Haiti, and hope to go back soon. There are a few kids that I have met in my travels who have impacted me and motivated me to continue this work and to open up my heart; Frangelis (DR), Rosie (DR), Yolanda (DR), Yoandi (DR), Frankel (Haiti), Misgana (ET), Melaku (ET), and Tsehay (ET). Some of these kids I have continuing and close relationships with, and others came into my life for just a few days or hours but impacted me deeply.

I love reading (my two favourites are Gone With the Wind and The Kite Runner) and love everything to do with travel. I read adoption blogs obsessively and hope to adopt my kids in the future. I don't think I would ever be happy living a 'normal' life in Canada. I am pretty sure I will end up living in a foreign country and working with families in poverty for the rest of my life... just not sure yet which country I will end up in! I have a list of countries I want to travel to, and the top 3 on the list are India, Thailand, and Rwanda. Up until 2009, Ethiopia and Haiti were #1 and 2 on the list, until I was able to travel to both those countries. I would love to go back. I love country music (I seem to get laughed at when I admit I love every Taylor Swift song!) but hiphop and rap seemed to rub off on me while hanging out with friends in the Dominican and are beginning to take up more and more of my playlist. My all time favourite song is I'm Yours by Jason Mraz, and I went to see him in concert for my 20th birthday.

If you know nothing else about me, just know that I am passionte about this work. It has brought me a happiness and sense of purpose that makes me who I am. Education and fair trade are the two fields in which I feel most led to. I was told once that you can inspire happy and confident kids if they know they are loved; if your face lights up every time they walk in a room. I strive to do this with the kids that I work with, and I hope they know how valued they are. If I can change the life of just one child during my lifetime, then my mission will have been accomplished.

Saturday Segment

Every Saturday I am going to be posting a segment specifically for other people interested in humanitarian work. Every other day my posts will remain as they did on my previous blog; sharing stories about the work I do, writing about the kids, posting photos and videos, etc. But on Saturdays (starting in April or May), you can expect a post dedicated to other people interested in working in poverty stricken areas. There will be posts about books you should read, documentaries you should watch, how to adjust to culture shock, great organizations to check out, what to do to prepare for your trip, how to find the work that is right for you, etc. I have a huge list of post ideas, and many interviews and subjects already scheduled to post for the first few Saturdays. I hope it will be a resource for other humanitarianists out there.

I have so much to learn, and while I will share what I have learned over the past few years of working in the DR, Haiti, and Ethiopia, I will be reaching out to other people who have been doing this much longer than me. There will be interviews, words of advice, and suggestions from these people who are working all over the world. Please feel free to leave your thoughts in the comment area, as we can all learn from each other. One of the biggest problems that people have when they come home from a developing country is a feeling of isolation. Hopefully this blog segment will bring us together, remind us that there we are not alone, and give us more ideas so that we can continue to change lives of children and families living in poverty.

My Goals

Right now I am reading a book called "Three Cups of Tea" by Greg Mortenson, about educating girls in Pakistan. I have read it before, but I am learning more from it now. When I move to the DR in May, my main focus is going to be education. I am willing to spend as much time as I can with the kids... I want them to be excited about learning and I want them to realize the importance of their education, and to go on to teach the next generation.

“Once you educate the boys, they tend to leave the villages and go to search for work in the cities… But the girls stay home, become leaders in the community, and pass on what they’ve learned. If you really want to change a culture, to empower women, improve basic hygiene and health care, and fight high rates of infant mortality, the answer is to educate girls” (Three Cups of Tea)

I also want to slow down my life. I want to ENJOY life more and live in the moment. I spend too much time worrying and stressing.

“Haji Ali taught me to share three cups of tea, to slow down and make building relationships as important as building projects. He taught me that I had more to learn from the people I work with than I could ever hope to teach them” (Three Cups of Tea)

I am going to do just that... I am going to spend more time talking, learning about, and making friends with not only the kids, but their families. It is SO much more important in their culture than it is in my own, and I want to learn from that. So those are my two goals. I have a lot to learn and it is going to be a big change, but I think it is going to teach me sooo much and I have a feeling I will fall even more in love with the DR than I already am :) ... if that is possible!

My Dominican Dreams

Hi everyone! My name is Nikki Cochrane and I am just finishing up my final year of University at McMaster in Hamilton, Ontario, where I am studying cultural anthropology. My main passion in life is humanitarian work, and this blog is going to be for me to write about this work as I make a big step in my life and move to the Dominican Republic to do longer term humanitarian work. In the past, I have been to the DR four times, Haiti once, and Ethiopia once, working on various different projects including; helping in orphanages (including an orphanage for children who are HIV+), helping in a hospital for children very sick with malnutrition, building schools, building houses, teaching english, running extracurricular programs, helping in clinics, and working with disabled children, among many other things.

I am just finishing up my degree, and then I will embark on MY DREAM... to live in the Dominican and assist in helping the children and families of Puerto Plata. I will be leaving May 1st, so please feel free to check back at that time for updates.

Eventually, I hope for this blog to be a place where people can come to learn about humanitarian work and what YOU can do to help. So keep checking back for interviews with missionaries, resources to help prepare you for trips, and ways that you can educate yourself on world issues.