A Crack in the Sunset

Joris reflecting on his life before and after EcoSwell

Lost. That’s how I felt during my third year of university. I never really knew what I wanted to do with my life, but I refused to accept that reality had fooled myself into believing that my degree and laboratory work will be personally fulfilling. It wasn’t meant for me, and I suppressed this. I tried persistently to make my experience working the lab enjoyable, but over time all that is suppressed begins to come out. It was 9pm on a pitch-black night. Lightning lit up the sky and rain bombarded the windows. Me, and just me, in the lab. It was this night, that I started to notice that every breath I took felt heavier. Every breath brought me closer to my knees. Every breath started to suffocate me. I looked in the mirror and saw my bloodshot eyes… as I brushed my hand through my hair I realized there was less… I realized I’ve been lying to myself in what I wanted to do with my life and I was never brave enough to take personal responsibility and make a change. It started to take its toll physically and mentally. Enough was enough, I quit. I began the search for a new journey. I surfed through the web applying to various summer positions within science, banking and consulting, but nothing was breaking through. But I stumbled across a company called Global Nomadic on LinkedIn who advertise opportunities to work with NGO’s.

And I found EcoSwell’s volunteer internship programme. I was determined. I have always had renewable energy and sustainability in my heart and it was time to take initiative. I had my interview with Michael and Andres, and it was fantastic. I felt my passions connecting with theirs and it made for a smooth interview. At the end of the interview, I said to myself “Screw it” and let these words come out of my mouth:

“Listen. I will drop all these other internships that I’ve applied to. Even if I get accepted I will reject them to be able to come to Lobitos and to work with you guys”

After a few seconds of silence (I thought I might have just blew it), Michael and Andres accepted me onto the programme. This is where my new journey with EcoSwell began. Here at EcoSwell I got to work on many incredible projects. I got the opportunity to work with the development of water desalination system (solar distiller); I got to plant my first trees; I got to learn about electronics for aeroponics; and I even had the opportunity to use my passion of videography to promote the organization and succeed in two crowdfunding campaigns.

Joris showing local students a native plant
It was an incredibly fulfilling experience to be working with an interdisciplinary team of engineers and environmentalists in helping bring a more sustainable Lobitos. And it has even gone to inspire me to make a transition in my academics towards sustainable energy engineering. For that I’m grateful, but what will always be in my heart is the people of EcoSwell. The volunteering internship programme is really special in that all the volunteers are here for different time-periods, from 2 weeks to 6 months. Therefore, the team members are constantly exchanging, in and out. And what makes this unique is that you meet many people. Many incredible people. The programme attracts the most ambitious and genuine people who are a pleasure to be around. Most team-members are here for so little time and you have no idea whether you will ever see them again. And in this, you learn to live for all the moments you have with these people and bond over such a short period of time. When it came to saying goodbye to everyone, it felt like parts of me were being taken away. It was sad. But beautifully sad. If our paths crossed once in Lobitos, probability has it that they’ll cross again elsewhere.

With the incredible work and volunteers that make EcoSwell special, the leadership is what completes the experience. Michael, Andres, Diego, Alejandro and Naiana are all incredible leaders to be around in EcoSwell. They are effective and efficient bosses, but they are also your friends. They will not only make your time at EcoSwell productive, but also an enjoyable experience. I have never laughed so much and been so productive simultaneously. It seems in life, you’re mostly either laughing or being overwhelmed with stress. But not at EcoSwell. Productivity goes hand in hand with laughter. You won’t need motivation to work under them, you will work with pleasure. And if leadership that combines productivity with joy isn’t the best form of leadership, then what is? EcoSwell has shown me what great leadership is and I now have the inspiration and principles of which I will develop my leadership skills under. I have been influenced.
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I will miss Lobitos. I will miss surfing. I will miss raising Cusquena’s at Tranquis. I will miss everyone and everything. But I will laugh at the times we danced salsa and sang songs in the house. I will laugh at the times I got scared by the iguana 543897 times. I will laugh at my Spanish vocabulary being limited to “yo quiero esposa”. And as I sit here in La Casona watching my last sunset, I see a crack... I step through this crack and I realise I have stepped back into my life in London, but I can feel a new sense of purpose. I can feel that I finally know myself and that for once I can feel an inner success in my life. But before I start running back into my life, I turn back… I can see Lobitos from the sunset’s eyes… They all said Lobitos had the most beautiful sunsets. But they never realized that the sunset had the most beautiful Lobitos.

Goodbye.

Joris showing some swag

This story was written by Joris Simaitis

@EcoSwell is a for-impact, sustainable development organization based in Lobitos, Peru. Since 2014, we have been working everyday to help coastal communities thrive in unison with nature. If you would like to learn more, please visit our Facebook, website, and follow us on SteemIt!