Honor • Duty • Respect - The Citadel

HeartServant leadershipof Africain theby Olivia Perry-Smith, ’05In a remote East African country rife with poverty, malnourishment and ethnic tension,former Third Battalion Commander Olivia Perry-Smith, ’05, has given up worldly possessionsfor a far more rewarding experience in servant leadership—a chance to help the poor.I was the first white person they had ever seen. More than 100 kids and several curious adultssurrounded me as I rolled up my sleeves so they could touch my arms. It was rare to have visitorsfrom the capital city, Bujumbura, and even more uncommon to see a mzungu, or white person, in thearea. Hidden in the heart of Africa was a Batwa (pygmy) village I was visiting with a water assessmentteam. We were there to locate the nearest water source, evaluate what was necessary to provideclean water for the community and assess countless other needs.The village was one of the most miserable environments I have ever encountered—more than 100families crowded onto a steep mountainside, living in homes made from sticks and leaves that leakedlike a sieve when it rained. Because there were no toilets, I had to stay on the path and watch whereI stepped. Goats and sheep were kept inside the tiny twig huts where entire families slept on a smallbed. They ate one meal a day, children were severely malnourished, and their life expectancy wasonly 28 years. Yet, as I walked through the village and made new friends, I could not help but smile.I knew something they did not... transformation was on the way. It would be slow, difficult and oftenheartbreaking work, but it was not hopeless.The Citadel 2011 45