The Blue Sweater Essay

As a human being, every person faces some difficulties in his or her life; however, some challenges are forgettable but some are not. The obstacles that someone faces while standing to help others are unforgettable. In The Blue Sweater, Jacqueline Novogratz recounts her childhood memory, she remembers her first grade teacher, Sister Mary Theophane, who once advised her, “’Regardless of what you become’, she said, ‘remember always that to whom much is given, much is expected. God gave you many gifts and it is important that you use them for others as best you can”’ (4). This advice inspires the author to fight for the poor to bring a change in the world. However, she encounters various challenges during her journey. While Novogratz was in Africa to help poor women, she was abused and rejected by the African women. To begin with, Novogratz was abused when she was in Cote D’Ivoire. Novogratz had a chance to work for nonprofit organization in Cote D’Ivoire, unluckily; she was mistreated by Aisha, who was her assistant. Aisha was not interested in talking and working with Novogratz. However, one day, Aisha invited Novogratz to her house for dinner. Novogratz was excited because she …show more content…
When she was in Kenya, she had a chance to work analyzing a loan portfolio for a microfinance organization. She worked day and night for several days to show how she was interested in working for nonprofit organizations. After several days, she finished the report, which was written by hand except the summary. She submitted the report; however, after a couple of weeks, she went the director’s office to ask about her report. The director said “’your very good report has been lost. We can’t find anywhere. I’m so sorry after all that work you did”’ (33). It was terrible for Novogratz because she had not saved her report. All in all, the situation challenged her because she thought the report was going to show her motivation for serving the