August 22, 2005

An Interview with Helga Smith: Servas Traveller, Marathon Runner and Conqueror of Mount Kilimanjaro

I had a chance to meet Helga recently at the Servas Conference that I covered in Vancouver. Once you read Helga's story you'll realize why she has been included in a recent book called "Women Who Rock", featuring the stories of women who have made outstanding contributions to business, sports or community endeavours.

Originally from East Germany, Helga escaped to the West in 1963 and came to New York City a few years later. Without much help, she raised three children, completed a university degree and successfully established herself in the United States.

Helga has volunteered for a variety of non-profit organizations, inspired others to get active by running marathon races and climbed Mount Kilimanjaro to raise funds to help African women start their own small businesses. Here is Helga's fascinating story:

Helga Smith

1. Please tell us about your background. Where are you from, where did you grow up?

I grew up in a country that does not exist anymore, East Germany. Life was not much fun after WWII and it did not improve when the communists took over in 1948. Since I lived close to West Berlin, there was the constant reminder that life can be different. In those of us, who were not willing to resign ourselves to the limitations of the communist regime, it fostered a rebellion and the urge to throw off the chains.

2. You left East Germany in 1963, 2 years after the Berlin Wall was erected. Please tell us about your escape from East Germany.

When the Wall was built it became nearly impossible to leave the country. If caught, the penalty for escaping from East Germany at the time was 6 years in prison. But I was single with no binding obligations, so I was willing to take a chance. I scouted out several possibilities and finally got onto a train which passed locked thru East Germany, stopped in East Berlin to let on foreigners and went to West Berlin before being locked again for the second passage thru East Germany to West Germany. I hid in the train and saw the border police passing by inches away from me. Destiny must have been on my side because the police did not detect me and I made it to West Berlin.

The beginning in West Berlin was not easy since I had nothing, knew nobody and the official help offered was barely enough to get one outfit to go on a job search. Well, I did get a job, found an apartment and basically was on my way.

3. A few years after you left East Germany you came to the United States, to New York City. Please tell us about the first few years in the United States.

Now that I was free to make my own decisions, the opportunity arose to come to the United States. The fact that I did not speak any English did not deter me. Indeed, it did make it a bit more difficult, but challenges are there to make us grow.
I took a job as a domestic, learned English as quickly as I could, made friends and a year later started working in an office. Soon after, I married an American and we had three children during the next five years. By that time my husband decided he did not want a family after all and I was single again. Life became challenging once more. To feed the children, I had to go on welfare for a while. But I also attended school, and as soon as I had an associate degree I started to work again. This time I took a job at a major financial institution and stayed with them for more than 20 years in a variety of positions. Along the way I acquired specialized computer skills that allowed me to support my children thru college. My daughter graduated from Harvard Law School and works for International Development. My son attended Fordham University and lives in New York with his Ecuadorian wife. Both of them are recognized and respected graffiti artists, famous for murals in their neighborhood, the City and around the world.

Israeli-Palestinian peace quilt

4. How and when did you hear about Servas? What countries have you traveled to through Servas? How many people from what countries have you hosted? In your opinion, what is special about traveling through Servas?

My children were still teenagers when on a Sunday afternoon hike I met a “little old lady traveling with a knapsack”* who told me about Servas. It sounded interesting, but I did not have the time or money to travel myself, so I decided to become a host and let travelers come to me. Several years later, having hosted dozens of people from many different countries, I became really eager to travel myself.

If it had not been for Servas, I do not know whether I ever would have had the courage to visit other countries on my own. But once I started, it quickly became a fascination and my urge to travel was dampened only by financial constraints and the brief annual vacation employees receive in the US. During the 20 years I have been a Servas member I have hosted hundreds of people and traveled to more than 50 countries, visiting Servas people whenever possible.

There are 15000 Servas hosts in 135 countries, and even though it may not always be feasible to stay with them or they may not be available at the time, every visit is enriching in some way. Every traveler coming into my home has something special about him or her and I will always make an effort to have a meaningful encounter.

Vice versa, when I visit people in other countries, I like to find out what their life is like, what are their concerns, what do we have in common and how can we relate and help each other. In doing so, I believe that we are fostering understanding and tolerance. Often we are inspired and motivated to take actions in peace building on the grassroots level. A network of Servas members worldwide helps in that effort.

* (Sandy Cherry was listed in the host list with that quote. She lived in California, and I met her years later at one of our national Servas meetings in Boston.)

5. Please tell us about your 3 favorite or most memorable hosting experiences with Servas.

One of my earliest encounters began in California where I met a lovely young woman from Australia who was somewhat reluctant to come to 1980s crime-ridden New York, or so it was perceived as in those days. I encouraged her to visit me and of course she loved it. Short after, she wrote to me that her parents also wanted to come to New York and asked to find a place for them to stay. Naturally I invited them into my home, even though they were not with Servas. They were in the States for the first time and instead of doing the usual sightseeing in New York, they visited a relative of a friend of theirs in the hospital, because he had nobody else who cared about him. I was very impressed by their humanitarian action and selflessness.

During the first year as a host I was not sure of what precisely hosting entailed. An elderly gentleman came to visit who had just discovered Servas and thought it was a marvelous invention. He obviously had his own agenda that had nothing to do with the Servas spirit. After smoking up my apartment for three days, I asked him whether he was going to stay with anyone else in New York. His answer was, that he liked it here and that he felt just like at home. I did not have the courage to tell him it was time to leave and he stayed another three days.

Israeli-Palestinian peace quilt

For the Millennium Forum in 2000, Servas hosts in New York were asked to volunteer hosting UN delegates of NGOs who often do not receive enough funding. I was privileged to host Muborak Sharipova from Tajikistan who knew nothing about Servas. As a sociologist, Muborak had lived the Servas spirit all her life, becoming a member of Servas was just a logical extension of what she was doing all along. We now have a close relationship and I am happy to help her in more ways than one whenever she comes to New York.

6. Please tell us about your 3 most memorable or favorite travel experiences with Servas.

While preparing for a trip to Japan, I had planned on visiting some of the travelers who had stayed with me in New York and had kept in touch. But I also wanted to visit places where I did not know anyone and therefore picked from the Japanese host list. A family was listed with two children that I thought would be interesting to get to know, so I e-mailed them to ask for hospitality. The very next day I received a reply: Don’t you remember? We stayed with you in 1992! They had not been married then and needless to say that I visited them in Kyoto and learned about the situation of young Japanese professionals that may be very different today from what the outside world thinks about the “typical” Japanese family.

After hosting several travelers from South Africa and becoming friends with them, I decided to visit that country. Days before my departure I learned that my friend’s mother had passed and she asked me to come to the customary Hindu memorial instead of exploring the Garden Route at leisure. So I went to the SA airline to change my ticket, explaining that a member of the family had died. The airline immediately gave me the necessary ticket without charge. When I told my friend how accommodating the airline had been, she asked what would I have said if they had asked which member of the family had died? I answered that she was like a sister to me and I felt part of her family, which is exactly how I was treated in her community.

Recently I attended the Vancouver bi-country Servas conference. Having lived in New York most of my life and never having been north of San Francisco in the States, I decided to start at that city and travel over land to Vancouver, stopping by to visit Servas people along the way. One of my destinations was a farm in Chehalis, Washington State. Cheerfully Lorna taught me about Wwoofers (Willing Workers On Organic Farms), healthy living, and picking blueberries for three days. Even though she was born here and had little exposure to German culture: while working, Lorna was singing German folksongs that I could hardly remember, even though I had grown up in that country!

Israeli-Palestinian peace quilt

7. You are an avid Marathon runner. Please tell us when you got started running and how that came about. What races have you participated in and what do you like so much about running?

Until I started running I was never athletic, in fact I hated sports all my life. At some point in my mid-fifties I realized that sitting in front of the computer ten hours a day was not doing my body too much good. So, when my daughter began training for her first marathon, I started running short distances with her. Of course I also watched her first race and it seemed like fun.

Then a somewhat bizarre incident happened: a friend of mine announced that she was going to kill herself when she turned 60 because she hated old people and did not want to become one of them. We were unable to change her mind and in frustration and protest I decided to do something more positive with my life: I was going to run a marathon.

So I trained to be able to finish the first marathon and my daughter ran together with me. I was 59 years old at that time. It was exhilarating and like many runners I got hooked. So I trained properly for the next marathon that I ran fast enough to qualify for Boston, the oldest and most prestigious in the country. My daughter had also qualified and we again ran together, two days before she left for her 4-year assignment in Egypt.

To run a marathon requires training the body to push boundaries, otherwise a person can get seriously hurt. So I would participate in little races that are abundantly offered every weekend in New York. Seeing my displayed race numbers at the office has inspired numerous young people to become physically active as well and some of them are now also marathon runners.

The New York Roadrunners Club organizes many races throughout the year, most of them for one worthy cause or another. As long as I am physically well, I participate in those that I enjoy and a cause I support.

8. You also perform volunteer work in New York City and, among other things, you dedicate your time to running with blind people. Please tell us about that experience and other volunteer projects you may have been involved in.

In New York there are abundant opportunities to volunteer. The organization New York Cares alone has scores of projects every week. I have helped with Habitat for Humanity, God’s Love We Deliver, company sponsored projects, and so on. Since I am still traveling extensively, at the moment I do not regularly volunteer for a specific cause but pick assignments from the list and help out in soup kitchens, parks maintenance, race activities, neighborhood associations, etc. I also train with physically challenged, especially blind people, who would not be able to enjoy this sport on their own. It gives me great joy to help others doing something that I came to love myself.

Israeli-Palestinian peace quilt

9. A few years ago you decided to climb Mount Kilimanjaro to raise funds for a charity dedicated to small business loans. Please tell us how you came up with the idea and how you selected the cause. What was it like to climb Africa's highest mountain?

My daughter and I like to do things together, be it traveling, running, hiking, etc. When one of us mentioned climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro, the other immediately said that would be fun. So we decided to climb the rooftop of Africa. While preparing for the event, it occurred to me that I did not want to do this just for myself. There are lots of races, bike rides and other events organized for some good cause: why can’t I climb a mountain and let someone else benefit from my efforts. So I choose the organization FINCA* (Foundation for International Community Assistance) that gives small loans primarily to woman in countries where it is particularly difficult for women to start businesses. From my friends, colleagues and people I met at various activities I raised $10,000 that were distributed to the women in Tanzania which is where Mt. Kilimanjaro is located.

Having heard that it was possible for an average fit person to climb the highest mountain in Africa, I felt ready for this challenge. Mt. Kili is the only free-standing mountain in Africa and going up consists basically of strenuous hiking in high altitude. The mountain is almost 20,000 ft high and the distance from the entrance gate to the top is nearly 60 miles. Most people take at least 6 days round trip, with the day of the ascent being the most difficult part. It is important to go slowly enough to give the body a chance to acclimate and to drink lots of water. Only about half the people attempting to climb the mountain are successful, many underestimate the difficulties and fail to pay attention to their body’s ability to adjust.
With 120+ contributors on my fundraising list I had plenty of motivation to go all the way and luckily my daughter was willing to share this exciting event with me. We both managed to climb all the way to the top – one of the most difficult things we had done so far but also one of the most exhilarating. Every successful climber was thrilled about the experience and the satisfaction of having accomplished it showed in their faces.

10. You have also joined an activist group called the "Non-Violent Peaceforce". Please tell us what they do and why you are considering working with them. What else is in your plans for the next few years?

The Non-Violent Peaceforce trains people to put themselves “in harm’s way”, that is, people are deployed into places where an outside group can act as a buffer to diffuse a potentially violent situation. NP works with the United Nations on peaceful solutions and conflict prevention in hostile environments. I do not know whether I will be chosen as a team member, but it seems a worthy cause to support and I am willing to participate in their actions. NP also works as election overseer and other less potentially dangerous events.

Plans for the future? Aside from more traveling, involvement with Servas and other NGOs, nothing in particular comes to mind at the moment. But that may change any day…

Thank you, Helga, for your sharing your stories of courage. You obviously love challenges and we wish you the best of luck for whatever you choose to get involved in.