John T Trimmer

The Longer Road John T Trimmer

This book is a combination of poetry and memoir, focusing on the experiences of a United States Peace Corps Volunteer who spent three years living and working in Uganda. Its structure is akin to a musical suite. The poems are similar to melodic themes, while the prose between the poems serves to develop, contextualize, and expand upon them. After going through training, John Trimmer began living in a small town called Kalisizo in southern Uganda. He worked with a local organization called Brick by Brick, taking part in work related to improving educational infrastructure, water and sanitation, health, and economic development. From the friendships he made over the next few years, John gained a broader perspective and learned how his work - and life in general - may find greater meaning and effectiveness through the richness of human connection. Spanning the course of his journey, this book explores themes of environmentalism, safe and sustainable water and sanitation, religion and spirituality, development work, and other issues through a lens of personal experience and reflection. At the core, it presents a gradual awakening - an evolution from a relatively simplistic, possibly self-centered outlook to one encompassing greater complexity, humility, respect, and love.