Out of Africa

After two months and more adventures than I can recount, I have arrived back in the US with the difficult task of creating something that captures what I have seen and experienced. Yet, there is no true way to portray the many dimensions and subtleties of a culture, person or experience. One of the requests I continually encountered during my interactions with the numerous friends I made during my stay was to show not just the destitute and shocking parts or images of the area, but to give a more complete vision of what really exists. Honestly, most of the towns and cities have very modern accommodations and vary significantly from what is traditionally shown in infomercials or documentaries about Africa. But I think the truly beautiful part of my experience in East Africa lies within the people, not in the material. There is an overwhelming spirit of hope that lives within the communities all across the country. Hope combined with persistence and faith. Faith and hope that things will improve and persistence to move toward that end. Despite the fact that a large number of people are living amidst substandard conditions, disease, poverty etc., they manage to put things into perspective and move on with a broad smile. This is an incredible testament to the strength prevalent among the people. They persist and live where others would admit defeat and die. 

It is more impacting to connect with another human being than it is to encounter their accomplishments in form of buildings and monetary successes. The stories I bring home with me are not about the land or the homes or the money that people have. They focus on the people and what I learned from them, or was able to share with them. Through this, people are able to share a laugh, begin seeing eye to eye, or heart to heart. Then, a bond is formed and a friendship is created. We do not forget friends. We take our friends in during times of need. We do not let them starve, die of curable diseases, or never go to school because they can't afford it. We assist and help because we care about them and enjoy their companionship. The absence of this friendship on a global scale allows one individual to turn a blind eye to the hardships and sufferings of others, and allows that other to have to endure on his own. 

However, we cannot forget about hope. Hope that this can begin. Hope that we can care. And once we care, we can make a change... because we want to, not because we are told to.