Reflections

As I reflect on my time in Africa, there is one question that I always come back to: What does it mean to impact a life? Living in Uganda where I was facing poverty everywhere I looked, it is hard not to just see the big picture of poverty and feel overwhelmed. It's so much better for your motivation and sanity to be able to look at individuals instead of populations; communities instead of countries. None of us can solve the problem of poverty, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't try. I think the best thing is to focus on what's POSSIBLE. That means starting with one person and doing what you can to help them out. Or finding one issue to get really passionate about. If everybody gave their best shot at something small instead of giving up in the face of huge issues, there could be real progress.

I have been asked many times by my mother to address the italic statement at the top of my blog. I have been putting it off because, though I wrote it with the best of intentions, I didn't really think about it again after I put it there. Here is what it says:

As a Christian, how should I be living my life? I have to ask myself this question sometimes. In the middle of this crazy, fast paced world that we are living in, I still want my answer to remain the same - my life should be lived for God and for others. This semester I will be studying in Rwanda and Uganda, and doing mission work with Food for the Hungry. These next few months I want to make a drastic change in my life by living not for myself, but for others. Through my studies and my interactions I hope to find a new and better understanding of what it means to be a child of God. I want to leave with no question in my mind that there is so much more to my life than my own happiness. I want to make my Creator proud, by loving his children.

Well, going to Africa was definitely a drastic change. Everything was new and foreign. I don't think I was able to change my mindset to only thinking about others. I would say that I definitely started caring a lot more about community. Our group of 16 became my new family and group concerns became my own, but I am ashamed to say that that was the extent of most of the outward thinking that I did. I do have a better understanding of what it means to be a child of God. I know now that because we are ALL God's children, it is so much more important to think in terms of a world community, not just separate countries. I should feel just as much neighborly love towards people I meet across the world as the ones that are living on my street (the ones I, honestly, still haven't met). I came away from the semester knowing with out a doubt that there is more to my life than my own happiness, and that my own happiness will increase when I look to the happiness of others. I truly hope that the way I lived my life this semester made my Creator proud.

I have been home for two weeks now. I haven't had much time to think about my time in Africa. I had expected to do a lot more processing and reflection, but life has been too busy. I really miss life in Africa. It was exciting and there was something unexpected about every day. I think it took me such a long time to adjust to life in Africa because everything was always new and different. Being home, it is easy just to get back into regular US life. Things here aren't exciting and they don't really change all that much. Driving was hard at first ( I accidentally drove on the wrong side a couple times). There are also so many choices that I could go crazy just picking out cereal. My favorite thing besides sleeping in my bed, is getting fresh clean water from any faucet in the house. It's a little bit hard not to get upset when people are ignorant. I have to remember that I didn't even know where to find Uganda on a map until I signed up for the semester. Many people are content to live in their own little bubbles, and not care about the struggling world we live in.

There are so many reasons to be happy to live in the United States. I was blessed to be born in a free country where I have access to education, health care, and the right to the pursuit of happiness. I am able to thrive, while many others in this world are only barely able to survive.

I can't wait to get back to Africa. One day I will find myself riding along a bumpy dirt road with orange dust flying up in my wake, the thatched rooftops of huts popping up from the top of the tall grasses around me, and the thrill of Africa running through my veins again.