i wrote the following whilst in Uganda on january 31st, 2016
it took some time to get into the beat of Africa(esp. with a substantial injury, a fractured big toe, at the onset).
this is not a land for the weak and/or fragile of constitution.
adults as well as children start working hard physically from the time they are ready to walk. it is not uncommon to see a 5 year old carrying a younger child on their back whilst balancing 15 pounds of bananas & water on their head; this whilst walking miles in the hot sun to get back to their village.
i now have garnered a much deeper understanding of the proverb "it takes a village to raise a child". there is an intense bond in community here that is not readily apparent in the West. no matter how difficult life gets,
YOU ARE NEVER ALONE. malaria is as common as the flu, dying is a part of life, & mortality rates are high. if you live to 50, life has been very good, & you are blessed; quite sobering.
of the paltry resources people have, they are
SO happy to share or even abstain if it brings joy to another. after being fortunate enough to have visited over 90 countries and obscure islands, i find the pure, unadulterated Love exuded from the people here(esp. the most indigent of children in the slums & their families), impacting my Soul unlike anywhere else i have been before. many i have met, having almost nothing, exude an infectious Joy in their step, laugh, and smile.
more than humbling, it is Awakening.
i have pondered how we still have such philosophical questions of "lack" in the West, when our wells runneth over with the luxuries(clean water,
electricity, WIFI, lol) of excess in every arena? as kahlil gibran aptly stated, "the dread of thirst when the well is full is the thirst that is unquenchable". i feel a strong sense of conviction. there is a HUGE world out here that has SO little, whilst we bask in our excessive over-abundance and still desire more.
though I am very cognizant & grateful for all i have, it no longer feels like enough. "we see the world as we are, not as it is". so, as my World expands working with orphans and the abjectly poor, how do i convey the message of resounding overwhelming need to all at "home" without it sounding like I'm pontificating?
if any human's suffering in some way does not affect us all, how concerned are we really? i am a part of all i have met, so what is my responsibility to the rest of God's Creation living with far less than i?
if "the "I" is illusion and only God is real"(as rumi notes), then how does that play out in my own personal life? just how much of the "I" follows me throughout my every day, and how much of God pervades ALL my actions?
ghandi preached, "YOU must be the change you wish to see in the world"; i am finding it is a tall but essential order. i do not believe ghandi meant it to be an adage to mentally ascent to, but an edict of which to live by.
coming back to the West will be much tougher than landing in Africa.
here, where there is so much less distraction, it is physically tougher but spiritually so much easier. back home, i fear i will lose touch with "Reality", and begin to yet again doze off, hitting the snooze alarm of life in predictable intervals.
if our time on planet Earth is truly not about "me", then what is it really all about? i think it's time to start living Life into that answer, & not idle away any more precious time in the question.
kwagala & emerembe (love and peace in lugandan)
