"Farewell for Now"

Well we have arrived back in the United States after the most heart-opening two weeks of my life. You will find when you go to Africa that it is not entering Africa that gives you the culture shock but it is upon return to the U.S. that you become a little freaked out. Freaked out by the unnecessary amount of things we consider necessities. There is something about Africa that always calls me back, an on this past trip I finally realized what that was- it is the feeling and total witnessing of the fragility of life; and though recognizing the fragility of our lives we begin to appreciate every moment and look at each new day as a gift and an unknown adventure. Nothing in Africa is planned or organized, it is chaotic, but there is a strange order in that chaos and a stillness that runs through it all, a stillness that I have never felt in any other place. This stillness and connection with a divine source is what I believe fuels the unbelievable strength of the human spirit that I witness time and time again throughout Africa. The spirits in the tin sheds who are HIV positive and alone but still say thank you God. The spirits that we thrown into garbage cans when they were babies but still sing loud and dance with so much joy. Thank you Africa for showing me your true self, for sharing your stories and wisdom, and above all showing me the potential of the human spirit.