africa has been a huge part of the way i identify myself ever since i was there, just over a year ago. i went there with a small humanitarian group that works on providing clean water, health care, and education to people in small villages in south africa. we were supposed to stay for fifteen days and the rest of the group i was traveling with did just that, but when the fifteenth day arrived i wasn't ready to go. i knew in my heart that i had more work to do in africa, so i stayed.
the month that i spent in africa was life changing.
i learned more in those thirty days than i ever have in a classroom.
i learned more from eleven year olds with no formal education than i ever have from a professor with three degrees and ten years of higher education.
in those thirty days i became a different person.
i was already an empathetic, highly moral, compassionate, and concerned for others and the world around me kind of person. but in experiencing africa my senses were awakened and my heart grew to encompass the consciousness of all of my neighbors in kwazulu natal.
africa forced me to confront the unfairness that thrives in life. no one gets to choose what color their skin is, the country they are born in, their sex, their age, etc. sitting amidst a sea of hiv positive babies and hungry folks all around in a hospital one day i realized that the only thing we can do is to share. share our wealth, share our food, share the unending love that we have to give. sharing goes so much further than guilt ever could.
sala gahle, friends.
i miss you.
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