{out of africa}

leaving africa

july 25, 2012

"all i know is that every time i go to africa, i am shaken to my core" - stephen lewis

as i sit here writing this, a little over a week after i've actually been home from africa, i still feel just as strange about being back home as i did that very first day.  i wasn't ready to come home.  i wish i was going back tomorrow.  there is still so much more i want to do, so much more i want to see, so many more people i want to meet. i thought this feeling would pass quickly, but as i prepare for the next phase of my travels, it's still there.  i have been shaken to my core and it's something that i wasn't really expecting.

here's an excerpt of something i wrote in my notebook in africa.  though i didn't keep a journal consistently, when you're alone with your thoughts for that long, sometimes it just felt necessary to write things down...

as i leave this amazing country [tanzania] and continent [africa] and reflect on my almost 2 months spent here, this is what i know:

-i experienced life in africa as if i were a local

-i learned a new language

-i immersed myself into a culture that could not have been more different than my own

 -i explored thousands of acres of the world's most precious wildlife reserves

-i saw the "big five"

-i visited one of the wonders of the world

-i summitted the highest mountain in africa

-there is still so much left to do, so much left to see

-i am not ready to go home

all i feel is thankful.  thankful that these amazing people shared their children with me.  thankful that these amazing people shared this wildlife, this beautiful scenery, this amazing language, this incredible mountain with me.  

i came here thinking somehow i could help, somehow i would help to change these people's lives, but i leaving knowing i am the one who has changed.  

most of these people, even if given the opportunity, would not trade what they have for a life of "luxury" in the states.  so many tanzanians that i met are maasai but are living a "city" life outside of their tribe.  they talk of how happy they'd be to go back to living in their maasai villages, where cows are their main concern and they often walk for miles each day to get water.  

these people are just so happy with what they have - which is so very little - and don't want what i have.  they just want to sit with me and share stories over a cup of tea.  

before i left home i wasn't sure what my purpose was for going to africa, but upon returning home it has become very clear.  africa has changed me in so many ways and i am forever grateful to this amazing country and these amazing people for this gift they have given me.

i encourage others to make a similar journey, but not with the intention of changing the african people to be more like us.  they are happy.  they get it.  they know what is important in life.  go to africa so that they can change you.