Apologies

Sorry friends!
I came to Leo hoping that I could spend some extensive time at the internet cafe however the internet has been down for the past week so I havent had the chance to share much. In good news, our project plan was passed and we are back in Bourra tomorrow for the next month. In other good news I have found myself more husbands, 2 under the age of 10, become one heck of a dancer and have discovered a talent for chicken whispering. Confused? Sorry, some of these stories will have to wait for home!

In the meantime, I hope that the following journal excerpt engages some of you all to understand why coming to Africa was so important to me. It makes me happy to know that there are things that we can do at home to make life better for people around the world. I am of the opinion that it is a responsibility to care for you neighbor, whether they be your friend who is ill at home, or the child who is not in school in Burkina Faso. Don't get me wrong, not everyone can or will care about everything. . . gah I am now doing that waffly - indecisive - not - really -making- any - statement thing that I so like to do . . . I just hope that this blog helps everyone to recognize the importance of foreign aid and international development. Even moreso, I hope it is convincing because its true, not because its preachy which I know I can do . . . haha enjoy.

June 16, 2007
I went to sleep frustrated last night for the first time. The crazy thing is that I was not frustrated by the realities here, rather by some ridiculous internal struggle with leadership and writing. When I woke up this morning, I felt myself needing to ask the question, “am I becoming desensitized by the realities?” How could I be as angry at myself for something so minour, when there is so many other things that could, and arguably shoud, keep me awake at night?

Before coming, my parents expressed to me that they were scared that my idealism and optimism would take a big hit during my time in Burkina Faso; considering that those characteristics are definitely defining for me, it could have been a relevant fear. At the time I was offended that they assumed me to be so starry eyed that I was unable to see reality too. With time, I came to scoff at it because it seemed so ironic to suggest that optimism (and the chance of losing it) could be the something that holds me back.

Now, being here for 24 days, I feel more optimistic that I did before coming. In Canada, poverty is really this overwhelming, mysterious shadow lurking in other parts of the world. We know that we don’t like it, and we know that we never want to experience it, but we really don’t seem to think we can do anything about it. We justify its existence by saying that maybe it’s just a form of population control, or that maybe the people are tougher than us, and are truly happy despite it all. Mostly, we say stuff like we can’t afford to help, nothing we can do will help, and they must ultimately help themselves. I’m excited to have this very proud opportunity to let ya’ll know . . . none of it is absolutely true! Poverty is not a form of population control, it is a symptom of injustices and inequalities. There are most definitely happy people, but allowing that fact to let us sleep better at night diminishes the unfair struggles they face regularly. Better yet, the world CAN afford to help, and that which we can afford WILL help and the people here. Most importantly, these people must help themselves, but ultimately there must be external assistance. Just as no individual is a rock, no country is even remotely independent.

These few facts are so full of hope and opportunity it isn’t even funny. Now if I was a glass half empty type of person, I would dwell on the fact that we have screwed up in the past, doing nothing or worse. However, armed with that never failing confidence that my parents were so wary of me losing, I know that the situations that exist here are CHANGEABLE. There is no need for any magic formula, the stars had been aligned for years and will be for many more years. All that is needed to make life better for millions of people is some empathy that translates into action and positive conditions here. In a conversation with Nathan, a friend here, he made the brilliant point that Burkina Faso doesn’t have much for natural resources, when so many other African countries do; what they do have is peace.

This point doesn’t only illustrate what I was trying to say (for those who may have missed it, I wanted to say that investment in a country like this will work because the people are ready and willing), but it also forced me to step back and look at the concepts of peace and natural resources differently. I had never thought of Peace as being something of a resource or as an opportunity. I thought of peace as being the way the world should be. This is definitely the idealist in me shining through. After the conversation, I realize how precious peace and stability is in this world, a wake of call to say the least.