july 7th, 2006

Every once in a while, we get a second chance. It doesn't happen often. And when it does happen, it is often by surprise. I got my "second chance", if you will. A friend whom I volunteered with in Africa contacted me to let me know that she had ALL the pictures that were taken in Mozambique by each of the team members. That meant she had MY photos. All 1,200 of them. BEST DAY OF MY LIFE (well, high up on the list). Now I can bombard you with photos. :)

July 7th, 2006
"At about 1pm, we went for town. Abelio, our driver, took us on a small city tour. When we were in town, we went to a cambio to exchange American money for Mozambican money. We also went to a store that sold capalanas - skirts.

*** "Our kitchen is smaller than my bedroom at home by like... half. Tiny kitchen. Jessica sliced the bread and prepared the sandwiches while I began the soup less than one foot away. When she went to cook the sandwiches, she had to step behind and around me to stand 2 inches away on my other side while working over me to flip the sandwiches periodically. Since it was too hard to have both of us in the kitchen at once, I decided to set the table while she stirred the soup and flipped the grilled cheese sandwiches. Our driver, Abelio's wife Isabelle does our breakfast and lunch dishes, but today she left early. Because she had left early, dishes from lunch were still in the sink and we didn't have enough dishes for dinner. We ran out of plates and had to pull out 6 or 7 of the china ones. Then we ran out of bowls and had to use the nice plastic/plaster tupperware bowls. There weren't enough cups, so we used some glass mugs AND we were short 4 or 5 spoons. It was interesting... The food tasted pretty good. I've noticed everything tastes pretty good here in Africa. You learn to love it.

*** "Tribal meeting was pretty good... Eric C wanted us to think about why we elected to come to Mozambique with Care for Life; some things we wanted to see accomplished while here, and what we wanted to get from this experience... I think that when I signed up for this experience, it was more to see Africa and other parts of the world. The Care for Life part just made it a purpose to be here. Since I have been here, it has been something completely different... But being here has given me something and taught me something. Being here gives me gratitude for what I have; for what I take advantage of... You can come and do things for people. Build things, hold children... but when you open your heart and let it in, you can give so much... I want this trip to motivate me to change myself. We are trying to motivate the communities, but true change can't come unless it is from within. I want to see that for the people here and for myself."

The insight I gained even within the first few days of being in Mozambique shocks me. It seems the longer it has been since the trip, the more I have gained. But clearly changes began occurring immediately. I am a selfish person (as much as I would like to, I can't fully deny that). And I DID go to Africa for all the wrong reasons. But I walked away with so much more than I even imagined I could. All because I let Africa change me for the better.