Sunday, July 12, 2009

My First Chapter


If you listen hard enough, you can hear the heartbeat of the land here in Tanzania. The stories trampled into the paths, the tales whispered into the air. You can feel the heart of the people and feel their blood pumping through the veins of Africa.
The Kuria people are truly something; they are crying out for a change, yet trying to figure out how to still hold on to their past. It has proven to be a difficult road.
We have seventy children now, and I am more sure than ever that I will leave seventy pieces of my heart in Africa. I am deeply saddened by the past they have lived, but ever optimistic about the future they hold. They are beautiful and strong. They have such a desire to learn and a plan to change their nation.
I have seen how AIDs, hunger and war have devastated this land, how they have wreaked havoc on the beautiful continent of Africa. In this, though, I have found beauty in the ashes, life amongst the dead and a sincere prayer among the godlessness. But most of all, I have found a people with hope in all the despair, a remnant refusing to give up.
After all this, I am truly content to close my first chapter here in Ntagacha. It has been long and full. I am content, only however, because a chapter is only a fraction of a book. Until next time, these have been my dreams from Africa.

Thursday, July 2, 2009