The simple life

Life is so simple here, yet so lovely. Passing a herd of cows pulling a plow behind them is no big deal, neighbors come by to offer their crops, passion fruit and avocados, their children roam the village, knowing their neighbors will look after them, grass is cut by machete and cisterns dug with shovels. Most of all relationships are more important than work. How have we missed that, how have we in the western work found that getting things done is more important that building friendships? Let me tell you, it’s not. I love nothing more than to listen to the stories of the villagers around me. I love seeing their faces every morning and greeting them in their beautiful language of Swahili. I love how they sit under the trees in the afternoon just to catch up, thinking to their selves…things will get done, but right now you are more important. I love how one stuffed animal given to the children today will make their week. Why is it that our bank accounts are full, our houses overstuffed with things and our children have 20 + stuffed animals, but we aren’t happy? It’s the simplicity I have found here, that I love so much. It’s the small things, you know, those little tiny representations of the goodness of human kind and the resilience of the human spirit. Though my neighbors have little, they love much. I think that’s more than having all the money in the world.

I can’t tell you how lovely it is to see fifty beautiful faces each night before I go to bed, and each morning when I wake up. I realize I can do nothing else; my purpose is to help children, I want nothing different. They’re so innocent, you know, they have such fresh ideas, hopes and dreams. Even though these children have lost mothers, fathers, sisters and brothers, they are still thankful. Their smiles and laughter still fill the halls. They are so resilient, so adaptable; they are teachers in their own right.