Arriving in Beira today felt like coming home in a way. As
many as you know, I spent two years in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil serving a
mission for my church., and like Salvador, Beira is an old Portuguese colony
with strong African influences, and also like Salvador, is very poor. As I got
off the plane, I was inundated with the rich, but ravaged, culture of this
country. We piled our bags into the back of an old Land Rover truck and I was
pleasantly surprised when I found out that the benches in the bed of the old
truck would also be our mode of transportation to the Care for Life home base.
Needless to say that the pothole-filled roads made for a bumpy ride (which
explains why the pic below is so blurry :) ). As we made our way to home base,
I started to understand why so many people dedicate so much time to helping
this country—they definitely need it.
Our living situation here is pretty humble, but I wouldn’t
want it to be any other way. It’s such a great opportunity to take a step back
and think about how blessed we really are and how much more we can (and should)
be doing to help others.
One of Care for Life’s sister organizations (Esperança) has its President/CEO and Project
Director down here this week checking out one of the projects that CFL and
Esperança collaborate on. I am actually rooming with the president and it has
been so fun to talk to him about sustainable and self-perpetuating ways of
making a difference when there is SO MUCH that needs to be done in the world.
After talking for a long time tonight we came to the conclusion that our biggest
goal in doing work like this is by making ourselves and the people’s need for
us obsolete. It’s tempting so often to
just go out and just “fix” things. The more I think about it, the more I realize
that that is a very self-centered (though often subconsciously so) way of
serving.
Tomorrow it’s off to the villages! I am in for a treat—one of
the villages reached some of their village-wide goals and will be throwing a “celebration.”
To be honest, I’m not exactly sure what that means, but I’m sure it will be
lots of fun!
On a side note, today was probably one of the best Memorial Days I felt so lucky as I sat immersed in a country which lacks all that we celebrate on this holiday. I feel so grateful to all those who have sacrificed so much in such a selfless way to preserve freedom for you and me.
Until tomorrow!
On a side note, today was probably one of the best Memorial Days I felt so lucky as I sat immersed in a country which lacks all that we celebrate on this holiday. I feel so grateful to all those who have sacrificed so much in such a selfless way to preserve freedom for you and me.
Until tomorrow!
1 comment:
Happy you arrived safely! I know you are there to do good things, but please be careful with your health and safety. Now that I've said the G'Ma thing - get into the place and really know it.Let it inform your way of thinking. You are so right about how spoiled we are and I try to remember and be more loving and giving. Really poor places have a lot to offer if we let them in...
Mimi
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