“Keep one foot in reality, just not two.” -A thought while traveling across the Indian Ocean
When I applied for the study abroad program, Semester at Sea, I hoped that it would be a lasting and maybe even life changing trip but wondered, “At what point does a journey really become life changing?” After spending four months traveling around the world, I have found that change in my heart and my voice among the global community in the remote and rural villages of Ghana. Together, we can make a difference and ultimately we can change the world.
During one of my first early morning breakfasts with Archbishop Tutu and his wife Leah while I was on the MV Explorer, I mentioned that I was so inspired by the unwaivering optimism he has. He smiled and responded, “Yes…but we must not speak of optimism.” I was completely confused seeing as he was the single most optimistic person I had ever met. He then continued to explain that even in the most hopeless situations, optimism is oftentimes the first feeling to heave you…yet even in those moments, you can still have hope. He challenged me to become a prisoner of hope.
Child labor. Two words with almost unmeasurable meaning. I had heard about this issue here and there but never felt it the close emotional bond to it until I took my first steps on Indian soil. During my time in India, I visited an organization called R.I.D.E. which is working against the factory owners who use child labor as a daily practice. Spending time with these children who were younger than my eleven year old brother and yet had spent years shoved underneath a silk weaving machine working many hours each day. These little girls were beautiful in so many ways…but the only beauty they were being noticed for was their small hands.
“Draw what you see, not what you think you see.” As we sat down to our first day of art class while on a ship rolling its way across the Atlantic Ocean, I was curious to see how this process would go. Art…on a ship rocking here and there…this could be interesting. This art class gave me a unique chance to capture the sights of the world through a pencil and a sketchbook a keep those memories with me long after I had traveled beyond them. Art connected me with other cultures in a way that was beyond barriers of culture, language or race. There is a warmth and a connection that comes with sharing a drawing that forever bonds even the most differing strangers. Throughout the pages of my sketchbook live the memories of the children drawing the preparation of fou fou in Ghana, a fellow passenger’s self portrait on a train in Morocco and a boy’s drawing of his puppy in South Africa. These moments are unforgettable and allowed me to see the world through the eyes of my heart.
I would consider the first African sunset I experienced to be unforgettable. Then again, every African sunset I have experienced since then has been equally breathtaking. During my time in Africa, I have become a part of a culture unlike any other on the planet. It is said that there is time in the United States and then there is African time. In African time, things are not rushed…they happen when they happen and time operates at its best because it is not rushed or constricted. I found this time to be a blessing in respecting the way of the universe and realizing that life is full of curveballs…you can either strike out or learn how to swing.
While in Ghana, I traveled into the rural village of Senase. In the village, I felt an overwhelming warmth and kindness from the people there unlike anything I had ever felt before. Just down the road from this village, I traveled to a small school in the neighboring farming village of Akatim. As I walked into the kindergarten age class, I saw something that I had never seen before. Children without hope. These students had been forgotten. Since then, the seven us have started a non-profit organization, The Senase Project, to work toward eradicating poverty through community development. You can learn more at: www.thesenaseproject.org
