You must be so excited, says everyone I tell. I am going to East Africa for two months this winter.
And I am, but the nerves are there as well, running equal power with excitement. I do not take it lightly. Traveling half way around the world to a country with some civil unrest to volunteer my time with women and people in crisis.
Although I travel quite a bit. I would not consider myself an expert or a natural, but I go. I go because it challenges me to be more, to risk, to move through fear, to be amazed and in awe. Travel to other lands moves me to be immersed in something so outside of myself and quintessentially human at the same time. It makes me a better human. A better me.
I will spend three weeks in Nairobi, Kenya at a women's crisis center and one week at an IDP (refugee) camp. I am working with a local NGO and taking journals donated by a friend. Art for recovery.
The next four weeks I will stay at Hostel Hoff in Moshi, Tanzania hopefully working in the dirt with a sustainable farm operation. Between by shifts, I will explore the natural wonders.
I travel with minimum expectation. I do not want to put East Africa in a box, but be open for what may happen. I expect great things in nature, in human connection, in self discovery. I anticipate with pure joy watching a giraffe in it's element. I am honored to walk the soil of the most ancient lands and recognize Africa as the Motherland.
I pray (and invite you as well) for safety, health, connection and friendship, opportunity and wonder. That I am in the right places at the right time to engage with the miracles spirit brings forth. That I am bold and confident and reach out as needed. That I have the eyes and heart to be all in, even if culture shock and a draw for home pulls me out of the moment. That I can be of genuine service that is reciprocal and sincere. I pray to be humble and amazed. I pray for those I leave behind and appreciate their prayers and positive thoughts. And I pray for those I will soon meet.
Today I begin my journey.
Dec. 6, 2014
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