I want to touch on a major lesson that I have learned since
arriving in Zambia and probably the most important one I will learn my entire
time in Africa. I plan to pinpoint major lessons of my trip on my last post,
however I feel this one fits well here too.
It came as I was leaving Cheapo’s house on Wednesday. We
took a visit to Cheapo’s place where he, his wife, and two sons live. It is
just right down the road from the monastery. We spoke with his family for a bit
while he showed us his house, where they go to fetch drinking water and to
clean their clothes. I took a second to go inside. The entire house was about
the size of a small bedroom. There were two beds; one for his sons and one for
him and his wife. The rest of the space was filled with normal supplies one
would need to live. That’s it. The house was built out of mud, wood, and straw.
The point I am trying to make here is that I couldn’t and
still can’t believe people live in this way. It’s so sad to see what we have
and what they do not. I kept asking myself where these people get the
motivation to keep moving forward and then it occurred to me. It’s not about
the materials we have, but the loved ones we surround ourselves with. Okay…you
probably heard that one a thousand times, however once you truly (and I mean TRULY)
see for yourself, like I have, it blows your flipping mind. They may not have a
nice house or running water, but they do have the most important piece. These
people are happy because they have their families, neighbors, and loved ones.
This made me think back to my parent’s house. I’m not going
to lie, I love it. But why do I love it? Is it nice? Yeah, sure. It’s really
nice. Yet, why do I enjoy going home? It’s because of my family and friends. I
enjoy watching the Twins game because my parents are watching it with me. I
enjoy playing board games and cooking random recipes because my sisters are
there to do them with. I enjoy playing catch and talking about everything under
the sun because my brother is there. Now, don’t get me wrong. Do I like nice
things? Come on, sweetheart, everyone does. That’s not the point.
I love riding the motorcycle I have at home. Love it. However,
what makes it really great is when I ride with my friends, Dad, or another
group of bikers. I enjoy going to the movies with my Mom. The movie is great,
but the experience of seeing that movie with her is 1,000,000 times better than
the movie itself. The talks we have afterwards or the funny things we compare
it to are what make it great. What make the materials we have in life so great
are the people we share them with.
So, the point is…what TRULY matters in life are the people, not
the things. It’s true, psychological research shows that social connection is
one of the most important components to happiness. So, go and hang out with your
loved ones and not your car.
On to the next topic…
Our teaching starts right when we return home from Victoria
Falls. I am excited to get to work and hope to help as many kids as possible.
Now, I’ll admit, if I was at an occupation draft party being a teacher wouldn’t
be my first overall draft pick (sorry, it’s football season back home and I’m
missing it. It’s hard on a guy, okay.) However, it’s not for the reasons you
think.
Teaching can be frustrating, yes, but it’s because I care.
Have you ever had a teacher that didn’t work very hard to teach you the
information? Did you feel like they didn’t care? Heck yeah you have and it’s probably
because they didn’t.
The Lord knows I’m no saint, but He also knows that I do
care. It’s that urge to fill these kids with every bit of knowledge I possibly
can which is frustrating. Teaching would be easy if you didn’t care. You would
just throw the information up on the board and hope they pick up on it.
However, when you do care you must work around the language barrier, stop the
distractions from other kids, and explain every bit of the material because
they don’t have the textbooks to study from. I’m totally up for doing that, but
I’m not going to lie and say it isn’t frustrating at times.
I hope this explains my thoughts better.
Anyway…
Considering Chiara and Francesca leave after Victoria Falls
they have decided to let me have one of their stethoscopes. Working in the
clinic and not having one would be difficult and wouldn’t allow me the ability
to check heart beats, blood pressure, the thorax and other things. It’s super
nice of them to let me have one of theirs to use.
Furthermore, as I have been working in the clinic many
people have been questioning the authenticity of my hair color. They just cannot
wrap their heads around the fact that it is real. I explain to them that it
grows naturally just like theirs does and they make a face as if I had just
told them I was from Mars. It’s pretty funny. They do seem to like my hair,
though. Violet, the lady who also works in the clinic, has a baby named Grace.
When I hold her she immediately starts grabbing at my hair. It’s great.
So I have finished the third book of the series “A Game of
Thrones”. I haven’t read this much since I cranked out the Harry Potter books.
I enjoy reading and it’s nice to read something fun like this. I will be
starting the fourth book on the bus ride to Victoria Falls.
Tomorrow morning we turn the sails towards Livingstone,
Zambia. Victoria Falls should be a fun time before things get rolling here in
Katibunga. The crew is officially set at 4. Br. Gabriel is unable to come,
unfortunately. The monastery couldn’t fund his way since the ordination took so
much of its funding. We are bummed, but there isn’t anything we can do. Zack
and I have told Gabriel that we will meet up with him in Tanzania. He will be
there to study philosophy which starts up in the middle of September.
Well, bon voyage. I hope everything is going well back in
the states.
Thanks for reading!
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