i'm in south africa for a conference with some colleagues and biz partners. i'm just starting a role with an organization called endpoverty, a microfinance focused organization. it's the reason i went to the philippines a month ago. anyhow we work with microfinance organizations in africa, and i'm in africa to attend a conference bringing together all of our african partners.
two participants are from uganda. uganda is a country that is near and dear to my heart, even though I've never been there. the country means a lot to me because it was a teenager from Uganda that shared his life story with me that shook up my entire worldview and life in general. it's why my heart hurts for the poor and those suffering from injustice... it's why i care about what i care about... it why i do what i do...
the summer of my frosh year in college, i went on my first international business trip. i was attending and presenting at an international education conference. that year it happened to be in china - it was my first time in china, so being the white-washed chinese american that i was... going to china was in itself interesting enough for me. at this conference, i was giving a presentation on an international project that i had built for a non-profit that i had been interning at. long story short, after the presentation, this ugandan boy named Philip came up to me and said... 'this project would be so powerful in my country because people in my community have had their ears and nose chopped off'. my mouth dropped. and it's not like i had not heard about warfare and these injustices before, but i think coming face to face with a teenager who was about my age, actually a few years younger, share his life with me, just made it so much more real. it was my ah-ha moment that changed everything. i stood there, my mouth dropped.. i had nothing to say.. i remember thinking and feeling ashamed.. 'oh man... you know what i worry about every day? i worry about what to wear...' then another teenage boy from sierra leone came over to talk, wanting to participate in this project. i remember thinking... oh man, i don't even know where your country is. sheesh. so it was that meeting with that young Ugandan teenager that caused me to switch my focus. i went back to school that fall convicted... i needed to learn more about the world... i could not live this ignorant comfortable american life.
i always wanted to help people, even as a kid. i was 99.9% sure i would help people as a medical doctor. to think i almost applied to a 7 year medical program straight out of hs.. wow... how things had just changed. i spent summers and weekends in hospitals as a candy striper, my first and only job in hs was as a therapist for a woman with multiple sclerosis (and let's just say i performed some interesting procedures...), attending nerd med programs and shadowing surgeons, handling human cadavers... i loved it... every moment of it... but God had other plans.
strangely this was the first spending time with Ugandans since I had met Philip years ago. and it was so sweet and meaningful to me to be able to share with these 2 wonderful women and get their thoughts on what had happened during the rebel warfare, which sadly is again happening now in some areas. looking forward to the next few days meeting with our wonderful African partners.
