Imagine

Today I plugged my earbuds into my ears and pressed "play" on my Ipod. The song that played was Jack Johnson's version to "Imagine".
I always thought this song was "nice" before I went to Africa.
I find it so powerful now.
I find it to be a real wish of mine for the people of Africa.
Upon hearing this song today, I was brought back to the drive back to Addis Ababa from Ambo. It was a cloudy day, about 60 degrees, light rain. I felt the weather reflected my feelings on leaving Ambo. I had such a great time in Ambo with the people at the church and working with the Street Kids was such a life-changing experience that I found it bittersweet to be leaving these people, yet I looked forward to going back to Addis and seeing the children that we had spent time with on our first day at Kachini.
With my Ipod plugged into my ears and the music blaring, our bus began our journey back to Addis, but first, we were going to see a waterfall that was just north of Addis. Sammy (our personal bus driver, who I secretly had a crush on...ha, kidding!) safely (barely) navigated through the roads up to the top of a mountain and pulled off to the side so we could get out and look out at this beautiful land.
The view took my breath away...
The land was so green and the fields lay like a patchwork quilt and dirt paths zig-zagged the fields. This is the point that it really hit me that we were in Ethiopia! This country is so beautiful and unique. I tried to soak in the moment and journal about it immediately in order to remember that moment. Here's what I had to say:
"I am such an ignorant person. I thought Africa would be hot, dusty, and filled with giraffes and elephants. However, I have yet to feel the temp rise above 70, I haven't seen an elephant nor a tiger or lion, and sometimes I wish there was dust because it would mean that there wasn't so much mud to maneuever around while walking along the street or to a restaurant. I just got done viewing the land surrounding Ambo at about 9,000 feet and I felt like I was on top of the world...I wish that everyone and anyone could see Africa in this way and want to take a stand and do something...anything..."
My team and I climbed back into our bus (aka "death-mobile" since Sammy is an absolute maniac driver) and drove down to see the waterfall. The guard to the entrance of the waterfall took one step on the bus and saw a bus full of white people (faringi's as they call us) and rambled off some ridiculous price to see the waterfall.
***It is imperative not to give the locals whatever price they ramble off since they usually won't make any other deals for the day with other locals and will normally raise the price on items that the locals can't afford, since they already made enough money for the day because "faringis" have paid the highest price.****
We skipped the waterfall and made our way back to Addis. This is when I heard the song "Imagine" on my Ipod. It was a perfect backdrop to the drive. Our bus pulled over at one point during the drive to let another bus pass us on the one-lane road. Our bus had stopped in front of a small hut and there were three children standing in the doorway. The oldest girl stepped out and came toward the bus and smiled at us. The other two children slowly crept out behind the girl. As I stared back at these children, the lyrics blared in my ears, "you may say that I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one. I hope one day that you will join us..."
It's true...
I was in a bus filled with people that felt the same way that I did about Africa and there were more to follow my team, and the team after them, and it goes on and on...
My team and I were so moved during our first four days, especially with the Street Kids, that we asked Barrett Ward (Mocha Club Director) what we could do to help them. His explanation helped me understand how important it is to not go in and "save" people without getting to know the community, the people, and complete the work that was first started.
While the Mocha Club would like to pursue the Street Children more in the future, they need to first finish building the school in Ambo that they have started. If you would like to assist in building this school, it will cost you $7.00/month...that's it!! To join the funding for the Ambo School project, click http://mochaclub.org/joinme/brward/12

If you don't wish to, I understand, and "you may say that I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one..."

Just imagine...


**The picture is me looking down at our view that day outside of Ambo**