Friday, August 10, 2007

Where I Live

I made it home, safe and sound. I'd like to thank you again for your interest in East Africa, and for your interest in my own personal experiences.

It's 5:08 AM in the morning here in Texas, and I've already been awake for a couple of hours. My first week home has been exactly what I expected - good but bizarre. My internal clock is still set on Ugandan time, and it's been difficult to readjust to American suburban life.

I came home to a stack of papers, letters, and files that need my attention, so I don't really have the luxury of easing into anything. Maybe that's better. Maybe it's better to jump in without any hesitation.

I've started working on my presentation, so I think the next post will be more information about that. Let me leave you with these words, taken from a piece of art in Ilea's house. I saw the piece as soon as I arrived in Kampala, and it has been tearing me apart ever since:

If you have come to help me
you are wasting your time...

But if you have come
because your
liberation
is bound up with mine,

Then let us struggle
together.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I don't think you know who I am, I'm Justin Brown's Sister Bethany. I'm just now reading your blog (I was in West Africa when it was being written) and I am so touched by it. That quote is amazing. Thanks for sharing your experience and allowing it to be public.

Ellen said...

So we've never met, I'm actually Bethany's (from above post) friend. We both went to Ghana, in West Africa together and it was an experiene that totally changed me. That quote that you have is truely amazing and sums up exactly what I feel after spending a summer in Ghana. It's great to know that people understand. To view other's humanity more than anything else. So thanks for that.