I am finally back from Ethiopia. The trip was incredibly different this time from knowing the people and their stories to not getting incredibly sick. Ethiopia is an amazing place with some incredible needs. If you are not supporting some form of charity that benefits people in extreme need, consider doing so.
When I go to Ethiopia, I find it very difficult to cope with my limited emotional understanding of mankind as I view life unfold infront of me behind the shelter of my camera lens. I spend so much time worrying about composition, aperture, shutter speed, and the subtle nuances of documentation that sometimes I forget about the life going on around me. However, all of that quickly fades when I am processing my pictures. Editing pictures brings back the emotions, sickness, and poverty I encountered which lead me to write this note while staying in an international hotel in Addis Ababa. Surrounded by luxury in a country of depravity. I cannot neglect the poverty they live in. I am tired of seeing children starving to death. The rain, economy, and crops have failed them. The fortunate ones have found their way to a hospital about 2 hours north of here, but if things do not change, the unfortunate ones will probably not last the summer. To see children begging for food because they haven't had any in days breaks the heart. To see children to weak to do so rips it out. America has poverty, but not like this. These people work 10, 14, 18 hours a day for a mere 50 cents that will hardly buy them food. They did not ask or do anything to become poor; Lattitude and longitude determined it in the same fashion and probability of me being born into wealth and a nurturing family.
I am tired of rising food prices that have more than tripled the cost of corn and related goods, sending not a ripple but a tidal wave of starvation across Sub-Sahara Africa. Combined with the absence of rain that has scorched and cracked the broken ground of promise, the equation for a perfect storm of starvation and malnutrition has been set and carried out. With global warming, rising petrol costs, HIV, and increasing population demands, Ethiopia stands at a balance that is weighing heavily against its favor. Amidst a wail of help from a desperate people, the Government turns an ear that has become hard of hearing. Yet in the face of a global food crisis, many people refuse Genetically Modified crops that could offer a small hint of relief. I am tired of seeing corrupt governments that will neglect their own people. What is it in a man that causes him to abandon humanity for wealth? Time and time again, I have heard people say the government took their land or threw them in jail for no reason at all. How Banturi managed to survive 10 years in an underground prison, chained, losing his vision, and without visitors is a mystery to me. However, I cannot imagine how such a kind, well educated, and polite man like that could ever be accused of any crime. Even more astounding is that he was never given a trial. Ethiopia is building a multi-million dollar fountain to celebrate the strength of the government right across from shanty towns lacking hospitals. Heart is where the money is.
The hardest thing is coming to the realization that these people are just like me. This year I know their stories, they know mine. I am already a "member of the family." Talking to these teenagers about their hopes and aspirations remind me of my students and my life as a high school student. They dream of the University, of Master's Degrees and higher education. But their dreams are near impossible for them to achieve. How can an a/ccident of longitutde and lattitude carry imeasurable significance in a futureYet despite all of this, one must continue to recklessly hope for the betterment of the world. Paul summed it up best. To give glory to God even in the hardships, for "suffering produces perseverence, perseverence character, character hope, and hope never fails us." If we can combine immeasurable hope with a compassionate heart quick to action, we just may make this world a better place.
As I sit from the comfort of my latte, IPOD, Laptop, and PDA, I also acknowledge just how unfair the distribution of wealth is in our nation to the world. But I believe we have been given much so we can give much. And in all of the Americans I met overseas giving up their luxuries to make sure one person in life has breathed easier, I find hope in our own humanity. We have no other option but to actively hope in making this world a better place.
