Today, my heart is in Uganda, a land I've never had the pleasure of visiting, though I think of it often.
A woman I consider a good friend of mine has dedicated her life to loving Uganda and it's people. She is the person with whom I took belly dancing classes and went out dancing with, the friend I've had long conversations with about life and God, and whose amazing wedding I was gladly a part of. She moved only months ago, but as I view the beautiful pictures she's posts online, I can see that she is right where she belongs. Yet she does not do it alone. She has married an amazing man who's mission is to better his community and teach them to be self sufficient and not depend solely on foreign aide to survive. Seemingly a simple idea for life, but much harder to implement in the reality of a world that needs motivation, education, and guidance to keep a community together and encouraged to help one another not only in this generation, but the next - when poverty is a very stark reality. Their goal is not just to get through today, but to build a future in Uganda, one village at a time. And they are not just talking about it, but really doing it. I've seen my friends start programs to educate about HIV and AIDS, how to practice basic hygiene, and learn important tasks such as raising animals and using them to support a family. Again, seemingly simple ideas, but they are being used to change lives.
As a person who has always lived a life of extreme luxury in comparison to the very simple ways that my friends live, I am so humbled in realizing what I have. I am also embarassed that by 25 I have not reached out more to help others. What is life if it is spent solely on oneself or family? Is there not an entire community surrounding each of us, and outside of that a larger region? Are we not each capable of changing and affecting our own worlds to some degree? My friend grew up in the very same country community of less than 10,000 people that I did. She played on the same volleyball team in high school as me, and attended all the same events. We are not so different, but the one element that changes everything is that she has chosen to act, just as her husband has spent so much of his life doing. Her life has been sacrificed here in the US, she does not have the opportunity to see her family or friends as often as if she were here. She does not get to spend holidays with those she is close to in the states. Yet we love her nonetheless, because with the man she was so clearly meant to be with, she is changing this world one heart at a time.
I am so proud to call her and her husband my friends. I must also say that her life everyday inspires me to become a better person and open my eyes to the things that are so often unseen in remedial news and subjects that come across facebook and social media. My life is changed simply by knowing one couple that has given everything for the greater good. We are not all called to international missions, many of us are not called to do leave our immediate community. But we are all called to love. Within our towns, schools, workplace, and family, we all have the option to love and be a great influence, to live by example and change lives by being the kind of person we want to encounter in others.
As the great Mother Teresa once said, " I have found the paradox, that if you love until it hurts, there can be no more hurt, only more love."
Thank you Elysia and Keneth for being the kind of people that myself and others can be so proud to know.
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