Helping the Hope-Challenged
 Malaria pills - check. Walking shoes - check. Camera? Dang! One ten-minute round trip back to the hotel, and we were back at the Atlanta airport with all the necessities, including my camera. It's a tough business to keep everything together in a group with as much gear as we have. We need to remember to factor in fatigue and excitement about what’s to come. We're now on the plane, crossing over the Atlantic, thinking expectantly about the impact we'll have on Kisayip and its people. The possibilities are endless, both good and bad, but we choose to focus on the positive. Are we out to change the world? You betcha... but with realistic goals. We're aware that change starts with one person who is willing to live by the philosophy that we are indeed our brother's keeper. We are fortunate that we have many able-bodied and intelligent people working as a team who also believe in this philosophy.
I choose not to see Africa, or even to a lesser extent, Nigeria, as "needy" and impoverished, although those are words that would be appropriate in many ways. But I want to go with eyes that see the potential. Africa receives billions of dollars every year in aid, but what it really needs, is a future.
When you are born with nothing, grow up with nothing, and see so many die without having really lived, where do you find hope? How can you possibly define "future?" Hopefully, tomorrow will bring work, which might bring enough money to purchase necessities, or perhaps charity will provide enough to get the family through a little longer.
It's time to stop handing out fish. Sure, people still need to eat. But it's possible that providing a fishing pole isn't going to be enough. What the "hope challenged" need is someone to show them how to fill a pond, make their own fishing poles so not only can they fish, but make a living out of it and pay it forward.
Hope is out there. It just takes one person to get it started. I intend to be one of those.
--Heidi Doose, March 17
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