Back from Botswana

I was away in Botswana for a Habitat for Humanity project from June 26 to July 13. I hope to have a web travelogue up at my home page in August.

There are so many thoughts that run through my mind but all center around the question: how is my life different having gone through this experience?

Ironically, the question was posed directly by our safari guide on the last night of safari on July 10. He said, he takes Westerners out into the wilderness all the time and certainly they are excited to see the unique animals that make Africa special. But he often wonders: do they take home anything more from their visit to his country than just memories of wildlife? Have their lives been changed as a result?

I've been pondering that question since that night and it gnaws at me like a name I can't remember or an itch that I can't seem to scratch. If forced to, I suppose I could take some tentative cracks at answering it. And in the end, maybe as I think them over those tentative thoughts will be the legacy of my journey there.

My first thought was the dissonance I felt at building the home. On one hand, there was great satisfaction from watching an empty plot of land turn into a home in a period of eight days. The labor of our hands is honorable and serves a useful purpose for someone: the person and family that will occupy that home. But on the other hand, as we drove day in and day out to the work site, we could see so many ramshackle mud huts with thatched roofs that were in disrepair. It will take a long time and many more volunteers to make a dent in the housing problem in Serowe.

This will always be the core emotional struggle of those who open their eyes and see the world's ills: the realization that as one person or one group of people, we can only do so much and the temptation is to dispair and to decide to ignore to ameliorate our despair.

I hope as a result of this trip I will never choose that path.

Our team leader put it this way in one of our heart-to-heart talks at night: yes, we are one group and we built one house, and so now there is one more house and we keep going and hope that more people will come alongside and maybe over time as more people care then maybe a tide will build and a difference will be made.