Getting Schooled

Jen and I are here in Arusha, Tanzania on our second Picture Hope assignment this week. We've so enjoyed sharing time with Mama Lucy, founder of Shepherds Jr. School; kind teachers; and more than 350 children ages 3-12 thanks to our friends at non-profit Epic Change. As in Rwanda, I'm finding that relationships hold great value.  It seems that connections between people are stronger here in Africa, or perhaps these connections are just more visible when you strip away unnecessary physical possessions – when you cut away the clutter and focus on the person seated before you or beside you.

Africa is flattening me. She's taking me back to the basics. Asking me in a gentle and honest whisper to question long-standing assumptions about my life. She makes me cry. She brings me great joy. She makes me want to rebuild a better me. I'm eager to let the images speak to you over the next couple of weeks.

Thank you for sharing this journey with us.

Comments

[Darla]

Thank you!

[Erin Wilson]

It has been so, so wonderful to be able to follow along so far...

[Wanda]

I've always wanted to go to Africa. Thanks for sharing your journey.

[chenoa]

i've come across several posts & projects that are having the same effect on me this week, this is one of them!!! i can only imagine what its like being there in person, thank you for sharing the journey through pictures with us!!!
special thoughts

[Ginny Hammond]

Stephanie it is so lovely to know the world is full of places and people, especially little children who can teach us so many rich lessons! I am so moved by your open heart to receive them and your desire to not only make a better world but a better you! I am just learning TWITTER myself!!! Thanks so much for sharing! More, more, more..pleeeeese!!

[Crystal]

We just flew home from Dar Ees Salaam yesterday - and were in Arusha earlier this month! I knew that these places would still be in my heart and on my screen - and here you are today! I also knew that God wanted us to take this journey and that He would show us how to serve along the way and in the days to follow. Thank you for being part of that process. And enjoy your trip - and the lovely people along the way :)) Thank you for sharing - it makes such an impact.

[Monica]

Yes ... I spent part of my childhood in Ethiopia and Tanzania. Those years had the biggest imprint on my life, I believe.

I feel so uncomfortable with this way of being, we have in the 'developed world' .... like we somehow have 'got it' .. like we're the successful ones. While I know I have so much (economically) to share and give ... doing so leaves me feeling empty and fake. I can't really put a finger on it or explain it very well. I sometimes feel like the give and take, the exchange is so lacking on our part. We give our stuff and our money .... what we receive, if we're truly present, and take the time to see, from Africa ... is our heart, their heart. Africa has something so much more real and deeply human to share with the rest of us. I struggle with being that way here, in North America. I take heart in reading your journey, your struggle with similar things.