Sweet Land of Liberty

So before I start my work day, I just want to share in the few things that I learned whilst on my way to work in my favorite mode of transport: the matatu. As is the case in most of these overcrowded and overworked astro vans, the music was blaring. But to be grateful, it was not a poorly recorded version of the latest and greatest rythmic American poetry of Lil' Whomever. My ears and spirit felt blessed for that.

What was unavoidably making its way into my cognizance was the morning show of a local radio station. Among the sordid innuendo-laced topics (which would blow you away, I'm sure) was a report on how the drought in Kenya is wreaking havoc on the cattle farmers in the brush. Not only are their animals suffering from lack of water and food, but apparently many of them are becoming infected with foot and mouth disease and...get this...anthrax.

With the 2001 anthrax scare being my only "exposure" to the disease, I didn't know that it's a fairly common disease among animals. There are cattle that are dying all across the country, and according to this report, some are even dying in rivers...rivers that supply water that people drink.

I'm not trying to employ the shock factor here. Don't worry about us...we're quite removed from this problem. Although I admit, I'm feeling tempted to try the vegan lifestyle for the next nine months. But what I guess I'm getting at is that from this and other recent experiences, I'm realizing first-hand that there's a lot more to poverty than just not having money. It encompasses deeper, more complex, and not-so-easily-solved issues. I live here and take part in Kenyan life. But there is a "light at the end of the tunnel." I have an escape route. If things get bad...we vamos. I see millions of people who don't have options. This is how they live, and in many cases, die.

I don't know that I can look at United States in the same way ever again. I feel this more than I ever have before. I know there are a lot of heated issues up for debate in Congress right now...and I have some strong opinions on some of those issues. I know there is high-seated corruption and system failures. But, it is still undoubtedly a promised land, for so many reasons. There are freedoms and resources and opportunities that most people in the world only dream about. I feel a greater sense of duty to do my part to ensure that the US stays that way. Not just to secure that lifestyle for myself and my posterity, but to ensure that it remains a force for good in the world.

I feel grateful beyond measure for my life that I've been given, and would that all mankind be blessed with such promise.