First couple days in Africa
Coming to Africa is something I never thought about doing. But as I flew in over the Sahara dessert I realized it wasn't a dream. The dessert stretches as far as the eye can see from horizon to horizon. Landing in Banjul ( the capital city of The Gambia) was a thrill. I was greeted by many people trying to carry my bags. Driving from the airport to my house I saw extreme poverty. People who lived in houses the size of my garage. Only these houses were made of whatever the local people could find. It is unseasonably cool here right now. But of course I'm still drinking about 50 glasses of water to keep from drying out. As I have a tendency to perspire easily. This is not like being in PA during the winter when I have shorts, flip flops and a t-shirt on!!Thats my fav. time of year. I'm told it could reach 110 degrees with Humidity at 95%. Thank God for water!! I saw many houses that looked like they were only half built. I asked about this and discovered that people in The Gambia build houses as they get the money for them. So if the money runs out you end up with a half built house until you get more money to finish the job. Or in some cases you see houses that are half built and the people can not afford to build anymore. The people here live on roughly 50 Dollars a month. I have decided that I will try to live as simply as possible while I'm here and take this lifestyle back home. I too will try to spend only 50 dollars a month. Watching the people here you see that material possessions do not equal happiness. I'm still going through orientation so I'm not doing much work yet. Mostly I wander the streets and try to learn where everything is located. They have some great food here. My first night here I was treated to Steak and potatoes. The people on the streets call me "Toubob" ( White person) Yea I kinda stick out here. But that's ok the people here are loving and I'm having a wonderful time. CIAO
posted by Nicolo at 4:10 AM
3 Comments:
let's get those emails started!
what is the time difference?
6:48 PM
whats up phillip? im glad your enjoying ur self, i think its soo cool what ur doing.
9:06 AM
Hi! I'm the VP for IA (Alumni and Development) at Cabrini College. The Wolfington Center forwarded your blog to everyone on President's Leadership Team. I thought you might be interested in a story told by my friend, Organizational psychologist David Baum, Ph.D., On Gratitude: Wilma Mankiller, former chief of the Cherokee Nation, wore a choker around her neck with the face of two wolves. The press once asked her what they stood for. "This one," she said, pointing to one face, "represents the voice of my self-sufficiency and self-esteem, what we call “the good, true and beautiful”. And this one represents the voice of self-diminishment and criticality, or what my people call “the monsters and demons”. They are always in battle and always in struggle with each other. My choker is a reminder that every day in my life this struggle goes on."
"Which one is winning?" a reporter asked.
Her response was quite profound: "The one I feed the most."
We choose our inner world based on the attention we give it. It seems so many people these days are chasing “happiness” and yet so few of us are actually there. In fact, a landmark study called “The World Values Survey”, looked at the fascinating and fundamental question, “Are you happy?” This study was a massive multi-year undertaking involving 65 societies in six continents representing 80 percent of the world’s population. Nigeria, one of the poorest countries on the planet was first. The others after that were Mexico, Venezuela and El Salvador. Not a G-8 in the bunch. The richest country in the world, the United States, ranked sixteenth!
I believe the best way to start to promote greater inner happiness is through gratitude. The word comes from the Latin root gratia, meaning “to lend grace” or “to be in God’s favor” and Mankiller reminds us that we can choose gratitude, in every day, moment and breath.
Phil, it sounds to me you are well on your way to finding happiness. Take care. Robin
12:27 PM
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