This was my first trip to Africa. I am one of those people who carries a
vague list in my mind of ambitions, passions, and dreams,
all deferred to some indefinite time and mentally filed under “one day
I’ll…”. This visit to my missionary aunt in Zambia was on that list, along with traveling down the Amazon, running a marathon, and learning the tango in
Argentina. I arrived in Monze for three weeks with grand illusions of helping, teaching, and making a difference.
The children at the nutrition center who leave will be temporarily nourished, hydrated, and vaccinated. No more than one-third of them will survive another year. Their mothers will be given bags of maize seeds to grow food. The tragic truth is that half the seeds will not cultivate in the drought conditions of their home villages. Thereafter, half the crop will be stolen before ripening. Whatever remains will be converted into the monotonous corn gruel that is the tasteless staple of the local diet. This is the cycle of despair that I found in Africa.
The Africa of my imagination is utterly depressing at ground level, where
statistics become people. Small bloated bellies become young personalities
with smiles and affection to share. In these parts, the poorest of the poor
expire anonymously and with alarming frequency. The startling bleakness of
local reality left me feeling like I had little to contribute. My carefully
cultivated white-collar keyboard skills were hopelessly optimistic and
utterly useless here. Throughout my first week, I struggled for an adequate response to the plight that surrounded me.
If only I could do something, but what? Give money? Labor? Time?
In my second week, suddenly inspired, I returned to the nutrition center on
my own personal mission. A nurse provided the inspiration, telling me that
“All many of these women have left is hope for their children and the fading
memories of them when they are gone.” The one local merchant that served as
a gas station, food shop, butcher, photo processor, tailor, and agricultural
supply depot supplied the logistical assistance. This was it! Insight and a path forward instantaneously united.
Back I went again, during my final week, to gather the group of mothers and children one last time in the communal kitchen. Shielded from the sun by a thatched, sloping roof, we clustered around the raised cooking fire.
The humidity, the smoldering charcoal, the tangy body odor, the flies, and the stench of previous meals all intermingled here.
I moved quickly back and forth, pausing, choosing and presenting my gift to
each mother. Some looked puzzled, but two had immediately recognized what
they were holding. The kitchen suddenly filled with scattered flies and
excited chatter. The energized mothers shrieked at each other and their
gifts, startling the children from their diseased slumbers. Each cradled her
gift carefully, comparing without jealousy, everyone obviously pleased with
their own while inspecting each other’s with genuine admiration.
So many travelers take pictures while so few take the time to give them.
That was my gift. I offered photographs I had taken to each mother with child, to sustain and share their memories back at their villages.
Paradoxically, it may be I who will never forget them. I vividly recall the
arranging of hair, straightening of sarongs, and finally the approval by
others as each woman prepared for her portrait. All this was quickly
followed in sequence by straightening of shoulders and pride of expression
as the shutter clicked. Stripped away in those moments were all my
preconceptions of the abject poor, replaced by the realization that dignity
is not absent in poverty, just trapped beneath its hard surface.
Kevin Mulcahy works for Sprint International, wiring the world for internet connectivity in between his global travels with his wife Diane.
About Editors’ Choice:
Every week we choose one of the great stories we’ve received from travelers around the world and present it here as our “Editors’ Choice.” For an archive of these stories go to the Editors’ Choice link on The Flying Carpet; for more about the editors, see About Travelers’ Tales Staff.