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GIVE a Little, Take a Lot

Written by: Megan Sharp

11/14/2013

Six months ago today I left for the journey of a lifetime. I said goodbye to my dad at the security gate and from that moment on, anything could happen. I had never traveled alone, and here I was, going to the other side of the world. Why am I doing this? All this money? All this uncertainty? Maybe I really am crazy.

I could be disappointed. I could feel lonely. I could feel like all my hard work had been for nothing. I had no idea, all I had was some faith and bug spray. Lots of bug spray.

Participating in the GIVE program was fate. And living through a raw African experience? Too powerful and life-changing than I will ever be able to fully grasp. By going to Tanzania, I feel like I have found missing pieces of myself. I found them in places I never would have guessed. In the African night sky, in the local people, in English class, and in the friends I met. By learning so much more, I found so much more.

27 strangers exited a plane in Africa and took their first deep breath of African air. Mmm. In that moment, you know this is where you want to be, where you NEED to be.

Africa is nothing like the magic you feel when you first see the lights of a new big city. It’s a powerful, overwhelming feeling of OMG. It’s a whole new world. Everything is strange and exciting and there are so many things to see and so many different people to meet. Every person on this continent: all 1.033 billion of them have a lifetime of stories of successes, of failures, of good times, of bad times. They have lessons and advice that have stemmed from a way of life I will never fully understand. But I will try with everything I have, during my time on this continent, to figure it out.

My entire time on Zanzibar building the school in Cairo and teaching children is a fast, incredible blur.

Pardon me, I’m having a montage of memories…

It’s the kids on the beach that makes reality hit you. This is REAL. These kids live here in this beautiful place on this beautiful beach and you are so jealous of them, yet they are so jealous of you. We have a lot to learn from each other.

On the beach I met one of the true loves of my life: Little Boda.

At two years old, he knows how to get any and everyone wrapped around his little finger. Yup, he’s a toddler. They’re pretty universal. They giggle, they cry, they need naps. And most importantly, they have their whole lives ahead of them. We have the chance to change their future for the better.

I knew every moment spent on the school construction site, and every moment filling bottles on the beach by Boda’s hut was going to help him have a better life.  The school, when completed, will open so many doors for Boda he never would have had the opportunity for. Boda could end up being one of the pushy vendors on the beach “I make you a good deal!” or “Please, please. Any contribution will help. I need to feed my family tonight.”

I wanted more for Boda. I wanted more for all of the children.

And in these moments, you know why you’re here. Why you’re half a world away barely showering and destroying your hair in salt water. Why you’re giving up all your lifesavings to help a stranger. But these people aren’t strangers, they’re friends you haven’t met yet.

After one hug, one dance, one smile. You’re friends. You have a deep connection you never knew you could have with such a significant language barrier.

I never thought there was so much I could learn from a bunch of little kids frolicking on the beach, but oh, they touched our lives more than we touched theirs. More than we ever could.

Same goes for Matemwe School and Tumani Learning Center. By singing “I’m a Little Tea Pot” to the nursery and teaching English grammar to the adults you learn so much. They give you so many reasons to smile and so many reasons to laugh. They are INCREDIBLE.

If I were to make a list of everything we gave the people of Zanzibar versus all of the things they gave us, their list would go to the moon and back.

My life has truly been changed by this experience and I will never feel the same. This is not something that will ever be easy to explain. I can tell the stories, the scary moments, the exciting moments and the incredible moments, but I can never tell how deeply it affected me. I will forever be indebted to GIVE for this. I will forever love my fellow GIVErs for this. The only ones that will understand are those who lived it with you.

We are all so different, but we are all the same. Sounds like a family, doesn’t it? Well, we are family.  27 strangers came off of that plane and 27 brothers and sisters got back onto it.

I can tell the stories, but the way it affected and changed me? That’s something I will ever be able to articulate. Six months later and I’m still speechless.

“Hey, Miss Africa! How was your trip?”
“It was amazing. I can’t even describe it… just beyond words incredible.”

There are so many stories and so many memories that it would be impossible to include in this post. I could spend the rest of my life writing down all the stories and emotions from my trip, they will forever be burnt into my mind because they have penetrated my heart.

I know I’m not crazy for wanting to help and I know that every adventure like this will teach me more about life and love and happiness.

A day will never pass that I do not think of the the people of Zanzibar, or as I like to call them, Rafiki.

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