visiting Americans with important reminder

In day to day life I get bogged down sometimes. I get lazy and dont want to fetch water, or I get caught up in my routine and i forget. I forget that every day I'm here I'm not only accomplishing my own goal of joining Peace Corps, but i have a special opportunity that many people working in development (or even people who don't) wish they had. I get to spend my time becoming part of a rural African community. I get to have friends and joke with people that are culturally a world away. I get to see how aid works, close up, the good and the bad.

I was at a clinic meeting today when people started cleaning up and preparing for somthing. Two men from the District Health Office came and George told me there were people from outside Zambia coming to meet the Saving Mothers Action Group. I heard singing and looked outside and sure enough they were welcoming 3 American women. They interviewed the SMAGs as a group and took lots of photos and videos. Afterwards they also interviewed me and I showed them around the clinic.

One woman lives in Lusaka and commented how nice it was to get out of the city and into rural Zambia. Another woman who lives in New York said something like, "We probably spend our time thinking about the same things but I'm sitting at a desk, and you are out here living it."

It can be easy to miss home, family, friends, foods, and creature comforts. It can be easy to take for granted that I live in a beautiful place far away from light pollution, traffic, and tall buildings. And since I'm here day in and day out it can even be easy to take it for granted that I am helping to create change and encourage learning. Meeting these women today reminded me how truly lucky I am to be here, with people, as part of the community, working towards improving their lives.