Exchanging For Progress

It has been a few days since my last blog and there is so much to talk about. I'll start with the youth forum which took place a few nights ago. There was a great deal of information passed back and forth centered around the topics of: HIV/AIDS epidemic, globalization, global warming and cultural exchange. We discussed many of the different stories about the "origin of AIDS" and ways to inform others of, and potentially prevent the transmission of the AIDS virus. Of course we had the monkey theory, but there were other hypotheses discussed that really made me think. One even lead me to watch a documentary that Mzee Pete allowed me to borrow. I will not go into detail for sake of keeping it positive. But what really stunned me was our discussion of globalization. Many of my Tanzanian brothers and sisters actually opposed globalization because they feel it destroys their culture and makes them less unique as a people. After hearing what they had to say, I understood how they could feel that way and I now see how globalization can have a negative effect on some societies. But in the end you just have to take the good with the bad I guess. Anyhow, we round out the evening with some of the Tanzanian youth rapping for us. Though I could not understand most of what they were saying I could tee it was powerful due to some of the peoples reactions. I recited a poem that I prepared for them and our group presented them with an interactive dancing lesson so to speak. The next day we went out on Safari! It had to be one of the most fulfilling experiences ever. To see how these animals related to one another and there environment in there natural habitat, it's just an exhilarating feeling. I can't wait to go again and bring my mother. Then today we went down to the orphanage that Baba Nya is building so we could help build and plant trees. That was exciting, especially when I got to go down in the watering hole to fill the bucket. We are planning on working on a solar powered LED lighting system for the orphanage. And if all goes well we will be able to do the same for the orphanage that Dr. Rahman wants to establish over here as well. In just a minute I'm going to go help make some bricks that will be used to make the orphanage. This probably being my last blog before we return home, I would just like to send peace and blessings to everyone, and thank you all that took the time to follow along.