Far from feeling fed up (although I must admit to a touch of cynicism), I am mostly thirsty for knowledge. With the full understanding that I am a 'newbie' at this, I've dedicated myself to learning as much as possible about Africa and the developing world before I go back there again. In my new found zeal, I've managed to knock off four books in a week =)
"The End of Poverty" -- Jeffrey Sachs
"Unbowed" -- Wangari Maathai
"The Challenge for Africa" -- Wangari Maathi
"Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity Worldwide" -- Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn
At least the naivete has worn off. Now the real work can begin.
"Perseverance... keeps honor bright: to have done, is to hang quite out of fashion, like a rusty nail in monumental mockery." ~William Shakespeare
A quote from "Half the Sky" [I STRONGLY recommend this book be read. It is poignant and at times horrifying, but alongside the telling of the horrific oppression and violence that women in the developing world face on a daily basis, there are remarkable tales of courage and heroism that will (hopefully) inspire the Western world to sit up, take NOTICE, and take ACTION!]
"To tackle an issue effectively, you need to understand it –- and it's impossible to understand an issue simply by reading about it. You need to see it first hand, even live in its midst. One of the great failings of the American education system... is that young people can graduate from university without any understanding of poverty at home or abroad. Study-abroad programs tend to consist of herds of students visiting Oxford or Florence or Paris. We believe that universities should make it a requirement that all graduates spend at least some time in the developing world, either by taking a "gap year" or by studying abroad. If more Americans worked for a summer teaching English at a school... in Pakistan, or working in a hospital like HEAL Africa in the Congo, our entire society would have a richer understanding of the world around us. And the rest of the world might also hold a more positive view of Americans."
http://www.amazon.com/Half
And to give voice to my latest concern... How can I balance teaching, singing, research, writing, volunteer work AND delve into my long-held dream of producing and writing music? I wish I stuck with music tech when I first started it 16 years ago at NYU (instead I got swept into classical music and haven't had a moment to breathe from that lifestyle until my self-imposed one right now)...
"Don't let the fear of the time it will take to accomplish something stand in the way of your doing it. The time will pass anyway; we might just as well put that passing time to the best possible use." ~Earl Nightingale
