Out of the tropics, into the heat.

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This, the first blog on the road, is dedicated to community visionaries the world over and to those who are humble enough to respect their visions. Special thanks to Greg Higgins and Mark Lindow for your work and the unabashed way in which you share your passions with us all. Asalam Alekhum, na safari njema......

It was really just a big trip, nothing besides. That is what we were naive enough to believe when we planned and executed last summer's journey. But lifestyles have momentum and, following a year of dreaming and doing, we found ourselves creatures of a new habit. Winter leaves no doubt about where we should go and what we should do, but the loathsome days of summer require planning for emotional survival in a reality without the nucleus of snowy simplicity. This year found us living apart as the days grew longer, packing and having adventures of our own. Kilimanjaro has become a favorite peak to guide and the opportunity to return to a place that feels so comfortable is hard to turn down. When the schedule allows for a bit of beach cruising and bike touring the appeal grows. What was not expected was a deeply emotional journey across the surface of human relationships. Darkness and light, laughter and sobbing, this seemingly short trip transformed at every turn and called into question the most foundational of psychoemotional premises. Quite a tall order of experiences for a place that never fails to feel like home. Reflecting on it now, it is hard to believe that this journey spanned the topography of a landscape from coast to summit, and the humanscape from rags to riches. Contrast has proven a common denominator the world over but this time, it set a broader stage where the performance of reality could stretch it's proverbial arms........and dance like fire.
Tanzania barely feels foreign at times. There is a different language but it no longer rings of nuance. There are the sights and sounds of the "third world" but they are no match for the stoicism of an occupied mind. When one considers the realities of the American scape (giant houses, fancy cars, fear of losing x or y luxury, etc.) places like rural Tanzania begin to feel adorably tangible. In the end, poverty might even come to seem a more plausible state for the human race at large than would an artificial sense of wealth. Perhaps this is only an attempt to rationalize a world without a god where people are starving but it would seem that the "plight" of those who live in such conditions will not be changing any time before the next ice age given that it seems to have shifted little since the last time the ice sheets bid a retreat for the poles.
This may seem crass and it very well may be but the fact remains that so many attempts to change life in the third world have provided more snyde laughs to cynics than, say, lasting change. Perhaps this is because of the impositional nature of many aid efforts to date. How can people be expected to accept change on any terms but their own? The average human, after all, is not a fool and therefore worthy of the respect and concurrent expectations of any other. The pragmatism of human survival probably evolved long before we westerners mastered (or corrupted) it. Negativity aside, this trip to Africa provided the opportunity to observe a western agent of social welfare hard at work with a more tactful approach.
Greg Higgins is a semi-retired doctor who came to Africa two years ago to climb Killmanjaro with a group of kids from Alaska. His potent but unassuming nature coupled with fiercely diverse intelligence made him a perfect role model for the teenagers he advised as well as their parents. Like many in the health field Greg felt a strong desire to put his talents to work on the continent and has since returned to serve an open ended tenure in the Moshi region. His projects run the spectrum between fostering the development of an orphanage to practicing general medicine but it is his style that lends a fresh, progressive air to the environs of his work. To put it simply, Greg has confidence that local people can and will shape the clay of their own existence in a continuous and sustainable way if gently guided to do so. This philosophy is time honored in educational circles the world over and is anything but audacious. The unique thing in this situation is that, unlike countless prior acts of blatant philanthropy, it is premised with the idea that the greatest resource for the future is already living on the terra. In other words, local visionaries and fishers of men (as opposed to western professionals) are the most qualified to run the show. This is not novel in any way from a rational standpoint but it would seem that this very simple point has been somehow missed or forgotten amidst the "business" of day to day aid in countries where abject poverty is the norm.
Yes, these concepts are themselves imbued with rank idealism. The current situation is probably in part a result of understandable impatience with cultural differences and percieved apathy that are seemingly insurmountable. This, however, does not stand to justify beaurocratic chains of corporate command who (like certain "peace keeping" forces) have taken the liberty to permanently install themselves squarely between the flow of resource and those in need of a new system. With the cream already so thin, is it not prudent to question why it is continually and indefinately skimmed by someone living behind a guarded fence in Dar Es Salaam? It is hard to say what percentage of the pie actually filters down to the intended mouths, but Greg and others like him illustrate one point with perfect clarity: if one wishes to affect change, it is worth considering that the greatest resource may very well be your own beautiful hands. Before you put a check in the mail, consider jumping on a plane and delivering it, along with a nice piece if sweat equity, personally. You may find that giving and receiving are cotangent when you return home with a freshly earned confidence in the human spirit.
As for the two of us, home is now on the road. With a record heat wave settled firmly over Russia and Central Asia we are promised a sweaty reality check from the cool comforts of the East African highlands and the Tahoe Basin. This is pure irony from a lattitudinal standpoint but with luck we will be able to make a fast break for the High Caucasus where we can chill out like lemonade on good, plastic ice. Like plasmodium ovali the Africa bug is known to be recurrent for many years and there is little doubt that the road will lead back to the mother continent for yet another epoch. If the last two months are in any way indicative of the times to come, we are in for a hell of a ride.

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Comments

[Samantha]

Leaving Africa
Well said Chad. My time here has caused many a musing and as my time grows to a close it becomes more and more bitter sweet. I know that there is something about mama africa that just won't go away. I'm glad to have gotten to spend some time with someone like Greg while I was here. I hope your reunion was a good as you were hoping it to be and I will soon be taking very good care of your little oasis in lake tahoe!! Cheers! - Samantha

[Helga]

Great Insights
Chad, Allison, you two hooked up again, super! Loved your insights Chad, that our official foreign aid ends up down the rabbithole and resurfaces in a numbered account in Switzerland, or somewhere else. Can't wait to hear about your new biking adventures. Viel Glueck und bleibt gesund, Helga

[Pam Straley]

Write more!
Keep your thoughts and experiences coming! Helga tells me your original bike-travel plans changed. Please write about those. See you when the snow falls in Tahoe! pam