Volunteer Voices

I made many new Kenyan friends, some of whom were like brothers and sisters to me by the end of the three weeks. I chat with some of them every day even after returning home. Some of them staggered me with their brilliance and their potential. I befriended a 24-year old named John who could name at least a dozen U.S. Senators, more than any average American would ever know, and asked myself, how well would he do if he simply had the right opportunities? He had never been to college. He suffered from chronic ulcers. He loved to read, but in that part of the world, quality books are hard to come by. I bought him a copy of Obama's book The Audacity of Hope and he almost cried. These are the kinds of things I saw -- uneducated kids full of potential, crippled by health problems, hungry, many of them without parents who died of HIV/AIDS or some other disease that could have been treated. It's hard to think straight amidst such pain. It's hard to have any real or meaningful discussion of world poverty without making some sacrifices ourselves, without witnessing that suffering with our own eyes. Will I go back? In a heartbeat. In fact, I am already planning another trip to Kenya next year with friends.”

Hannah Jones ~ Kenya 2009