Sunday, September 25, 2011

I Bless the Rains Down in Africa...

Abby is back in Ghana, her third trip there since fall 2009. This time she's gone with her friend Emily. She keeps going back because she feels that she can make a difference in the lives of a few people (kid, mostly) in a town called Hohoe.

She understands that compared to the people in the town she comes from a life of wealth and privilege, with opportunities and experiences that eclipse almost anything that these folks will experience in their lifetimes. Yet she wants to try to do what she can to enrich their lives in whatever way she can.

While the kids have free education, they have virtually no exposure to art. When Abby taught her third-grade class in 2009, the kids couldn't even draw rudimentary stick figures. Abby used her time with them to expose them to drawing and color. It has been her mission ever since to expose them to this small act of self-creativity ever since.

This year she went over with an extra bag filled with crayons and other art supplies, intent on giving them to "her kids". Alas, they have all dispersed from the "Suzzy Mothercare School and Creche", but she is determined to track them down and encourage them to continue exploring drawing and colors.

Yes, it's a simple mission; one that won't affect the balance of power, the economic state of the Euro Zone, or the political turmoil that ravages so many developing nations around the world. But she sees beyond that. Making a difference in the lives of a few kids is her goal.

I am very proud of her.

Too many of us want our kids' "legacies" to be defined by the colleges they graduate from or the number of figures in their salaries. I think that is the wrong metric to measure by.

If someone can bring a little bit of light and joy into the life of a total stranger, to show them a means to express their creativity, then that is a legacy to strive for.

No, she's probably not going to earn a six-figure salary with a prestigious firm somewhere. But she's already brought smiles to a few dozen kids in a remote town in the heart of West Africa. That is something to feel really good about.

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