Tears of the Sun

Last night I was in full on "Africa mode". I was reading, thinking, listening, watching Africa. Doing everything but living Africa.

I put in the movie "Tears in the Sun" because I love watching movies on the struggles there and how some hero always brings good in the end. It is how we so often wish life to be. Before going to Uganda I, like so many others, could write off the horror of some of the movies we see with "rebel armies" and demon possessed dictators as fiction, or something that happened a long time ago in a far off land. After seeing first hand through the eyes of some of the people effected by these atrocities this is no longer the case for myself.

My normal "feel good" Africa movie is "Invictus", the story of Nelson Mandela and how he used the sport of rugby to unite a deeply divided Africa nation, South Africa. But I was up for a bit more action last night so I popped in the one other movie (besides "Sahara")that I knew could offer me a glimpse of the continent I have come to call home. I had not watched "Tears in the Sun" for almost a year and could remember faintly the details. I didn't realize what I had just gotten myself into. Bloodshed, rape, murder, dishonesty, and your basic good vs evil was right before my eyes.

How is this any different from any other war movie I have seen?

Why did this one hit me so hard that by the closing scene I could no longer hold back my tears and let out sobs of emotion?

I can tell you why. It is because these things are not fiction. These things did not happen a long time ago, but are happening today. These things are happening in a far off land, but now that far off land is much closer to my heart. You don't hear every day about the merciless killings, kidnappings, and rapes that happen to innocent people taking place in this far off land. They don't make CNN news and you wont find their story on FOX.

Why?

Why do we close our eyes to these things that are happening every day? Is it because they do happen every day and we have accepted them as the norm? Or is it because we choose to close our eyes from this incredible tragedy because our hearts may be pulled and we may feel something deep inside telling us we ought to do something about it? Whether it be from naivety, ignorance, or fear I am here to say that this is not okay. We as Americans have opportunity. Notice I said "have opportunity" and not "have an opportunity". This is because for us, this isn't a singular situation. Every day we have the opportunity to change the way this world is currently spinning.

Here we have the chance to make the difference, to be the change.

I go to school every day. That is what most 17 year olds in the United States do. I will admit that I also complain about it, something I believe most 17 year olds do as well. I hate crawling out of my warm Egyptian cotton sheets and having to uncurl from the ball of twisted down comforter and feather pillows I have become through out the night. I loathe turning on the shower and feeling the icy waters chill my hand as I wait the two minutes it takes for the water heater to kick in and make steam rise from the now scalding droplets. I dread walking into 1st hour AP English and once again discussing the symbolism behind "The Scarlet Letter" and continuing through my planned, laid out, knowledge packed (and usually homework packed) every day routine that school puts me through. It is when I look at myself like this that I see just how very conceited I myself am. I am just like any other person who turns their face from the raging wars occurring in Africa. I take for granted the things that kids are dying for in Africa.

A place to sleep, clean water, and an education seem simple.

Living-seems simple, doesn't it? Our living so often is. Their reality...well it's just not.

Why?

Because they were born there and we were here?

Basically.

This isn't fair and I refuse to let this be the case anymore. This is why I will get this school built. Education is the key to the lock that has kept the door shut on Africa. God is there. He is working. He is willing. We will open this door, even if it is for only a few children in a side-of-the-road village in Uganda, Africa.