Here I am. I have arrived in my home for the next 4 months. I’m in Malawi, a skinny country in Southeastern Africa weaseled right under Tanzania. Malawi, where the average, midddle-class person earns $120 per month.

Of course, your next question is, “what on earth are you doing there?” I’ll tell you. I’m first and foremost going to school, which I could of course be doing in the States, but around April 2009 an interesting opportunity arose. Kara and Jeff Oliver, old family friends, had decided to move to Malawi for one year, in mission with the United Methodist Church there. This I had known for a while, but in April I caught wind of the fact that they were in need of a nanny to take care of their children. In short, my father and I quietly began researching the idea of me spending the fall semester of my senior year in Malawi with the Olivers, going to school in the morning and taking care of the kids in the afternoon. Around the end of July, after much conversation, everything began to fall into place, magically.

As I explained my plan for doing this time after time to countless family members and friends, something that surprisingly few people have asked is “why do you want to do this?” Perhaps people just assumed they already knew why I was going. Maybe they just expected that I was going for the same reason that everyone else goes to Africa, to end poverty. Ah yes, ending poverty. This being the phrase that is quoted by so many people who have no idea what it means. “Ending Poverty”, never a black and white thing, is not a phrase that has the ability to encompass its meaning(s) at all. This does not just mean to feed the hungry. It is an extremely worn-out, general phrase that’s subcategories would run off the page. If you want to talk to me about ending poverty, you’re going to have to narrow it down a little. I don’t even want to hear that dreadful phrase again.

What no one knew was that I was itching to answer the “why” question. I was and still am completely prepared to answer that question with honesty and articulacy, but no one asked. First, I love Africa. I love it. I love the cultures, the people, how different it is than the rest of the world. I love the history, and conflicts. It’s a fascinating place. Most of all, I love how a people so devastated by human destitution, can be so full of joy.

Another reason why I wanted to go: Malawi is a developing country. That means it isn’t developed yet! That’s awesome! There is so much room for growth. And there is so much potential in these people. It’s so exhilarating to participate in the development of something with so much potential.

As my grandmother put it, “This is your senior year. You should be buying cute clothes, meeting cute boys, and hanging out with your friends”. I took this into consideration and promptly decided that only I could know what I should or should not be doing this year. Of course, I would miss my friends and my family, but if I denied an opportunity like this, I would always wonder…. what if? Plus I love love love Africa!

This isn’t my first time in Africa or Malawi for that matter. But each time I come, I am bombarded by truths about the world that I might have never gained somewhere else. I have a need to never close my eyes because each time I come I see new things, and the things I see for the second time I see with new eyes. Every time I go, I come home with my head screwed on a different way. To my horror, by the end of the month I’m back where I started, routinely thinking about the things that people routinely think about. School, friends, work, clothes….. etc. Not to say that I forget the experiences and the things I learned here. More like they just temporarily vacation from my mind.

So I thought, why not spend a little more time here, make it a little harder to disregard everything I have experienced. And here I am. We’ll see.