The moment before the leap of faith

I'm going to be leaving my house in five and a half hours to go to Africa? The wave hasn't really crashed down on me yet. I am, admittedly, procrastinating on packing right now. But I just had to take a moment to say how weird it seems. I know in my mind that I'll be traveling thousands of miles in a few hours, but the deeper core of me hasn't really processed it yet. How strange. This will be my last post in the United States before I return. It is the last chance for me to put down any thoughts before I leap blindly and awkwardly into whatever chaos that will challenge all my concepts about Africa.

I became interested in international events in 8th grade when I joined the World Affairs Challenge, which Weezie was in as well. I'm not sure when I began to get interested in actually taking an active role, though. It may be when I joined YouthGive two years ago, but I think it was more of a gradual process. Growing up, I've always been aware that Marin is quite the exception in wealth. There's been a sense of debt to those who aren't so well off--maybe it's guilt, but I'd like to think it's a sense of responsibility. I've heard people argue that the wealthy are so well off simply due to hard work. I disagree. It may have been hard work, but for most it is also because we've grown up in a relatively well-built system that supports us. Whether the system is good education, a capitalist society, or wealth in the family, a great deal of our prosperity is due to the luck of where and to whom we were born.

On that note, a lot of people are not so lucky. No matter how hard they work, they will be stuck in the trap of extreme poverty. I hate to use the cudgel of statistics, but over three billion people, half the world's population, lives on less than $2 a day. The wealth disparity is frightening. And not only is it a moral issue, it is also a practical one in society. Poverty in the world doesn't just affect the impoverished; it affects everyone. It damages our economy, since this is a loss of productivity and market. It damages our safety, because those in poverty must sometimes resort to the extreme measures of violence and theft. It damages our sense of morality, knowing there are so many people dying and suffering each day.

It is the job of the top 20%, who control 75% of the world's wealth, to help them. This does not mean to supply, from our own pockets, their everyday income (as opponents of aid have argued.) All we need to do is give them the basic elements of survival and progress and they will flourish. This is a system supported as much by science and economics as it is by idealism. They suffer because they are continuously crippled by disease, lack of access to clean water and food, and lack of information (such as safety from STIs, efficient farming, business basics), and lack of capital that they can invest beyond their everyday survival. If we can take away a few of their burdens, then they will be able to stand up and walk forwards.

That, as a disclaimer, is my point of view at this moment. Who knows? Perhaps some of it will change. Maybe some of it will be validated. But for now, I'm left to prepare for a few thousand mile journey. Since I've been monologuing about realism, the reality is I'd better start packing again. But the next time I post... I'll be in an entirely new world. Cheers!