Videos, Interviews, and Potluck

The past couple days have been quite eventful in terms of the trip. On Saturday we met with representatives from the Pearson Foundation to train with the flip cameras they've graciously provided us so that we can capture footage and conduct interviews. While they're not the highest quality, they do provide a powerful tool into a small box that can be put into a pocket.

On Sunday, (half an hour my 3rd dan black belt test, I might add), we went down to the Depot and conducted interviews with people. I was repeatedly surprised, not by people's ignorance of Africa, but their knowledge of it. Of course, many of those who surprised me were also the first to admit they knew very little about what Africa was really like. That is a completely legitimate response--it's good to realize that many preconceptions built through media can be entirely incorrect.

One woman, who was actually born and raised in Senegal, made a good point. She said that Americans should not have any misconceptions that the people in Africa are all uncivilized and unable to care for themselves. I agree entirely. I feel sometimes that the idea of Western charity helping Africa sometimes takes on a slightly condescending tone, returning back to the imperialistic notion that we are the civilized world helping the barbarians. That is not the way charity should work. It should be like one neighbor to another, looking out for each other in times of need. Because we should realize that one day, maybe it will be them helping us.

After the Depot we went down to Grayson's house for a small potluck dinner which also served as a meeting to talk about what we'd be doing on the trip. It was nice hanging out with everyone as a group and getting to know them. Also, I feel like it clarified the trip's purpose a lot to the parents, especially my mom. I hadn't really explained the trip that much to her--to my mom, it was just a nebulous "humanitarian mission", which, again, is a misleading label. It also brought the trip together to seem like a cohesive unit rather than a jumbled series of emails.

This upcoming week, I'm fairly prepared to go into panic mode. Finals + preparing for a month long trip to Africa + getting ready to videotape and record all of it for posterity + a week = one hectic time. But it'll be worth it.