Life Is Beautiful

Africa.

The Dark Continent.

So often, when thinking about Africa, images of poverty, hunger, disease, and AIDS are immediately conjured up. The continent of Africa sometimes seems to be an oversized blemish on the face of the globe. Movies, books and World Vision commercials all talk about the pain and agony of life on this seemingly God-forsaken piece of land.

While these pains are major realities of life here, they unfortunately overshadow the vibrant life that exists here despite of (or maybe because of) all these difficulties. While vast majority of people are poor by any Western standard, these people know how to smile and live. There is a beauty surrounding the people that you don’t find in many parts of the world.

I don’t think Africa is some problem that we need to fix, but another part of the world that we can learn from and yes, have the opportunity help because, in reality, we do have a lot of money.

(By Noel, who thinks he knows it all after spending a few weeks hanging out with mostly foreigners in Africa. While disappointed he hasn’t seen either Bono or Angelina Jolie, he is having a delightful time being with dear friends Katrina and Paul and many other Houghton folks at HC’s campus in Tanzania for two weeks.)