So, I am headed off on another adventure, this time to West Africa; Liberia to be exact. Who gets to go to Africa twice in a lifetime? Me! While Liberia is not the country of South Africa wherein the rhinos walk and lions roar, it is a place with much needed care and consideration, one which is often not only not locatable, but forgotten. I head off this time to work in the schools, to help the Liberian teachers give the ability to read to the pupils they care about, but feel unfit to help. I cant help but think of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs wherein food and shelter are our most basic. When we dont know where our food is coming from, how can we concentrate on the sounds in a word? When our stomachs are rolling and our heads full of lice, how do we worry about the spiritual growth of our children?
And thus, I know I will return to the unknownst gluttony of the United States with both an affinity for my country and thankfulness that I was lucky enough to be born there and an overwhelming sense of guilt: I have too much, I work too hard, I need nothing. It is hard to return home after a trip like I am about to have and conflicting emotions will run through me. In all though, there is never a trip I have regretted, never a memory from a trip I am saddened to have had. Even the bad ones change a person, give them more depth, more understanding and somehow more love.
I wish everyone could have the experiences of seeing those that have so little and love so much, those that have everything and yet feel empty. Trips, such as this one, remind me of the amazing rights I have as an American citizen and of the incredible gifts that my birth in America, to parents who were citizens of a country that enabled them to provide for me everything I needed to be powerful, thoughtful and most important, able to succeed.
Obama just gave a 2 year wait to illegal immigrants who have lived productive lives in the US for over 5 years. I believe that people who want to come to the US shouldnt have to do it as illegals, they should be able to come, to work, to make a better life for themselves and their families. If they work, pay taxes, and lead citizened lives, why shouldnt they be allowed to come here? Why should I guaranteed better/ more rights just because I was lucky enough to be born here? I believe the US believe in the rights of all people: life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness for all. You come here and work, pay taxes and dont engage in crime, you can stay because we want hard workers, people on the up and up, people who contribute to the betterment of society. The label of "illegal" is the problem. It causes people to hide, be paid in cash, scared to pay taxes, go to school, buy a house If we decriminalized it, welcoming those who contributed positively, I believe it would all change.
People need to help others, to recognize that being an American gives them unalienable rights, and with those rights comes big responsibilities. I am off on one of my American responsibilities: Help others with the knowledge you have. This time, it isnt at my college or at a conference for educators. It is in the wetlands of Western Africa, where the people want the best for their children and their children's futures, but were born into a country where there is very little chance for the pursuit of happiness, liberty and possibly life.
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