I’m wearing my African dress today. Here’s a picture of me wearing it in Africa. (I’m not as fully decked out today – I left the Maasai necklace at home.)
I love wearing it. It gives me those warm fuzzies… memories of the place I bought it. The Serengetti Stop-Over, a delightful place where we stayed in rondebels (round huts with thatched rooves), and sat sipping African wine (some was good, some was not) in the screened lounge watching the sun set over the Serengetti plains. Aahhh. Just indulge me for a moment and let me go back there in my mind…
It was a day of anticipation. The next day, we would cross the Serengetti. What we didn’t know yet was that the next day we would see hundreds if not thousands of amazing animals – elephants, hippos, wildebeest, zebras, giraffes, lions, warthogs, gazelles, and – did I mention zebras? Thousands of zebras.
But sitting there in the Serengetti Stop-Over, wearing my new dress, I didn’t know that yet. I only knew that it was a beautiful moment, that the air was warm and sweet, that I’d already fallen in love with Africa, and that I knew I still had much to anticipate in the coming week. Oh, and I knew that there was a delightful little gecko scampering up the screen door.
Lately, there’s been alot of talk about how the G8 can or cannot help Africa address poverty. Nobody has the magic bullet. All I know is that, if you ever have a chance to travel there, I guarantee that it will change your life. It is the most incredible place I’ve ever been. Yes, the poverty is hard to see, but the people are remarkably strong, full of spirit and wisdom and grace. And they could teach us volumes about living in community and helping our neighbours. I believe that they will perservere and someday, we’ll see Africa arise like a phoenix.
Note: If you want to see more of my pictures, you’re welcome to check them out at heatherplett.com (yes, I have good intentions of having an actual site there someday, but for now it’s just the pictures). Be prepared – there’s LOTS of them.