judgment.

Judgment. We all do it whether or not we are conscious of it or not. And while being in Africa I have realized that I have done it about the region I have traveled to. Senegal is part of West Africa and it makes up one of 54 countries within the continent of Africa. Often times people make the judgment that Africa is one big country instead of several "independent" countries,  located in one continent. 

How can one change if we are too ignorant to realize the truth and if we are to quick to judge. We make snap judgments about just about anything and we are all victims about it. However there is a need for a change, and there is still hope to do so.

I've realized throughout this trip to really embrace the people in my life that are going to lift me up, that are not quick to judge, that will take the time to get to know who I truly am. I think the Senegalese population is the prime example of how to embrace people, to take time to get to know and to not jump to conclusions. It is refreshing. It is welcoming. It is pure.

Everyone needs to embrace difference, they need not to be afraid of seeing a different viewpoints. We were all put on this Earth to do something different and while every one may not view each others missions as worthy or acceptable we all have something that drives us. And in the midst of all this Dakar shuffle and lessons learned that I am not here to please everyone and I have my own thoughts and beliefs and that is alright.

Judgment comes with a cost, it comes with baggage. No one is perfect but I hope to leave her more conscious of the thoughts that stream through my head and the way in which others may perceive what I may say or the judgments I might pass. 

I have dealt with judgments about why I decided to travel to this region and as I am beginning to prepare to depart I am coming to realization that as I return to United States I am coming back a different person. Someone who will be stingily aware of the reality we live in, the waste that many use, and the materialistic nature we live in. Along with that the ignorant and uneducated assumptions of those who are caught in the bubble of being raised and living in United States. Being in Dakar has been so awakening to how sheltered we live on our daily lives and it will be a real battle to decide who to have a realistic conversation about what is truly going on over here and for who to allow to keep assuming that Africa is all one big place where Safaris is all people go on. 

The problem and consequences are so wrong with those assumptions and that mind set. And while many believe I went on a Safari, yes those occur in certain regions. And yes women wear baskets on their heads but while they are doing so they are multi-tasking like no one I've seen before.So before people begin to judge about this part of the world, do some research, do some investigating before you drop the lines that you think are true and fill them with knowledge to make sure you represent this population with the justice it deserves.

And for those who put the debate about working on our own countries problems and poverty before going abroad to do, I am not only ashamed but one must not stay so close minded and go abroad to see what we back home are sometimes to afraid to admit is true. And for those who don't want to face the truth the same issue are going on the mid-west as here we are just sheltered and throw money at things to solve issues that are occurring in our own backyards when what we should be doing is to become educated on both in state issues and abroad issues and using problem solving skills to solve the issues on a global scale. 

Form partnerships and do your part to help with crisis that in fact we are all part of. Some overtly, some covertly, and for some in their perfect worlds all is well and dandy. Wake up, the world is calling. And we are all part of it. Rich, poor, hippy, homeless, everyone. And it is all our duty as people of this world to do something.