Ain't it the truth?

"Pay attention to your dreams: when you go on a trip, in your dreams you will still be home. Then after you've come home you'll dream of where you were. It's a kind of jet lag of the consciousness". - Barbara Kingsolver, "Animal Dreams"

I love Barbara Kingsolver. Her book "The Poisonwood Bible" is one of my all time favorite books ever. I am reading "Animal Dreams" right now. I have only read one other of her books and although good, it was not as amazing as "Poisonwood", but I found a used paperback version of "Animal Dreams" for $1.50 at the Nearly New shop and thought I would read her for inspiration. The woman can write. I found this quote in the first chapter. How true is this? I am there. While in Mozambique last month, I have to admit I dreamed of home. I am home now, and wouldn't you know, I find myself wondering just what is going on over there. I still see their faces. I haven't talked much about the devastation that is there, a nation wrecked by civil war and famine. I didn't take photos of the extremely malnurished. I would never want to exploit the poor. But they are there, constantly in the back of my mind. I think about the little handicapped girl with the huge grin. She was about 13 and crawled along the floor, her left arm tied around her neck with a string. Or the little boy who stood so straight and tall and told us he was orphaned because his mother has leprosy and she lives with other lepers in Pemba. I didn't tell you about seeing a leper get healed either, but he did! I saw a lot. I have a lot to process. I don't ever want to forget them. I want to fight for them. I don't want to just dream of them. I want to bring them life.  This trip was a little different from the last in that I was actually looking forward to coming home and have enjoyed every minute of being home. The last time, coming home was painful and I didn't enjoy being back home. Western life and all our waste and shallow focus on everything grieved me and I was not happy. This time, I embraced coming home and am grateful for all things. But I don't want their faces to ever leave me. I want to dream of them always. I want to dream with them. Specifically, I want to do research on self-sustainable village models. I know there have to be solutions out there, even in my dreams!