The Eighth One

This past week while traveling to work, a not-for-profit organization was situated at Union Station collecting money to give to those who didn’t have food. Although I was extremely hesitant, I decided to donate the money I had withdrawn from the ATM to give to this worthwhile cause.

Let me tell you, this day was the longest I have ever experienced. Not only did I not have any other money on me, I didn’t have a single bank or credit card either. The feeling of being hungry and not physically having any thing to eat or money to buy anything is something I have never experienced before. Although I had the option of asking co-workers to borrow money or food, I wasn’t comfortable doing this. It was almost demeaning thinking about having to beg for food. My entire day I was focused on how much longer I had to wait to leave work to travel home so that this rumbling in my stomach would cease. I can’t even imagine what living life day to day like this would be like.

After finally devouring my dinner later that night, I took time to reflect on this experience. The first thing that came to my mind was good old Thich Nhat Hanh. In The First Precept: Reverence For Life, he explains, “It is important for us to stay in touch with the suffering of the world. We need to nourish that awareness through many means -- sounds, images, direct contact, visits, and so on -- in order to keep compassion alive in us.” Through not having food to eat, even for one day, I was able to undergo the suffering many all over the world suffer daily. I’m sure in my new home outside Nairobi, Kenya I will witness the suffering of those not having the food required to sustain daily life. As Thich Nhat Hanh further expresses, “we need to stay in touch with suffering only to the extent that we will not forget, so that compassion will flow within us and be a source of energy for our actions”.

I have no doubt that traveling and living in a country such as Kenya that I will experience an immense amount of suffering while there. My concern however, is the transformation back to the Western world after seeing this first hand. I sometimes worry that these problems that I experience abroad may be too overwhelming for me that upon my return home I may attempt to forget about the suffering I will have been exposed to. We have all been warned by many about the struggle that past Beyond Borders students as well as others that travel to developing countries undergo after being exposed to the suffering in their host country.

I truly hope that through this experience I am able to cope with the transformation back from Kenya and remain in contact with the people in the community I will be living in. I also hope that with the knowledge of each community I will be able to assist in the development of it even from home back in Ontario. I think that one of the benefits of traveling with a group is that this will greatly assist with the return home. Although each of our experiences will not be identical, it will be nice having others to talk with about specific people or locations.

Before the conclusion of this blog, I just wanted to send out a huge thank you to the St. Jeromes community. I was able to travel up to Waterloo this weekend to help out Conor with the Sunday mass, and was shocked at the amount of support we received. Not only did we have a huge success raising financial contributions, but an overwhelming number of people stopped by after hearing our story to wish us good luck and share stories of their own. THANK YOU!