Them.

This past week my family was here for my brother's graduation (congrats SJ!), and that included the Doherty's of Daraja Academy. It was great to see Jenni and Jason and talk about plans for this summer. I was lucky enough to attend a Daraja fundraiser with them on the Upper West Side, and hear them preach the good word of Daraja.

Now it is a well known fact that Jenni Doherty is the brains and Jason Doherty is the dreams. Listening to him talk about Daraja is inspiring, to say the least. One thing he spoke about really got me thinking. He explained that he believes a big problem we have here in the US is that we often look at places like Kenya and talk about "them", what "they" need or how our money can help "them". He explained that he has never seen Africa as "them", but rather an extension of himself. This was something I had felt but had never been able to verbalize (if you read my blog you are aware that I don't always think or write in coherent thoughts).

When I think about Africa, or any country outside my own, I try very hard not to think of it as "them" over "there". I think my greatest strength/weakness is that I feel connected to people in an undeniable, heartbreaking way. The homeless person on the street in NYC is me, the African child is me. I can't separate myself and that is surely a gift and a huge liability. But listening to Jason talk I really understood how important it is that we all try not to see fellow humans as "them". It should bother us that another person is suffering, and even if we feel hopeless and helpless at least we feel something.

Ok, that is my late-night-benedryl-induce soap box rant. I just want to remind myself there is no them, only us.