My
name is Mersady Redding. I am a sophomore double majoring in animal science
(pre-veterinary medicine) and dietetics/nutrition. I am currently in Nampula,
Mozambique, and, for the many who do not know where that is, I am in Africa!
There is a lot to write, so I will be sending a few posts in reflection over
the next couple days. The wifi is terrible here in Nampula, so I have been
unable to submit blogs along my journey. Today is our last day here in Nampula.
Tomorrow the U of A crew flies out to South Africa to go on a weekend
safari!
We spent our last day with the New Horizons' Executive Board and
all the people who have helped us in the past three weeks. We
presented the goals we came here with, the experiments we conducted, and
the results we found. New Horizons and their "communities of fusion",
as they call the other businesses and pieces that work together with
New Horizons toward success and happiness, were extremely interested and
receptive while we explained our purposes.
As we closed out the business
aspect of our trip, we discussed our personal experiences and growth. Every
student has changed more than words can explain. None of us will ever forget
what we have seen here (especially since I took photos of
everything), but, most importantly, we will never forget what we have
experienced and felt.
When people here about Africa, especially a country
like Mozambique, people think poverty, hunger, depression. People think of eyes
of sadness. I have spent three weeks in the second most poverty stricken
country in Africa, and I have shocking news for all to hear. Mozambicans have
taken the crown for the most joyful and genuine smiles I have ever seen in my
life. They have nothing but each other sometimes, but what they have is always
enough. They're fighting to better themselves and their families, but they do
not quite know how. They take on life one day at a time, work hard every
second available, and wish for just one more hour in the day to work more. All
Americans should witness a Mozambican's day, just once, to see the smile on
his face through the dirt and sweat.
Nothing can compare, and, although I
took photos, no photo can do the image in my mind justice. As I return home,
the image will remind me to remember what I have in my times of struggle:
Jesus Christ, my family, my friends, a heartbeat. I'll choose to
smile, and I'll hope to be just a little more like a Mozambican,
like a person from the second most poverty stricken country in Africa. Nampula,
Mozambique: You'll never be the same.
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Find out more about the U of A Faculty Led: Community Development
in Mozambique summer program, visit http://studyabroad.uark.edu/mozambique.
