Thursday, February 19, 2009

Of Marshes and Farmers

Well, we arrived in Africa today and two thoughts immediately hit me: 1) dang, that sun is hot! 2) It's so green here I'm almost blinded! (compared to white, white, and gray Winnipeg winter)

But as we drove the five hours across the South African countryside to our final destination, Swaziland, I was struck by a much deeper thought. I noticed that wheat and corn fields dotted the landscape, that I knew the name of flowers along the roadside (cosmos, my fav, line the ditches!) Here there was red dirt and green fields, just like in PEI. There are some prairie meadows dancing in the breeze. Here a field of muted greens, browns, and purple - just like the moors we visited in Scotland. There, pothole wetlands just like the coulees of Saskatchewan.

With all these memories, it's no wonder I got a bit lost in space and time (although it could also have been the fact that I was riding in a bus that had the heat stuck on, in plus 35 degree weather!) But it made me wonder what, other than the simple colour of our skin, makes us so different from the people we are coming to serve?

No comments: