The African Streets

Today was the ships holiday. Because the majority of the crew members are from the united states we celebrated a holiday so no surgeries took place unless necessary and everyone basically was on leave. The ship was a bit empty in the afternoon. This morning I went on an adventure to say the least with a group of girls that have bene here for quite some time to the streets to look at some shops. I was indeed apprehensive just because I heard my mothers voice in my head... Is it safe? Are you wearing bug spray? all the great things a mother should say... so I got off the ship and walked a bit to the busy streets of Benin. I was not surprised of the poverty of the Beninese for I feel like I am in the slums of Mexico. I was in disbelief though and my heart was wrenching with sadness when I saw a young girl, very thin and sickly looking, grabbed a scrap of food from the ground and ate it very quickly. This made my heart sink. I started to cry and put myself in her position. If I had to worry about my food and spend my day searching for food that is a scrap of someone elses on the ground, now my life would be different. I cant even mentally go there. I am so blessed and God has continually shown protection and provided such a great life for me I just feel useless for those who I cant reach and help. My heart is growing and is yearning to show love to more people. Why aren't we sharing our food and helping those around us. Compassion is the only word that comes to my mind. To love those who are less fortunate as us and care for those who choose to live a harder life. The African streets are crazy. Zoombies are little motorcycles that race around and the traffic control is non-existent. My life has flashed before my eyes a few times just because of the craziness of other drivers. The street markets are just like those in mexico: with the pestering venders wanting to make money off the white tourists, and the streets smelling like urine and feces. Although there are no streets with traffic like these that I have ever seen.