Why Africa?

It's not about location, Africa or any other place; it's about doing something. So if it's not the location, then why any place?

There's not simple or single answer but I suspect watching a huge bull elephant lumber along amid zebras and wildebeests as a leopard watches quietly from a distance or walking the path where Mao TseTung farmed as a kid may have something to do with it. Someday it may be the dirt path where Jesus walked and talked. Or it may be that after building playground equipment, teaching English or computer or basic hygiene the hugs from the children are worth more than anything in the world. Or maybe somewhere in our impressionistic years it was slipped into our being that helping others is the reason we were born and we should strive for that goal. Or maybe somewhere in our being there's a loose cog.

Or maybe it's a combination of things including stories like the one of Rachel Beckwith which aired on NBC Rock Center August 14. Rachel learned that there were children in Africa who didn't have clean water so for her 9th birthday she asked that instead of presents and a party, she wants to help get clean water to African children. Two weeks later she was killed in an accident but her wish has generated nearly $1.3 million water which has allowed the digging of more than a thousand wells with clean water. Maybe some little thing that I don't know will grow may balloon into something huge, or maybe it will affect only one child for a short time, but without doing something nothing will ever happen.

It's not about location, it's about people and our hearts are softest when it comes to children. In a couple days we will be among those children with medicine and hope. For us, that enough "Why."