Two British nursing students became the newest volunteers at the clinic. One of them had been to Tanzania five to six times before. She started a local orphanage at the age of twenty.
Twenty.
When I was twenty, I was killing time like it was the most abundant resource on earth.
When I was twenty, I couldn’t see past the day after tomorrow and decisions, however big or small, were made with little regard to the past, present, or future.
When I was twenty, my insides were mangled and twisted and I struggled quietly and desperately on a daily basis to find a way to unravel the mess and begin making sense of who I am.
I know that, in life, we have our own unique paths set in our own unique contexts, which makes comparing one person’s life to another to be a pointless and counterproductive endeavor.
I know that.
But when a girl walks in through the door having eased the suffering of hundreds of children at the age of twenty, it makes me think.
Hopefully, it’ll also serve as a nice burst of inspiration.
The clinic today was much like yesterday: busy, malaria, cute babies, silly Dr. Msengi. This jet lag is beating me up a bit. Tomorrow, we head into town.
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