To Not Forget

I'm listening to: "The Blues" by Switchfoot (over and over again)

This is Sarah, not Josh.  Just needed to start out by saying that.  Josh(ua) has given me the ultimate honor, the keys to all power, the authority to change everything... the blog log-in and password.  What an honor...

I just got back from Africa.  Last Friday, actually.  I still have the sunburn to prove it, and more than anything, I have the disease of restlessness that seems to come whenever I leave freedom, beauty, and African children behind and return to working in a basement behind a computer for eight hours a day.  Something seems horribly wrong.

One thing about this project that excites me is the fact that it is just that... a project.  It's not just a film, even though the film alone is more than enough to stand on its own.  Zach, Josh, and I talk a lot about the why behind what we do.  A lot.  One thing that we feel so strongly about is the desire to push people beyond themselves, their lives, their day-to-day living.  It's so easy to be consumed with ourselves to the point that we can't see the people around us.  At best, we care about those close to us... our friends, families, neighbors.  Maybe.  But not many of us think beyond that.

It bothers me when I leave Africa, because I get scared that I'll forget.  I'll forget that people sell charcoal on the side of the road for pennies, just to get food for their families.  I'll forget that men ride rickety bikes miles in the heat every day, just to look for work.  I'll forget that kids sit 129 in a classroom... on dusty floors, just to get some semblance of an education.  I'll forget about the women who look like they're 70, but are only 40, just because life has been hard on them.  I'll forget because it's not in front of my face, because I'm not feeling the same sun or breathing in the same dust.  I'm scared to forget.

But Where You Are motivates me... motivates me to remember.  Motivates me to push others to remember.  It's a big world out there, and I bet your world is small.  Every January mine gets a little bigger, but then the American dream shrinks it back down to small selfishness.  So here's to our worlds growing... expanding... reaching...

they're more than just faces [and feet].  they're real and they're lovely.

it will be a day like this one... when the sky falls down... and the hungry and poor and deserted are found...

nothing is okay... until the world caves in.