The Burden of Awareness

Traveling to a foreign country has a way of altering how you look at your own. This is true, if for no other reason, because making comparisons between where you’ve been and where you live is inevitable.

The contradictions encountered when traveling from the States to a place where the average person makes less than $500 per year are staggering. A couple of weeks in a place like that is enough time to make you question innumerable realities at home and abroad but not enough time to reach satisfactory answers.

This uncomfortable tension between questions of great urgency and answers which are often elusive is one of the main reasons I was reluctant to go to Tanzania. My time among the people there would change me in significant ways and would alter perceptions of my homeland.


When people here are up in arms about our poor economy, my mind drifts half a world away were people live in dirt floor houses with no running water or electricity. Our economy doesn’t seem so bad by comparison. People complain about a health care system which is undeniably flawed and infinitely frustrating. Yet there are places in the world where there is no system. You can’t help but have a heightened appreciation for public education after you spend time in a place where many children do not have access school. Those who do, depend on the compassion of distant sponsors.

We are incredibly blessed in this nation. Many people seem absolutely unaware of this fact.

Americans live in a culture saturated by materialism. Too often our sense of identity is derived from what we own rather than from who we are and what we are becoming. Our sense of security is dependent upon how much we possess rather than the solidarity of a caring community. We tend to place more faith in possessions than in our fellowman. For reasons I do not fully understand, we prefer this arrangement.

We are gifted with a remarkable ability to acquire more than we need. What we refer to as necessities are often luxuries to which we’ve developed a sense of entitlement. What my family “needs” for a trip is dictated more by the size and cargo capacity of the vehicle I am driving than by necessity. More is routinely taken with me on a weekend trip to visit family in an adjacent state than was carried on this 17 day trip abroad. Why is that?


Things have a tendency to become possessions. Possessions tend to make us possessive. Possessiveness tends to shift our focus away from relationships with others and onto ourselves.

If we are not careful our possessions own us rather than the other way around. Material wealth can be valued to such a degree that the non-material wealth of personal relationships escapes us. Clinging too tightly to possessions leaves us preoccupied with things and oblivious to people.

From my post-Tanzanian perspective, the “every man for himself” philosophy under which most Americans operate is painfully clear. We glorify material independence which, when carried to an extreme, leaves us disconnected and isolated from others. In that climate relationships take on a rather utilitarian perspective.

In Tanzania the needs of people are simple. They are unburdened by the weight of possessions (though other burdens abound). This leaves them free to travel unencumbered. Less attention focused on possessions provides the liberty to focus more attention on people.


Relationships tend to be valued more than things. Conversations begin with inquiries into the welfare of each party’s family before other matters are discussed. Tanzanians understand there is strength in community and shared resources. If someone has a need others will respond. Sharing is a basic principle of survival among the common people.

Though they are poor they find the means to be generous. A helping hand is extended today with awareness that somewhere in the future assistance may be required. Somehow this economy of give and take works simply and beautifully.

Generosity is always more about the size and condition of one’s heart than about the size of one’s bank account. Those who cannot afford to be generous in the present shouldn’t delude themselves that having more will make the process easier. If we lack the will to employ it in the present then it’s unlikely to begin at some future date regardless of our resources. Generosity recognizes that when we are blessed we have an opportunity to become a blessing to others. In that context, giving becomes a joy.

I am not advocating that people take a vow of poverty. Being poor does not make a people virtuous. Poverty can be absolutely cruel. A spirit of generosity is not universally a part of Tanzanian society. Greed and corruption are part of the human condition there as they are here in the States. Seventeen days does not qualify a person to speak knowledgeably about the economics of life in a foreign country. Perceptions formulated are bound to be to overly simplified.

Even so, the time spent in Tanzania leaves me convicted that all of life from the first breath we breathe until the last is a gift from the Creator. We are custodians of the many good gifts entrusted to our care. Blessings bestowed enable us to be a blessing to others.

These days I’m seeking to need less and share more. Since returning from Tanzania part of me longs to simplify life and let go of some of the possessional (yes, I made that word up) baggage. Old blessings become burdens if not shared. Receiving and appropriately appreciating new ones is difficult when hands are full.

The question of whether or not generosity can be afforded has been replaced by a conviction that it cannot be abandoned. I’m struggling with the question of how to implement this strategy into my life in a way that honors the integrity of my convictions and also benefits others in a positive manner.

Being poor is not the worst thing that can happen to people. When life becomes relatively easy a people can suffer the loss of personal character which makes a nation strong. The ability to overcome life’s obstacles imparts a spirit of resilience. Resilience gives people a sense of dignity which would otherwise be absent.

In a land where we can afford to pay others to make and do things for us I fear we lose some of the creativity which the challenges of life inspire. Overcoming formidable obstacles in the face of minimal resources is the essence of resourcefulness. Resourcefulness inspires confidence (a belief that what ever happens you will find a way to do what needs to be done). That confidence inspires hope. Hope is more necessary than wealth if a people are to thrive. I don’t think that overstates the matter though many Americans will disagree with me, if not publicly then at least by the way they conduct their private lives.


The loss of possessions cannot compare with the tragedy of losing our connectedness with our fellowman. There is great strength in healthy interdependence. When we can no longer express concern for others we lose one of the best parts of our humanity. Genuine compassion is best expressed by using our blessings in tangible ways to positively impact the lives of others. Sympathy sounds hollow unless doing accompanies talking.

When you don’t know the depth of need facing much of the world’s population it’s easy to simply go with the flow of our materialistic culture. Once you have seen that need with your own eyes it can no longer be ignored.

Once you are aware, the burden must be borne.