My only regret about supporting KIVA loans is that there are not currently any businesses in Egypt which I could choose to fund. It has been a few weeks now since we returned, and I find I am STILL processing the experience emotionally and spiritually. The monuments and museums were fantastic. But it was the PEOPLE of Egypt that stole my heart. Beyond that, the exposure to extreme poverty of a developing nation really forced me to re-evaluate my own views on abundance and how I can more responsibly live in a state of stewardship over all I have been blessed with.
By American standards I am far from rich. But I also am not poor. There are things that I have wished for that are beyond my reach economically...but all my needs are most definitely met along with a whole heck of a lot of my mere wants.
In a culture that puts so much emphasis on material goods and consumerism it is a definite challenge to remain in a state of gratitude rather than keep reaching for one more thing that media says is good to have, especially when friends/family/neighbors get those things and extoll how wonderful they are. However, choosing to live simply is such a powerful way to experience GREATER abundance. I hope with all my heart that I will continue to remember these lessons in the weeks, months and years to come... I hope I will always carry a taste of Cairo in my heart.
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That's the same way I felt in Egypt. So much need, and yet the people were so genuinely friendly. We had a taxi driver who took us under his arm and wouldn't leave us anywhere in the city until we were sure it was where we wanted to be. And he didn't charge by the hour or the mile -- he charged by the carload. He came into the ice cream shop with us (wouldn't let us buy him anything) and chatted with us about our lives and told us about his family -- his son and daughter who had been able to get the education he never had and who were making him proud with their accomplishments. We loved him so much that we had him pose for a picture with us at the end of the night. The people there were just so generous with what they had, whether a little bit of money, or their time. I came home the same way. The first time I walked back into a Walmart I felt this wave of revulsion and this panicky feeling of HOW IN THE WORLD do I break out of this cycle of overindulgence and hedonism that's so deeply ingrained in me?? Can I really make a difference?
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