I write fiction and nonfiction to empower women, but I care just as deeply about advocating for children. So when my award-winning Author friend Kwame Alexander invited me and others to accompany him to the Motherland to foster literacy in a couple of rural villages (and fit in a safari), this was one of those quick “yes” moments – Kenya, here I come!
We visited from June 30 – July 8, and I am still basking in the afterglow of having traveled with 20 amazing writers, librarians and teachers (and their children or partners) who care about reading, writing and the transformative power of education.
It was an honor to nurture these gifts in the several hundred school children our group met through the nonprofit Kenya Connect, which serves students and families in 60-plus rural schools, and to meet with librarians and teachers to brainstorm next-level ways to engage these young learners and parents.
My takeaways from this trip?
There are many! I’m still processing the life lessons, and my creative juices are flowing, but here are a few immediate nuggets:
1. Be present in each moment.
Getting an opportunity to dance with village women one day and members of the Maasai tribe on another;
inspire schoolchildren,
sign and giveaway copies of my books,
wake up to the sounds of hippos and elephants grazing near my glammed-up tent, see those and numerous other animals in their Natural Habitat (including a leopard and cheetah and hundreds of zebra migrating to Maasai Mara) while bonding with my amazing fellow travelers? Priceless and Unforgettable.
2 Don’t postpone joy.
When you can, say yes to opportunities and experiences and delight yourself in something new. You may not be able to travel the globe, yet there are other ways you can expand your mind, give back and grow.
3. Find inspiration all around you.
The proverbial icing on this experience for me was sitting at dinner one evening listening to Kwame and his dear friend and fellow New York Times bestselling author Jerry Craft trade ideas based on our adventures, while I independently brainstormed new threads for my novel-in-progress.
These two authors and the other writers in our group offered one another helpful doses of motivation to keep going, dream bigger and celebrate our stories as well as those of the people we encountered.
Ultimately, the sharing and educating that occurred during this trip were mutually enriching. May we Americans have left our friends in Africa as full of the hope and appreciation for collaboration that they gifted to us.
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