The Surprise Trip Home
My last day in Moshi was a Saturday night and a number of people from the hostel were heading out to one of the local clubs. It was a fun night and while we were dancing the night away, my alma mater was playing in the NCAA Basketball Tournament, one game away from the Big Dance, the Final Four. Because of the time difference, I wouldn't know the result of the game until the next day and since I was flying to my next stop, I wouldn't know the result until late that evening. I finally got to the internet the next evening and found out that they had won and were heading to the Final Four, which was being held in my State's biggest city, Detroit.
My trusty webmaster and friend, Mike Baird, and I traded e-mails back and forth and he asked how much it would cost for me to come home. The cheapest flight was a thirty-five hour journey from Africa to Detroit and a thirty hour return to the Middle East. The next price was much more expensive but the flights were under 18 hour each. Michael was confident that he could get our college friends to pitch in for one of the flights. He set up a Facebook group and started to approach our college friends.
It is hard to explain my group of friends from MSU. We have been tailgating for football games for 19 years together, we travel to away games and many have been with me for most of the last four Final Fours. Within three days, Michael had enough money to cover the cheaper flight and I was ready to head back to Detroit for the first time in 15 months. In the end, 19 people pitched in for the flight. My fraternity brother, DJ Hoffman, got me a hotel room for the weekend and a ticket for the first game. Michael's wife e-mailed and let me know she got two tickets for the Final Game because she felt good about our chances and she wanted me to go with Michael. It would be an adventure that wasn't planned or expected but that is what makes Singh Around the World so much fun. But before I would get to Detroit, I had two more stops.
Mwanza, Tanzania
Pictured: A piece of iron work done by Mr. George.
I flew from Moshi to Mwanza because otherwise it was a twenty-three hour bus ride. A friend of mine from high school had told me her father, George Weber, had been living there for the past fifteen years so I decided to look him up. He invited me to come over and check out the city, Lake Victoria and some of the community development projects he had done with the church. Mr. George, as he told me to call him, picked me up at the airport with his friend, Christine. The two of them had worked on a number of projects together for the church over the past decade. The three of us had a great dinner at Mr. George's house, as we got acquainted. The next day they took me to look at the projects that they worked on. They had worked on a number of buildings for local schools, the church and teacher training center.
Mr. George and I had a number of conversations about politics, the region and religion. He was very passionate about his beliefs and he wanted to know what I was planning for my return. I told him about the consulting work with nonprofits but he encouraged me to get back into politics. I enjoyed our conversations and was struck by something he told me. When I asked if he would ever return to the US to live, he replied, " The people in Mwanza need me. Well, maybe I need them more." I had thought my trip would be a good diversion for Mr. George but the reality is that I needed it more. He challenged my thoughts in a way that hasn't happened in a while. Before dropping me off at the bus station for my next stop, he gave me a couple of books, including one on the founders of America.
Nairobi, Kenya
The unfortunate downside of my trip back to the states was that I was going to have to cut my trip to Kenya short. I was looking forward to my visit because I wanted to get a sense of how the country had recovered after last year's post electoral violence. I was only in town for two days and didn't have enough time to connect with anyone to have the conversation about that sensitive topic. I did, however, have the chance to visit a photo display that covered the violence after the election. It was a powerful exhibit but I wanted to know more. The safe topic that everyone wanted to talk about was Barack Obama. I was told that his father's village was receiving a lot of attention these days. The roads were being improved and the nearest airport to the village was being upgraded. People were hoping that he would make Kenya one of his first African stops as President. They, also, hope that his being a son of a Kenyan will make him more sensitive to issues facing the continent. We, as a country, do need to reevaluate our polices of trade, foreign aid and regulations with the continent and hopefully they are right, President Obama will have the sensitivity to do it right this time around.
The next stop was a thirty-five hour journey back to US. To be continued......
