Giving Thanks

December 5^th

Celebrating Thanksgiving in a developing country can really contribute a lot to one’s perspective.

Despite being far from my family and the pleasures of Fall, I was fortunate enough to be able to spend the day with about 40 other volunteers in Dapaong, the regional capital of Savanns – the northernmost region of Togo.

I paid 4000cfa to make the four-hour bus ride up on Wednesday, enjoyed a 6000cfa turkey dinner at a nice hotel on Thursday, and headed down to Lome on Friday. When you factor in the other food I purchased and the few beers over two days, plus the trip back, I spent maybe 20000cfa trying to simulate a Thanksgiving back home in the States.

20000cfa is about $40.

For a nice dinner, two days worth of food, alcohol, and travel, you’d think that’s actually pretty cheap.

However, that’s more than a lot of families here in Togo will ever have in their possession at one time.

The 6000cfa dinner alone could probably provide a family of 4 here with meals for almost a month.

The 20000cfa for the 2 days could provide 3 families of 4 here meals for a month.

Now, think about how much your Thanksgiving feast cost you.

That’s perspective.

Don’t worry; this is not a criticism of the Thanksgiving holiday. I enjoy gorging myself on turkey, stuffing, and pumpkin pie as much as the next person. When I return to the U.S. after two years in Togo, I’ll probably eat enough at that first Thanksgiving home to make up for the two that I missed.

This is, however, a criticism of our society’s tendency to forget how fortunate we are. I know, because I’m guilty of it as well. I didn’t realize all of this until after I’d stuffed my face and headed back from Dapaong.

In fact, all I said this year at the dinner table was what I say every year:

“I am thankful for my family and friends, my health, and the opportunities I’ve had in my life that have brought me to where I am today.”

That’s it. Almost exactly like last Thanksgiving. It just comes out like a rehearsed line. No extra effort or thought.  My mouth forms the words almost unconsciously…

What I realize now is to be truly thankful we need to be conscious! We need to develop a special awareness for all the good things life brings us. Just trying to recognize a few, small blessings outside of the obvious ones can make you look at every day in an entirely new light.

Now that I’ve had my epiphany, I’d like to do it over.

This year for Thanksgiving,

I’m thankful for my family. And that I still have all of them in my life. And that they are healthy and, as far as I know, happy.

I’m thankful for my friends. Past and present. Every one of them has contributed something to my life to make it what it is – some, a very great deal.

I’m thankful for my health. Not just in this moment, but throughout my life. I would not have been able to see the places I have or do the things I’ve done without it. So far, it’s been holding up pretty well here in West Africa too.

And I’m thankful that if I’m ever not in good health, at least back home anyway, that I have immediate access to the care I need. While in Togo, I’m thankful I work for the U.S. government and that at least gets me the best that’s available during my service.

I’m thankful that I come from a place where we need holidays to encourage all of our family members to merge their separate schedules and lives to all get together and enjoy each other’s company. Really, what I mean is that I’m thankful that we all have the opportunities to lead separate live and become our own people – as opposed to all of us living under one roof, without enough beds, sharing every moment and ever meal together.

I know this is morbid, but I’ve never thought of it before. I’m thankful that, for a lot of us, death is something that is tragic and, often, life altering. There are places where it is simply an expectation. Especially for children.

I’m thankful the world makes me feel so small. Never will I ever feel like I’ve seen and done every thing. I can constantly be longing for new sights, striving to learn new things, and get lost in experience again and again.

I’m thankful for my education. Especially after learning how hard it is for people many places to get one. Women even more so. I’m lucky enough to have always seen it as a guarantee in my life.

I’m sure as hell thankful to be an American woman. This deserves its own blog post.

I’m thankful for Texas 4000. I’m thankful for Ruel.

I’m thankful I’ve been able to serve in the Peace Corps and realize so many things about life and myself just within these first 6 months.

I’m thankful that I’m able to smile at my past, for right now, really enjoy the present, and look forward to my future. If you think about it, I’m not sure how many people in this world can do all three at the same time.

Lastly, I’m thankful to feel I have the chance to control that future – to make choices about the direction of my life (that hasn’t changed despite reading War and Peace). I’ve witnessed how completely defeated people feel here by the circumstances that life has dealt them. The majority will never entertain the idea of challenging the only future they see for themselves. And I can’t say I blame them. Life altering opportunities are few and far in between.

This isn’t nearly a complete list, but I figured you’d stop reading if I went on much longer.

I hope you found it much more rewarding to consider than my previously mentioned, well rehearsed, Thanksgiving “This is What I’m Thankful For”.

And note, although I used Thanksgiving as an excuse to share the new things this experience has made me grateful for, I hope you realize that you need Thanksgiving to give thanks just about as much as you need New Year’s to make resolutions.

Again, this blog post is not intended to be a lecture, and it’s certainly not meant to make you enjoy Thanksgiving any less. I only wanted to share this change in my perspective with the hope that it will encourage you to evaluate how much you have to be thankful for.

We usually know to appreciate what we have right in front of us, but there’s much more to it than that.

A lot of the blessings we have are not what we can see with our eyes, but what we can see by looking through the eyes of someone less fortunate.

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday.

It’s a couple weeks past Thanksgiving, but who cares – go and give thanks.

Koumealo

P.S. Another reality I’ve come to terms with here, is that we don’t need to spend time in third world countries to figure this out! There are people in the United States just outside our doors and down the street suffering from poverty just as extreme, if not more, as people here in West Africa.

If this blog has inspired you (probably a long shot, but I’ll just pretend), Christmas is just around the corner and provides plenty of opportunities to get involved in charity work.

And again, why wait for a holiday? Volunteer any time in any way to give back to those less fortunate. You don’t have to move to Africa to do it.