Our Lives are Different

I live in a fairly monochromatic area.  By which I mean, it's mostly white people where I live.  So when I went to Zambia it was quite a change to now be the only white person around.  I was the only white person on the bus, in the store, or walking down the street.

When I read Linda Sue Park's A Long Walk to Water I so identified with the main character when he said, "Salva had seen more white people in the last few hours than he had seen before in his whole lifetime." I also appreciate the frankness about race both in A Long Walk to Water and in my time in Zambia.  People look different and it is ok to acknowledge that.  The problem is when people start thinking one look is better than another.  They're different.  Not better and certainly not worse.

A Long Walk to Water goes back and forth between the stories of Nya, a young girl who needs to make the long walk to the stream twice a day every day to get water, and Salva-a boy who is separated from his family when the rebels attack his school.  Each story is both heartbreaking and triumphant.  This book truly is a gem in a small package.  I cannot recommend it highly enough.

Fetching water...that's kids stuff.