Final Words

If any of my friends could see me now, they would be laughing hysterically. Last week I was running around to kill a chicken in rural Namibia, and now I am sitting at the Johannesburg Intercontinental Hotel, starbucks coffee in one hand, a double jack daniels sitting on the table, and blackberry buzzing with new bbms on my lap. I just enjoyed watching the movie Due Date at one of the premier shopping areas in the southern hemisphere, and last week I was boiling my water to rid it of any diseases.

While I usually frown at people who come from such impoverished areas, then go straight back with ease to the over consumption and wastefulness that exists in the western world, I am different now. Of course, it is unfair that 3 billion live on less than 2 dollars a day, it is unjust that AIDS, a very preventable disease, it still rampaging millions of people, slavery is higher now than it was 200 years ago, and women are still considered second class citizens in a large area of the world. Despite this, if I were to stop my life, stop the cell phone use, stop buying, ignore friends with less-important issues than global epidemics, essentially 'go native' , my life would be pretty darn boring and unproductive.

What I have learned from this trip is that yes, i have seen people struggling for food, as america becomes the fattest nation on earth. Yes, i have seen people struggling for medicine and healthcare, as America complains about giving healthcare for everyone. But more importantly, is that yes, you can go to a nice restaurant and enjoy a nice hotel room, but you can still make a difference. Shutting myself off from society will do no good, rather engaging more in society will make the most change. So I finish this trip changed, in the part of me that has more understanding of the global community and a greater drive to help, though I am still Scott Karrel. I still like my nike dunks, my good cup of coffee, and going to nice dinners in NYC. This is a lesson that I think applies to all of us. You don't have to be Mother Theresa, Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King, or Gandhi....you can be you. Do whatever you can to change the world. Starving oneself, protesting constantly, and volunteering in the developing world is ideal for some people, but for some it is not. Do what YOU can do, but Do Something. Going to fancy clubs and nice restaurants will do nothing, but going to fancy clubs and nice restaurants, AND donating a few times a year and volunteering several times at a local shelter will DO something.

Be The Change

Thank you for following my adventures, and see you all back in the states!

Cheers from Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Swaziland, and South Africa (the places I've been to on this trip)

Scott

PS. That being said, it will still take me a few weeks to return to 'american' culture