What's Going On?-- CNN and More

At dinner tonight (Sunday, July 5), we noticed that CNN was on the TV. The show was the State of the Union with some political analyst talking about the military. However, while the show was on, they had the “headlines” flashing at the bottom of the screen. I was enthralled by these headlines as for the last 3 weeks, I have had no knowledge of world events with the exception of Michael Jackson dying and Governor Sandford’s hypocritical liaisons (but that was only because of email from friends and family). I have read several days worth of Uganda papers, namely Daily Monitor and New Vision, but they focus solely on events in Uganda. There is not very much about the world. It makes sense because of the perspective of Ugandans. They tend to focus on the here and now and what is going on in their country. I think also that because of the government that maybe some news is filtered. I think also that because of the government that maybe some news is filtered. I do know that New Vision is government run, so its information is definitely skewed.
I am not sure how I feel about being so cut off from the rest of the world. On the one hand it has been really nice to live in a bubble where everything is alright with the world (in my mind). There are no wars, no governments treating their citizens poorly, no people infringing on the health and happiness of others, and no natural disasters. On the other hand, in 5 minutes of reading the headlines, I felt overwhelmed and saddened. I think it was simply because it was information overload, and most everything was negative (I think the only positive piece of information was that Costa Rica is considered the happiest country in the world). In the real world, I would receive this information a little at a time, and therefore have the capacity to process through it. Or at least, I would have tools easily accessible to learn more information about the headline.
I am sure that upon my return, I will feel overwhelmed on so many levels, and it will definitely take some time to readjust to the world that I live in. However, I don’t think I will ever be able to truly step back into it like nothing has changed. Seeing what I have seen and hearing the stories I have heard are already impacting my belief system and what I feel is truly important. Family and friends still remain top on my list, but I think that has only been reinforced by my trip to Uganda and witnessing the number of orphans taken in by family members. I would say that family and community are the most important things to Ugandans. My faith is also still a top priority. Faith to me means that there is always hope and good in the world, and I just can’t live with the idea that there is no hope. I feel sorry for people who are “half empty” in their view; I need to believe that even when things are bad that they can get better.
I would say that one thing that has changed is the importance that I place on my job. I love my job and feel grateful every day that I have this opportunity to work with students and hopefully help them along in their journey to becoming successful adults. But I feel that I add unnecessary stress to myself when dealing with certain aspects of it. I need to really imprint in my brain the saying, “God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.” I struggle with the wisdom to know the difference part of that saying in relation to my job. My hope is that I remember my experience here in order to help me keep a healthy perspective next school year. Over the past school year, I have found myself saying, “it is what it is.” I need to take that saying to heart, do my job as best as I can, and then remember that at the end of the day, it is only that- a job.