From Sharon:
How do you keep from feeling overwhelmed by the difficult circumstances you see in the third world?

Hi Sharon,

Thanks for your question. There was a time when I really struggled with this.

I’ve been doing this for over 15 years, and early on I didn’t have the extra money for these trips. Since the main charity I worked with also doesn’t take administration fees, all volunteers had to cover every aspect of our trips. At one point, I had to sell my car to buy the plane ticket to Africa.

When I would come home from these trips, I would get very depressed, feeling like there was so much to be done and very little that I could do. Ryan used to get frustrated with me because I’d become so very frustrated and not appreciating what I had. I felt that I was too spoiled and that life was unfair. I wanted to sell everything I had and give it all away.

It was actually Ryan who helped me overcome this: as our careers began to build and we started to experience success, he taught me to use it for good and accept the fact that having money, success and good things in life didn’t make me a bad person. And, more importantly, that because of these things that we’re very fortunate to have, we can make a difference.

I stopped traveling when I had my children and honestly I was very worried to head back to Africa last December. Over the last 6 years, Ryan and I have been very spoiled and I was sure that I would be very upset when I returned home after seeing the imbalance of their world compared to mine.

But to my surprise, it invigorated and inspired me, and when I came home I wasn’t sad. I knew that because of what we have and where we are in our lives, we can make some significant differences in the lives of others. We plan to contribute to the world as long as we are blessed enough to do so, and that is a great feeling.

Tags: Africa, Charity, Obakki Foundation, Orphans, Treana Peake

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