A YOUNG MOTHER AND A TRIP TO AFRICA

I am with a young woman who is frantically getting a small child ready to take outside. She is rushing every which way and gathering up all the little things that are needed when taking an toddler for an outing. I tell her that I feel there is a storm coming and she needs to hurry up. I try to help her, but only make things worse. Finally, she puts the baby into the buggy, and is ready to go. I tell her it's too late and point to the window - the rain is coming down hard against the glass. She sighs in exasperation and collapses on the couch beside me. We both start laughing.

Change of scene - I see a small black child. He is smiling not just with his mouth but with his whole being. I smile back and see now that he is part of a much larger group. We are in a room that is large and airy, with beautiful red rugs done up with geometric tribal designs, masks, and urns of tall grasses. The furniture, while sparse, is well-crafted out of polished black wood.

I realize that I am somewhere in Africa. A woman in a cottan floral print dress and matching headscarf comes up to me and welcomes me with smiles and joy, holding onto my hands in greeting. I see the group consists of many children, about three dozen, and some adults, and I realize that I am in some orphanage or school. Everyone there seems happy - not just to see me, but genuinely beaming with happiness! I can feel this as though it was something I can physically touch!

The woman who first stepped forward now takes me on a tour, and I suddenly feel shocked. The beautiful reception room is just a facade. It's the only part of a very large building that is completed in an otherwise very old building that is falling apart.

No, not falling apart - another realization and shock! - but being built up and restored! I am told of how proud and happy they all are to obtain such a wonderful building. Plans are unfolded before me as dormitories, classrooms, kitchens, gardens and all other necessities take shape before my eyes.

Everyone now gathers in a room, with half-finished walls and lofty roof, and settles down for a group photo. I am surrounded by smiling faces and such true happiness beaming from each one as I have rarely felt before.

I find myself fighting back tears, so touched am I by all I've seen...