Conclusion.

On my last day in Tanzania I wrote this in my journal:

I've come to the conclusion that there is no one world changing mission, movement, occupation, or cause. We all have our own parts to play; parts so small that they seem insignificant most of the time. We are ants moving mountains by mites of dust. And this isn't meant to be discouraging, it's meant to be encouraging. Maybe I don't feel God calling me right now to move to Africa the way I thought I might, but I don't have to be in Africa to be apart of the world change I believe God's heart so deeply desires. I can do it with my daily decisions, with my attitude, with the way I spend my time, money, and talents, with integrity and responsibility and purpose. We can all do it. We all need to do it, the world depends on it.

And as I finished my photo book from my trip, I chose a quote I'd come across while researching for a paper last semester:

"Even while one is dedicated to the struggle with all one’s heart and soul and strength, one’s goal must be seen as transcending the actual temporal achievements, so that great victories can be won even if the misery continues. Salvation must be attainable even without the establishment of a just world order. God’s greatest promise to me is not that I shall one day be surrounded by just people, but that I can become a just man today even in the midst of injustice. ”
- James Tunstead Burtchael

And these are the things I believe to be true. Even in the fall, as my peers and I made a defense for the funding of our social justice minor before the school of social work's board, one of the claims we made for the program that attracts a wide variety of majors was that the most efficient change would come to the world when people decided to make the right choices within whatever profession they choose. Not everyone needs to be activists or lobbyists or politicians or non-profit volunteers. We need people in every sector of society committed to integrity and justice. Teachers, lawyers, CEOs, retail staff, stay at home moms, writers, doctors, biologists, engineers-- people all over committed to making choices that may seem insignificant, because if everyone did that, we'd be living in a different world.