At the end of my 1st college year, I vowed to my dorm mates that I would go to Africa and find opportunity and wealth. One friend immediately laughed and predicted I’d marry, have a house with picket fence, raise children, and never launch an exotic adventure. For the last 40 years I practiced forensic psychology and got a peak at the underside of mankind about which many people only read. Professionally, I was invited to other people’s problems: death penalty, custody disputes, and unhappy people suing for real and perceived grievances. It was not always uplifting, but we tend to find treasure where we are looking,My friend was right, in part. Everything he forecast played out . . . until now. It is my privilege and pleasure to join “an adventure with a cause” this year.
My friend and I were both right, but for the wrong reasons. I anticipate that the Proper Walk and Safari will enrich me in ways I could not imagine as a 19 year-old. With the benefit of life’s longer view, I look forward to what the Makindu children will teach me and expect they will make me much richer for the experience.