read with a grain of S.A.L.T.

Welcome! Before you proceed, (or later today, if you must wait) please watch this important TED talk. It has set the tone for how I'd like to approach my story-telling for this coming year. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=D9Ihs241zeg

 Bridge-building: It's the prospect of the SALT (Serving And Learning Together) program that most excites me as I begin my term. For a whole year, I will have the pleasure of living, eating, learning, dancing, singing, worshiping, bartering, and more, with members of my global family who I never expected to get to know! Simultaneously, I'm hopeful that I can bring some of my experiences back to friends at home, doing a small part in tearing down barriers between our worlds. I've been gifted with the unlikely opportunity to be a window into life in a country (population over 12 million) that some of you have never encountered up until now. And I'm honored to get to reveal a new part of the world to my readers. However, with great power comes great responsibility, and this responsibility was weighing heavily on me as I completed SALT orientation and began to fly across the Atlantic to reach Chad. So, I'd like to begin my jottings with a disclaimer:

 This blog is not really about Chad.

 As much as I don't want to admit it, this blog is really just about me and the way I'm grappling with being plucked from my home and dropped in a new culture. The reason I want to emphasize this is because I don't want anyone to get the impression that the things I put down in this space are necessarily "true" of Chad, of Chadians, and especially of Africa as a whole. Of course, I'm not going to tell any lies, but I'm also sure that my reality isn't even going to look like that of the other SALTers who are sitting right beside me as I type. Even as we regaled Angela and John, the M.C.C. representatives here in N'Djamena, with stories of our adventure in the market this morning, I was very aware of disparities between how we interpreted basic transactions of, say, some potatoes.

 Did you know that eye-witness accounts make poor testimonies in courts? It's because every story is just a way to articulate our perceptions, which can be far from accurate. In the same way, the snippets that I can share about my life in Chad are not as much hard facts about the country as they are reflections of me; my perceptions, my judgments, my stereotypes, my fears, my education, etc.

I feel especially hesitant to share my experiences, because the nature of my assignment with M.C.C. is one that may feed into detrimental stereotypes that many North Americans hold about Africa as a whole. I will be teaching English to children, many of whom have lost at least one parent. I have heard the death is a bitterly prevalent part of life for most people in Chad, and I'm sure I will encounter heartbreaking stories and scenes. But it is hugely important to me that you, the readers, allow your growing schemas of Chad to include the beautiful and simple stories as well. Don't do what I might be likely to do, and hold on only to memorable images that evoke pity.

 I acknowledge it's maybe pretentious to ask these favors of you at the onset of this blog, (Seriously, don't forget to watch the video!!!) because I can't predict who might actually read it, nor can I predict what stories I will have to share with you. With that said, I think if we don't all proceed with caution, taking my stories with a grain of salt, we may decide that my one story is adequate to understand the dynamic lives of millions of people. What I want is to make your worlds bigger with this blog, rather than box those people in. With that said, I can't wait to start sharing! Check in again soon for more. I promise to start including actual anecdotes and fewer sermons for the time being. :)