"I am guilty of living well, and in comfort, and hiding with the shadows of our majestic American steeples. I would hope we could walk out of our comfort, once in a while, to feel the heat of Truth on our faces."

Kevin Max

"We had found a country where people treated one another well, with respect, and where there were values other than grab, grab, grab, which prevails back home. I felt humbled, in a way. Everything about my own country seemed so shoddy and superficial when held up against what I saw in Africa."

"People suffered here, and many of them had very little, but they had this wonderful feeling for others. When I first heard African people calling others - complete strangers - their brother or their sister, it sounded odd to my ears. But after a while I knew exactly what it meant and I started to think the same way.... I wish I could have called my friends 'my sisters' but it would have sounded contrived. But that is how I felt. I was learning lessons. I had come to Africa and I was learning lessons."

Alexander McCall Smith, Tears of the Giraffe

"We live in a wonderful world that is full of beauty, charm and adventure. There is no end to the adventures that we can have if only we seek them with our eyes open."

Jawaharlal Nehru

Crossways
Originally uploaded by lapidim

Last thing I remember, I was
Running for the door
I had to find the passage back
To the place I was before
"Relax," said Mbulawa,
We are programmed to receive.
You can checkout any time you like,
but you can never leave.