it's kind of striking...

i like to think about the progression of the human journey. i have recently been reading about the genographic project, the mapping of human genes. scientists believe, as well do i, that humans, all humans, have their roots in africa. through time people began to migrate, DNA structures started to change with the climates, and soon those different DNA structures started to mix.


while i was in africa it was hard for me to grasp that the people around me were still living in grass huts and farming with the same tools their ancient ancestors used. most of the people in the village had no idea that someone had landed on the moon. their response when told was, "those bature, they can do anything." bature meaning white people. when i would hear that i would often think about my own land, my home, with her high-rise buildings, air-craft filled skies, creamy lattes, mini-coopers, sleep numbers and pogo sticks. It was hard for me to imagine just how all of that came to be! it wasn't that long ago when our people were living in huts of their own.


isn't it striking how similar the two pictures are, how connected our cultures used to be? that is why it is sometimes hard for me to believe that i live the way that i do and the people in idaci village in northern nigeria live the way that they do. how, in just over 200 years did this happen?


by the way, brett took that first picture while we were in nigeria. isn't it beautiful? there are more here.