My Third World Experience

This post was written by Connor Dood about his experience and thoughts about his time in Ethiopia.  He has been there twice, once with his parent's during the adoption process of his brother Keegan, and once when he traveled with his mom and Whitney for a vision trip with Children's HopeChest which led to the partnership with Burayu in Ethiopia!

I’ve been thinking a lot about Ethiopia lately.

I miss sitting outside a Kaldi’s Coffeehouse, sipping on a caramel macchiato that tastes better than Starbucks and costs a fraction of the price. I miss eating around a communal saucer of traditional Ethiopian food, not exactly sure what I’m about to dip my injera in but trying it anyway. I miss the exhilaration of riding in a car through Addis, where no one obeys any traffic rules and no one is even sure if such rules exist. I miss the diverse culture: full of coffee ceremonies, hair whipping, and frequent holidays. I miss being able to refer to “rainy” as a season. I miss riding in a rickety boat through a lake full of hippos in the South and standing on the edge of an untouched canyon in the North. Believe it or not, I even miss being woken up at five in the morning to stray dogs barking and cattle being herded through the streets. But what do I miss the most? The people. Those incredible Ethiopian people who remain friendly and joyful despite their circumstances.  

Because of my trips to Ethiopia, I will never be the same. I will never think the same way or interact the same way or purchase the same way or talk the same way. This is something I’ve had to get used to. I left a significant chunk of my heart in Ethiopia, which still beats for the people, the culture, and the country itself. This is the burden that every traveler must carry—that with each country he visits, he leaves an important part of himself behind.

However, isn’t that the point? Aren’t the countries we visit supposed to have an emotional impact on us?  Shouldn’t the people, the sights, and the culture always be close to our hearts? I think so. And I think most people who have travelled abroad, especially to third world countries, would agree.

However, the reality is that traveling to a third world country will wreck you. You’ll see families who live in mud huts smaller than the size of most American walk-in closets. You’ll see children on the streets who can no longer walk because a simple broken bone didn’t heal properly. You’ll  see glistening new skyscrapers built around tin shacks, Lexuses parked next to donkeys, and men and women in business attire walking alongside of men and women in rags. In fact, you’ll probably see plenty of things that you wish you could unsee.

For these reasons, you will come back to where you came from and rethink much of your life. Do you need to live in such a large house? Do you need so many clothes? Is that new car you’re thinking of buying really necessary? Could you give more money to charity? Should you? Do the things you complain about and the worries you obsess over really matter after visiting a country where the people’s chief worry is having enough food to eat and a roof over their heads that doesn’t leak too much?

Those who plan to travel to third world countries need to understand that they will not easily re-incorporate themselves into their first world cultures upon returning. Things will not seem the same, and they shouldn’t. But don’t use this as an excuse not to go. Please, put your life aside temporarily and simply go. Whatever your motives are—whether for self-betterment, for an adventurous experience, or because you genuinely want to impact lives—I still urge you to go.  

Because if you don’t go, how will you ever know what could’ve been? How will you ever know if a third world experience could’ve changed your life forever?

It’s extremely easy to ignore poverty when it’s on the other side of the world. It’s easy to read or see something about orphans and think, “Wow, that’s so sad,” but still do nothing about it. It’s easy to write checks to support missionaries and organizations that fight against global epidemics. But what’s not easy is being able to feel the urgency of the crises abroad when we live in a materialistic society so far removed from such staggering poverty and suffering.

However, maybe, just maybe, traveling to a third world country will personalize these crises for you, causing you to take personal action and responsibility. It has for me. One of my favorite writers, David Platt, wrote a book called Radical, which is about taking your faith beyond the American Dream. While discussing the orphan crisis worldwide, he wrote, “We learned that orphans are easier to ignore before you know their names. They are easier to ignore before you see their faces. It is easier to pretend they’re not real before you hold them in your arms. But once you do, everything changes.”

Overall, don’t be afraid to go to a third world country. Don’t let the mundane demands of your life stop you from embarking on a trip that could have such a profound impact on you. Let it wreck you. Let it change you. Let it flip your world upside down. Leave a chunk of your heart behind. Allow yourself to experience deep and permanent change. It will be difficult, but I promise that it will be worth it.  

In Him,

Connor Dood

Freshman at Indiana Wesleyan University