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Seattle to Lusaka: Cognative Dissonance

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I returned from Zambia barely 48 hours ago.
I’m happy to be home with my family.
I enjoyed being fussed by my boys on Mother’s Day.
But.
Today I’m back at work. My stomach is tied in knots and I’m nauseous.
I work for Google. I like working for Google. I usually enjoy what I do. I work with great, smart, fun people.
But.
(I knew I’d feel like this).
It’s hard to care about online advertising after spending a week learning about literacy programs in Zambia.
Zambia is home to 12 million people and had a GDP of US$21 Billion in 2011. Per-capita GDP is $1,600.
I saw and experienced that poverty first-hand every day last week.
Google employs about 32,000 people and made US$37 Billion in 2011.
I feel extreme cognative dissonance today. To work and be productive is good. To help people in a developing country is good. To experience such extremes of how people live and work in such a short time is really, really hard.

My trip to Zambia to visit the libraries built by Passports with Purpose in 2011 is sponsored by Expedia.

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This entry was posted in International Escapades, Zambia and tagged , on by .

About wandermom

". . .life is short and the world is wide" - Simon Raven I'm not sure I've ever consciously planned a trip based on this sentiment, but it definitely influences my subconscious! I've been traveling as frequently and widely as possible since I finished school. And I love it. I love the research, the planning, the fervent packing and the curiosity of exploring somewhere I've never been before. My husband & I are both Irish - as in born-in-Ireland. But we live in Seattle. We have two boys: wild, boisterous, regular boys. So, since becoming a Mom, I've been a WanderMom. Given our slightly-unusual family situation, routine "visits-to-Grandma" are international trips requiring passports, 10hr-flights and (oh joy!) airport transfers. I have rants, raves and opinions about how, where & why to travel with kids (start them as young as you can, I say!). I hope to learn even more by researching topics which other wandermoms may be interested in reading about on this blog. Passports, pacifiers, diapers and gameboys at the ready - off we go! Contact Info: Email Michelle: michelle (at) murphnduff (dot) org

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