Friend Requests from Orphans in Africa

No one can deny that the advent of Facebook allowed us to re-connect with people whom we had all but forgotten about or just assumed we would never talk to again given the various chasms, in addition to latitude and longitude, that keep it difficult to maintain an open line of communication between two people. I still remember the day I received a friend request from my 2nd grade best friend whom I hadn?t spoken with in 12 years after moving from Tulsa, Oklahoma to Nashville, Tennessee prior to starting 3rd grade. But of the 1,356 friends I have on Facebook, there is one request that stands out above the rest.

In the summer of 2008, I spent a month working at an orphanage that was a short boat ride across Lake Victoria from the small town of Entebbe, Uganda.?The orphanage consisted of twelve 3 room homes that housed 10-12 kids each. Each home had a concrete block foundation with interior and exterior walls that were made from mud bricks that were formed and dried on the?property? There was no running water and the only source of electricity was a 60 watt bulb in the ?living room? of each home that was powered by a small solar panel on the roof. The twelve homes shared three outhouse style bathrooms. The shower water was held in a giant cast iron drum that was heated by a wood fire. The primitive plumbing was ineffective in mixing the cold and boiling hot water so you either took a a frigid shower or one that would literally melt your skin off.

During my month long stay, I developed relationships with many of the kids, some deeper than others. I grew especially close to 13 year old girl named Jackie (on the right in the picture below). I?m not sure why Jackie was drawn to me but she quickly opened up to me, told me about her past, how she arrived at the orphanage and the joys and difficulties of living in a three room home with 11 other kids of varying ages.

After my time at the orphanage was up, it was difficult leaving a group of kids who I had grown so close to in such a short period of time. I knew that I would most likely never see or hear from them again. It was difficult for the kids as well. My heart to this day has never been so broken as when I stepped on the boat to ride bike across Lake Victoria and tears started to fall down the kids? cheeks.

Four months after returning statside, I logged on to Facebook one night while taking a study break to find I had one pending friend request. At first glance of the small profile picture, I noticed it was a black female with a first and last name I didn?t recognize. Growing up in a very white suburb in the south and attending a university that lacked diversity to say the least, I had very few black friends; the majority of which I was already friends with on Facebook. I figured it was a spam account, but I clicked on the profile to give it a quick sanity check before promptly declining.

As soon as the profile view opened, my jaw dropped. I had just received a Facebook friend request from a 13-year-old African girl that lives in a remote African village that doesn?t have running water or?electricity. How in the world did she have access to a computer and an internet?connection? Even if she did, how does she know what Facebook is and how to use it?

For the past 5 years, Jackie and I have exchanged Facebook message every few months. She?s kept me up to date on her life as well as the other kids who I developed relationships with during my month long stay. Jacke is now 18 and will be soon be leaving the orphanage in hopes of attending college.

Facebook?s mission reads:

Our mission is to give people the power to share and make the world more open and connected.

Whether you believe Facebook?s stock is worth $300 or $3, you can?t deny they?re doing a pretty good job fulfilling their mission as a company.

Source: http://www.areoh.be/friend-requests-from-orphans-in-africa/

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