To know that her family has made such a huge decision—returning to Sudan amongst political and economic instability—so that she could pursue her education (something that is not often encouraged for a single Muslim woman of 26), I imagine that Sara must carry quite a heavy load on her shoulders, nearly every day.
After reading all of this this—about the suffering and crises in Sudan and the great burden that I envision Sara carrying—you are probably wondering why/how on earth I could have been so happy after ending our call.
Here goes. I was beaming because after speaking to Sara, and to Maha, I felt unbelievably inspired. Here was this young woman, just two years younger than I am, who has overcome so many challenges, and yet remains so positive and so determined to pursue her education—in order to obtain a better quality of life for herself and for her family. But not only that. Despite all of the challenges that she is facing, Sara also remains deeply committed to bettering her community, to instilling real and positive change by working with youth, and also by promoting cross-cultural awareness and understanding (two causes that are also very close to my heart.)
And when Sara spoke about how she loves Trevor Noah, how she reads the Washington Post and the New York Times, and how when she first told her mother about this exchange journey, her immediate response was, “Are they paying you in dollars?”—my father’s first response was, “How much are they paying you?”—I felt not only inspired, but also connected.
And when Maha spoke about her experience with her students in the Bronx and her interactions with Americans while living in New York City, I felt even more connected.
