“Mr. Daryl Crowden,
please make yourself known to the Emirates service desk at departure gate 11”.
I was just about to board Emirates flight EK407, that 13.5 hour non-stop flight
from Melbourne to Dubai. And this, this was the announcement that births a glimmer
of hope deep in the soul – albeit unfounded and highly unlikely – but nevertheless
a pleading hope that this was the day, this was the flight. I approached the
desk telling myself, don’t get your hopes
up, it never happens, but still a small candle of hope had been lit.
“Mr. Crowden? We
forgot to give you a meal voucher when you checked in!” Not only was it not
the hoped for upgrade, but it was just rubbing salt in the wounds – not only do you not get an upgrade, but by
the way you have such a long layover in Dubai that we will give you a free meal
at McDonalds (just one of the choices).
The insignificance and obscenity of my hope ashamed me as I
sat listening to my colleagues in Nairobi. They were providing me with an update
on the unfolding crisis in South Sudan where over 200 people have been killed;
the drought affecting 10.2 Million people in Ethiopia; the increasing capacity
of Al Shabaab to terrorise Somalia and neighbours; the increasing displacement
of people from Burundi. And armed with that knowledge what was my response?
The idea of hope haunted my thinking. As I sat listening to
one catastrophe, created by humanity, after another, I wondered where, if, there
is hope in these contexts? Do the people of Juba (South Sudan) hope anymore, or
have they given in to despair? Can the people in Ethiopia hope for food, can
they imagine a day when the kids are not hungry?
Hope is fragile, it can be dashed in a second by powers
outside our control - and yet it is the one thing that, where it can be found, has
the power to sustain life and overcome reality. I have seen this illogical hope
in so many faces and places.
As I begin my work this week in Kenya, and next week in
Ethiopia – I can imagine what I will see and hear – but I hope that I will see
a flicker of the candle of hope burning in the eyes of the people, and I pray
that in some small way I can tend that flame of hope.
