Find Me Unafraid: Love, Loss, and Hope in an African Slum

by Kennedy Odede

Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that. Faith is taking the first step, even when you can’t see the whole staircase.

Nothing in me is as it was before. When I came to Kenya, I had certainty. I viewed this program as playing a clear role in my larger plan to make me a more cultured person with broadened perspectives: a better actress, dramaturge, director. Coming to Kenya wasn’t supposed to make my life plans seem insignificant. Can so much change in so short a time? Only weeks ago I regarded love as a distraction that would prevent me from achieving my goals. Now I’m questioning the very substance of those goals, my master plan itself.

They say love is supposed to set you free, but I think love binds you. It’s only once you’re so full of joy that you can imagine the devastation of loss.

“Forgiveness is not about him; it’s about me. I learned a long time ago, life is about choosing what you hold. That is what makes or destroys you.”