WorldRace Reality: A Technology Update

WorldRace Reality: A Technology Update

Hi!

It’s Sav here, coming from Lesotho, Africa. I’m currently typing on my phone. Sure, it’s not hard but it’s not the same as the ease of typing and working on my laptop. But here’s the update, here’s the reality of the WorldRace, things get lost or stolen or left behind on accident almost every travel day. One of my Squadmates left her Bible in the overhead and another had her phone stolen during our travel weekend from Ecuador to Jeffrey’s Bay, South Africa. Travel is hectic and this trip has certainly emphasized that for me.

Here’s my reality: on our longest travel day, actually our travel weekend, I accidentally left my laptop in one of those bins they make you put all your belongings and technologies in at TSA Security. Fortunately, I left my laptop at the JFK airport in New York and not a foreign airport. Regardless, by the time I realized I didn’t have my laptop with me I was sitting on my bunk bed at the hostel in Cape Town, South Africa two days later. I was looking for my laptop to upload the photos I had taken at Penguin Beach when I realized it wasn’t in my bag. I took a few moments to breathe and recall my steps. It didn’t take long for me to remember my shuffle at JFK as an older gentleman struggled to understand what went in his bin and what went in his bag and what couldn’t be left in his pants’ pockets. Anyways, I was able to find the email for security and send it off to see if they had found it. I’m more fortunate than not in this story, within an hour I had received word that they had found my laptop and would send it home at the cost of the $65 shipping fee. In just 2 days my Mom received my laptop in the mail. Thank God. However this left me without it for the remainder of the Race, with another 6 months of the journey still to go. 

This story really paints the picture of my experience with technology this far on the Race. Coming on the WorldRace I really wanted to capture and share the moments of this journey with all of you. Yet it didn’t take long for me to realize what a difficulty that actually would become. Month 1, I was just trying to figure out how to get all of my technologies to work together to take, edit and upload photos and videos. I felt frustrated in those first weeks when I realized I hadn’t download IMovie to my laptop and our Wifi access wouldn’t allow for the download. I couldn’t make any videos without it. I was so bummed. Yet I was able to still gather content and share in collecting content for my friend Dana’s videos. 

Month 2, I finally got IMovie downloaded but I didn’t have enough space on my device to download the videos I wanted to edit. Again, I was bummed. I also realized I needed to download software for my hard drive to work properly. I was getting frustrated and honestly wanted to pack up my technology bag and hide it in the depths of my pack. Luckily, my mentor Kati, encouraged me and reminded me this was a way the enemy could come against me. I prayed and things began to turn around. Once I had all the software downloaded I made my first video, the Light and Salt Ministries Day in the Life. When I went to upload it and remove some of the video data from my laptop to create space, I accidentally deleted the video and had to start over. At this point I was left incredibly bummed again. I was really upset but was able to recreate the video that night. Thank God. 

Month 3, I felt like everything was coming together and I was really falling in love with photography. I was looking for my voice in videoing and looked to create the Voices of the Ministry Series. Thankfully my Squad Leader Kayla was willing to translate the testimonies of those in Colombia and that video got posted as scheduled! Yet in putting that video together I had found a few of my videos had glitches and then uploading and posting was another slow process due to low processing wifi. Finally, just as we were settled into Ecuador it was posted. A win. 

Month 4, Ecuador we didn’t have a lot of hands on ministry with other people. Most of our days were spent cleaning or crafting at the ministry but we were primarily only working with each other as a team. I was stumped with how to continue the series. Then we entered quarantine and I lost hope again. Sometime near the beginning of quarantine though, God reminded me that my Squad is full of voices and I began constructing a video of our Squad. I was hoping to finish it upon arriving in Africa and you know what happened next?! This is when I left my laptop in transition at the JFK airport.  

I haven’t been able to fully grab hold of creating videos and producing visual content for you all the way I’ve hoped so I apologize. I’ve felt very frustrated with technology, it’s honestly been my biggest hardship in this journey. Wifi isn’t high speed in most places we go and even at cafes and coffee shops it just isn’t the same as the comfort of home. Uploading photos has been nearly impossible on this blog platform using the wifi available to us. 

This is my WorldRace reality. It’s not perfect but I am grateful for the opportunity to share as much as I can. I am thankful for the opportunities I have had to have video chats with my parents and close friends. I am thankful that I have been able to post some of my favorite photos up-to this point. I am thankful for the gifts of technology, the trust of my school to take my laptop in the first place, my friend who donated my camera and the perks of a cell phone. 

I’m planning to stay connected as best as I can but for the next few months we will continue to be located in remote places where wifi access is incredibly limited or not available to us. Please know I will post or share as often as possible. 

Thank You for your encouragement, support and understanding. 

Xoxo, 

Sav

P.S. After writing this post during the beginning of our time in Lesotho, I decided to continue to push through the frustrations and try, try, try again to keep making videos and stay uptodate with editing photography. In this process I again lost an entirely drafted video, a few photos and had my IPhone seize up. I’ve decided it’s time to invest in a laptop that can hopefully help alleviate some of these setbacks I keep facing. If you feel led to donate to my laptop purchase you can do so on Venmo or by sending your donations to my home church, Christ Community Fellowship at 43 Maple St. Madison, Maine, 04950 with my name in the memo. Lots of love!