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With the kinds of progress we're seeing in Africa, we have people who have a very high expectation, and often people think that, you know, things would happen overnight. But I want people to understand that sometimes it even gets worse before it gets better.

As a kid, I always felt connected to Africa; it was something I was very proud of.

Africa touches me. At night, there's this thought in your brain that a million years ago we started here.

Africa is my continent. It is where I opened my eyes.

Being from Africa is the best thing that could have ever, ever happened to me. I cannot see it any other way. All of my fundamental principles that were instilled in me in my home, from my childhood, are still with me.

I don't think anyone who has been to Africa comes away untouched by the place. You see a lot of beauty and optimism, but you also come away with an awareness of the huge gulf between what most of us have and what most of them have to make do with. Then, every now and then, a famine or a war makes everything a hundred times worse.

I grew up in different parts of Africa. I grew up in Mozambique and places like that. I've been in South Africa many times.

People wonder why I love Africa so much. I say this is where I was born and raised. My roots are in Africa; that's were I developed.

Every time I go to Africa, I feel like I hit true north. There is a depth of feeling that I have for the continent, in the richness of the people, the suffering , but also the transcendent joy that is there - it's like nowhere else on the planet.

My conscious life has all been in Kenya, and it's my point of reference. But going back to Mexico was very formative.