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6.4.08

  When people asked me what I missed most since coming to Africa, I would reply, “I miss my family and friends…and, of course, American food!”  My three months in East Africa were absolutely incredible and indescribably life changing. As my stay in Uganda and Tanzania began to approach the final days, I looked forward to returning home to see my family and friends. However, I also came to realize that I would be leaving a second family behind. Prior to my trip, I expected to be able to meet many people and work with them, maybe creating relationships beyond acquaintances- hopefully some friendships. I never imagined that I would feel as though I had gained a dozen new brothers and sisters. I never imagined I would feel so at home so far away from America. 

My last days in Tanzania, I dreaded the moment I would have to part with the people of Africa I so deeply love. Early Monday morning, before any sunlight could peak over the horizon, Jed, Laura, and I followed the Ugandan team outside of our hostel where they bus would pick them up. The three of us would be flying out of Dar es Salaam the following day, but the rest of the Ugandan team was scheduled to take the two-day bus ride back to Kampala. Saying good-bye to Sarah, Ivan, Benon, Ronnie, Collin, Wilson, and Billy was literally the most difficult thing I had to do while I was in Africa. As I watched the bus pulled away, I felt my heart sinking and I was overwhelmed with sadness and a sense of emptiness. One moment, I was living, working, eating, traveling, and experiencing the world with the most incredible and loving people. The next, they were gone.

            I will never be able to express the impact these people and my experience in Africa has had on me. I feel so blessed to have spent three months in East Africa. I have seen so much, felt the LORD in new ways, and learned more than I could have ever imagined. I am forever in debt to the ICY team, for all it has done to open a whole new world to me and encourage positive change within myself. I have the deepest love for Uganda, the projects I was blessed to volunteer at, and the people who I consider to be my family. I pray that I can revisit someday. 

            I have returned to America, but a part of my heart remains at my second home in Africa.

 

* Thank you to all of you from ICY Uganda, Kenya, and Tanzania, who have touched my heart and changed my life forever. I love you all.