It’s time to go.
I didn’t think I would have such a hard time writing
those words. I have stared at the computer screen for quite awhile. Maybe if
you don’t actually type it, then it’s not true?
I’m currently sitting in the Amsterdam airport. It
seems wrong. I’m hoping the long hours of flying will give me a chance to
reflect, to compose myself, to try to get ready to enter back in to life in
America. I am not ready. I have seen and done so much that it’s truly difficult
to think of it ending. I cannot begin to describe how incredible my trip has
been. I hope I have been able to capture at least a glimpse of it, through the pictures
and words that you have seen and read. Eventually, the films I produce will speak
of what I have experienced and will speak to the lives of all those I have met.
I’ve had this thought so many times since I’ve been
here: “Up until now, there are so many places I had never thought about. There
are so many people that I didn’t even know existed. There were so many lives I had never
encountered. Wow.” It’s odd when you think about it…how I could have lived my
whole life never having seen these places, experienced these things, met these
people. But how much more deprived would my life have been had I not done these
things? I feel so lucky to have seen what I have seen. From the rolling hills
of the Transkei to the rolling dunes of Swakopmund. From the Atlantic Ocean to
the Indian. From the metropolitan buzz of Cape Town to the dusty silence of
Arandis. I have seen much. But it is the people here who I will miss most. It’s
the people who really draw you in, steal your heart, hook you, invite you back,
make you promise you’ll visit again one day. It is the people who make Africa
what it is. It is a gorgeous place…but it is the people who define it.
I have met some truly wonderful people throughout my
travels. From those who took me under their wings and helped guide me through
my journey, from the heads of NGOs to the volunteers, from Wilson the ward
counselor to Tony the translator, from non-profit board members to the children
they’re helping, from the travelers I met in my backpacker to the managers of
team houses, from the friends who took me home for family dinners in Cape Town
to the ones who took me rock climbing in the Namib Desert, from the women
learning to sew to the high school students trying to change their
circumstances, from inspired college students to former gang leaders turned
kids’ club teachers, from the foster parents to the foster children, from
medical residents to doctors who have taken on a whole country, from the young
to the old, from the givers to the receivers…
I am tearing up.
I didn’t want to leave.
It’s the people that really get you.
There are so many that I can now call friends. Each
person I have met has forever impacted me, has forever shaped my view on the
world. I will not forget this place. It’s only a plane flight (or two) away. I
know I will be back. Thank you, Africa, for a new experience, for reshaping my
worldview, for introducing me to the people who will never leave my heart.
Thank you.
