09.08.2011 Another Day, Another Goodbye

09.08.2011 Another Day, Another Goodbye

            Michael, our driver (and one of the people I’m going to miss most when I leave) came back from Kenya today.  I was so happy to see him!  He travels home once every couple months to see his son, sister, and father.  Zacki is the same.  He only sees his children and family once every three months or so.  I can’t imagine this.  Being away from home right now is hard (although I don’t let it take away from my experience) but it would be even harder if I had young children.  I’d feel like I was missing out on their lives and watching them grow. 

            Today I started to clean out our cabinets at the orphanage.  They need supplies, so I was trying to go through everything and throw out everything that was ripped, not working, or used past expiration.  I was left with nearly empty cabinets.  Next week I will go to a stationary store and buy some of the essentials.  Paper, notebooks, lots of pens, pencils, and sharpeners, and puzzles and toys.  Mama Anna always talks about how she wants to expand Kitulizo to a new building, with an orphanage, primary school, and secondary school, but I don’t see it happening, at least not without a very large sponsor.  It serves its purpose to society now, but I don’t see it getting much larger than what it is.

            While I was cleaning out the cabinets, Mama Anna’s nine year old son came in to keep me company.  He is on holiday from school for a month, so I’ve been seeing him more and more often.  Today though, he started talking about school.  He wants to be a pilot when he grows up.  I told him that he is going to have to study very, very hard.  He said that he does, and then ran out of the room.  He came back with his report cards, notebooks, and some exams.  He gets straight As, knows fluent Swahili, English, and French, and studies with 14 year olds.  I couldn’t believe how smart he was!  He was glowing in my praises.  I am seriously considering sponsoring him.  I would even sponsor him to come to the States to study (after I get a nursing job, of course).  I want to sponsor him, and one student of ours named Irene also.  She is also very intelligent, and lives in a house made of metal sheet walls and a metal sheet roof.  Their family has no money, and I don’t want her bright light to dim.

            For dinner today Alana, Steph, Nicky, Becky, and I went to TGT.  They are all leaving in the next couple days so this was like our last hurrah.  Everyone is leaving me.  The turn around is so sad.  I hate that all these amazing people are coming here, I’m becoming close with them, and then they leave and I have to start over with the new orients.  By far, it is the worst part of being here for so long.  I should only befriend mbongos.  They won’t leave me!  At least I know I have places to stay all over the world, and they’ll always be welcome in my home.