All Good Things Come To An End.... Do They Really?

So here I sit, my last day in Africa.... trying to reflect, and feeling myself get quite emotional...You know that feeling you get in your stomach that kinda builds up to towards your chest, then your throat... yeah its that one.


As ready as I am to go home and have had quite enough of squattie potties and fatty beef and bumpy roads.... I think I'm really... REALLY sad about leaving.. Seems paradoxical. There have been some really really great times that I will never forget, and there have also been some times that I wish I could forget, but have shaped me all the same.

Since I last wrote, we have had a a good time.. i can tell that everyone here is getting QUITE comfortable with each other and you know the closer you are with people, it can get pretty ugly at times. But its also good because of the friendships that are being created. It was really hard to say goodbye to the other team, because we built some really great friendships there, and didnt want to see that part of the group leave. I know that they were such a great and important part of the team that wouldnt have been without them! They brought so much life and laughter to the group and I know to Africa!!

A few days later, when we had to painfully rip ourselves out of the arms of the children at the orphange... that was a whole different story. Spending 2 whole weeks, day in and day out with these amazing kids - living their lives, experiencing everything they experienced, learning their culture and language, digging into their lives, getting to know them, and letting them inside our hearts - was incredible. There were so many children there at the orphanage that it was hard to spend enough time with each one, but there were certain children that each of us were drawn to, and ended up falling hard for them... in my case, there were a few, but two in particular. One was a teenage boy named Duncan, and a teenage girl named Princess Diana. (Her mom named her Princess Diana in memory of the real princess Diana the year she died) They all seem alot younger than they really are, because they are a tad malnourished and dont have the nutrients to grow like kids in other countries. Duncan, who was 15, looked as though he was about 13, and Diana looked about 11 or 12. They were both very intelligent, and both so loving. Diana absolutely caught my heart and made her home there. Duncan took a bit longer, but towards the end of the two weeks, he started referring to me as Mommy and Cody as Daddy. Princess referred to me as Queen Christiana and Cody as King Kubwa. The letters the kids wrote to us were heart wrenching, and there were so many tears shed. I am about to burst out crying right now just thinking about them and the way Duncan, a 15 year old boy, prideful and all, fell on me and hugged me tighter than ever, and wept into my shirt.. and Diana's tears streaming down her face, asking me not to leave.

It broke my heart more than anything.. I hate goodbyes anyways, no matter if they're short or if they're forever. I HATE goodbyes. I hate leaving people, and I hate when people leave me. could have something to do with my abandonment issues, but thats another story.

Anyways, so i cried for about 30 minutes after we left the orphanage, and once we got to Eldoret, things were a bit different. We were pretty busy every day with different things:

the first few days, we worked at a Rescue Centre for Street Children. That was pretty amazing, seeing kids who have come off the streets from drugs and sniffing glue and begging and probably alot worse things, to being in a home where they have consistent meals and a bed to sleep on and clothes and an education...
We were able to teach all levels and all classes - Math, English, Science, Geography, P.E., CRE (Christian Religious Education)and Health. It was really awesome.

I wasnt sure how these kids were going to accept us, but surprisingly, they connected to us almost immediately, and they were so affectionate and loving! :) it was great to be welcomed that way! Especially after leaving all our babies at the orphanage.

We visited some other orphanages there in Eldoret,and the second week, we got an opportunity to actually teach at the Bible College we stayed at. We were teaching 13 students about how to make lesson plans in Christian Education. That was pretty neat, and I actually learned how much i love teaching adults/college/post college age.

Anyways, after all the teaching and visiting orphanages and a church and a school, we got to do some SHOPPING!! :) i LOVE the souveniers i got for everyone, and it ended being alot more stuff than i intended!! :) I just couldnt stop!!! haha. and things were quite inexpensive if you just learned to bargain! We are MASTER BARGAINERS!! If only we could bargain in the states! hah...

So After leaving ElDoret, we're back here in Nairobi... spending one last day here, then onto the airport tonight.
We arrive in London at 7Am tomorrow morning, and we get to spend a few relaxing days there, sightseeing and doing a little shopping..


Over the last few weeks, i've been able to read almost 11 books! WHAT!? Yeah, i'm a nerd, bookworm... so what.

But the books I have read have not only inspired me, but motivated me to change.. I have already implimented some changes that I've seen are necessary for my growth, and I am excited to get home and have more resources. I want to get into counseling again, i want to read more, i want to definitely continue going to church, and i also want to further my education in Theology and possibly music (worhsip.)
We'll see..

I'm a natural worrier, but God has really worked on me here, to know that if he even clothes the beautiful lilies, and feeds the birds daily... what should i worry about? The more intimate I get with God, the more I learn to trust him and rely on Him for EVERYTHING. As cliche as it sounds, its true, and i'm finding it more true every day. I do feel as though this trip has changed me for the better... How can you go to Africa and have a hand in all these things and stay the same? it's just not possible.

So, for now, I shall say my Goodbyes from Africa..
:)

I hope that God is constantly changing you, and you're finding ways to be inspired, and to be an inspiration to motivate change in people and places all around you.
Make a difference. in you, in them, in the world. it's possible, and even the littlest things matter.


With all the love in the world... or at least halfway across it,

Christiana