a month later

The queries of "How was your trip?" have faded, but the memories have not. I intended to blog about that question, as I found it extremely hard to answer. My response varied from "great" to "okay" to what it ultimately was for a short and quick answer: "there were highs and lows but it was a worthwhile trip". The longer answer was filled with backtracks and competing thoughts as I wrestled with much of my time in Congo.

The orphanage continues to be an amazing memory. As you may remember, part of the reason I went to Congo was to look at the feasibility of doing a child sponsorship program. It looks like it is going to happen! Get ready for Tumaini, which we hope to have as a 501c3 that will work with this orphanage and (potentially) extend to do other things in eastern Congo. I'll update when there is more information, but I'm really excited to be part of what's ahead. The kids want to be loved and the odds of them all being adopted is extremely low. If I haven't already mentioned it, formula costs ~$80/month for one child. Given that the "average" salary is $5/day, it's nigh on impossible to support multiple babies in this setting without external support. But there was joy at Kaziba and...sigh...it just makes me happy to think of them.

The adult group continues to be unsettling. At the end of the day it comes to this: the people I saw had more basic needs than physical therapy. So even though I was only prepared as a therapist, they saw a white person with resources. And if physical therapy could change their situation, great, but what the really wanted and needed was someone to provide basic necessities to give them hope for the future. I don't fault them for asking for money, etc., given their circumstances, but I just wasn't emotionally prepared for that.

I finally got a couple of pictures up and am still in the process of getting pics off my camera (I ran out of memory space on my computer--oops). Then, really, I might lay this blog to rest until I can give more info re: Tumaini. So, if anyone is still reading, here's how it feels a month+ later.