Coming home...the biggest hurdle so far

Hi everyone!I know it’s sinfully long since I wrote but it was a hectic last few days. When I last wrote we had sent two of the staff shopping for new kitchen and cleaning equipment. Well, I can tell you they came back very happy indeed! On Thursday morning we went shopping for our goodbye party. We decided to take the boys to St. George’s Park after school and play party games there like musical chairs and Simon says. We thought it would be nice to be outdoors and let them run around a bit. Then give them a party pack…lets face it party packs were always the best part of any party! After the park we decided we would bring them to Mc Donald’s for dinner and give them each their present there. We wrote them each a letter and put it in an envelope along with 5 pictures of themselves and one of the four volunteers. We thought it would be nice for them to christen their new pin boards! A few of the boys were home sick on Thursday with flu, I think it’s working it’s way round the room since they seem to be falling one at a time! So one of the boys came shopping with us and we got so many treats for the boys we were like big kids ourselves haha! Thursday afternoon then we took loads of pictures, everyone feeling that photo ops were coming to an end. A lot of the boys went straight to bed after school, think they wanted to make sure they didn’t get flu and miss the party!We were invited to dinner with the African family we had stayed with before. It was a lovely evening, lots of volunteers and interns. And they gave us a really nice goodbye, saying how much good we did just by coming here. It still didn’t quite feel real that the next day was our last but I think we were all putting it to the back of our minds so we could enjoy our time, plenty of time to be sad later. Friday was a busy day then. We had to put together the party packs first, but we had some help there…a few patients still home from school offered extra hands! Then we wrote our goodbye letters and sorted the pictures for each boy. Choosing which pictures to give had been a goliath task! Around 1500 pictures to choose from and they were all great! But we did manage to keep it to 5 per child…just!So once everyone got home and got a bite of lunch we piled them all into the combi, myself and Sharon included! Since we had invited the staff along as well, space in the car was a little tight! So we volunteered for the combi to give the ladies the comfort of our car. And anyway, the combi was great fun! With everyone in and all the necessary equipment for games packed, we hit the park! We had divided the boys into four groups with one volunteer and one older boy per group. This way we could do a circuit of games and have an older boy to help us keep control of the younger boys and the staff could enjoy a little r&r in the park. And it worked so well! The older boys really respond well to responsibility and did a great job keeping the smaller ones from running in all directions…after all, boys will be boys no matter where you are! Our group started off with musical chairs…well musical cushions really but the same principles apply haha! It was great fun! And I only had to do the music for one round since I had no shortage of volunteers so I even got to play! After a few round of that we moved on to the wheelbarrow race. Now that was funny! Lots of shouting and laughing, falling over and clapping for the winners. even one of the child car workers joined in, although he was beaten by some stiff young competition…a 6 yr old to be exact! The egg and spoon race (oranges instead of eggs: they taste better) also went down well! We even managed a two spooned race…try get the egg back on with no hands and see how far you get!! So we had a rest break to eat our oranges and then moved to Simon says which it turns out they are very good at! I was running out of actions and still had 4 boys in the game! But I caught them all out at once in the end haha! When everyone had finished the games we handed out the party packs and everyone sat on the grass enjoying E numbers and orange juice (I pity the childcare worker on duty that night). The pigeons also had a fine time of it, I think nearly every boy fed the birds half their crisps! Once we had them all sufficiently buzzed we loaded them back in the combi and made for Mc D’s. They were expecting us and we had seating outside beside they play area…perfect! We got everyone fed without any major mishaps, just a lot of running in and out with trays! And a whole lot of comments about me making a good waitress haha! One of the older boys made a short speech to thank us for everything we had done and present us with certificates for our involvement with the project. We also got thank you cards from the staff who said a few words. Then it was our turn. Most of the boys knew about the photos, but some of them weren’t holding out too much hope of us actually holding to it. So when we stood up with a stack of envelopes all the faces lit up. We called the boys up one at a time and they gave us each a hug before sitting down to tear open their bounty. It was better than we could ever have anticipated and by far the best thing we could have given them, especially since they now knew exactly where to put them.None of us were ready to part ways yet so we went back to Liebenhaus with them even though it was getting dark. At the house then there were more goodbyes as we slowly made our way out the door. A lot of the boys stayed inside dancing and listening to music or putting their pictures on their new boards. Unlike us they do this every month, for once we were the novices. The two eldest boys, with whom we had gotten close, followed us out to the car and found myself and Sharon crying. And we thought we had gotten away with it! No such luck! So more hugs and more goodbyes and we were finally out the gate and pulling away for the last time. No one spoke for most of the drive home. Although we had planned to go out to eat, no had an appetite and we were all drained so we just sat in with tea, looking at pictures and letting it settle in that yes, we really were leaving. As I was third to be heading to departures, I had goodbye all morning. The hardest part of meeting new people is definitely leaving them! Finally it was my turn. And I was doing pretty well until I was sitting at my departure gate and decided to check my camera for the pictures from the park. And I found a load of pictures taken by the boys before we left that I hadn’t seen before. No joke I looked at the plane and looked at the exit and thought seriously about not getting on the flight. First panic over, I did manage to get myself to Cape Town. Then I thought I was over the worst of it. That is, until take-off. Leaving African soil for the last time was overload for my already wrought emotional system and pretty sure I cried quietly til about Namibia…to the horror of the man sitting beside me haha!Well by the time I was boarding my Heathrow to Dublin flight I had gotten control of myself and started getting excited to see my family. And I wasn't disappointed. My parents, my sister and one of my best friends were there at arrivals waiting for me with open arms. I talked the whole way home and pretty much the whole day, although I think if they followed even 25% of what I was talking about they did well! Getting into my own bed last night was definitely comforting and there are some things about home that can’t be replicated, like your mum’s home cooking!And now here I am back in Ireland, washing done, bags unpacked and drinking tea with fresh milk once again. It’s strange how I can feel so at home in two totally different places but I guess that’s why they say we have roots and wings. XxxxX

Add reaction

Name *:
E-mail *:	(will not be visible)
Content *:
Anti spam *:	Type the code on the left in the box below