The end

It's been over six months since I arrived in Africa. I was looking back over the blog today and realized I never exactly finished it. It brings back so many great memories.

The orphanage, as you might imagine, was a very moving experience. We planned a special day for the kids which was basically all games. One thing that surprised me was that "orphanage," at least at the one we visited, had a slight misnomer. Most of these kids had living parents or grandparents; the problem was they were unable to feed their children and as a result the kids weren't going to school. The orphanage we visited was more of a place that provided them nsima for lunch and served as a place to play with other kids.

A volunteer in the first WC session brought with her a huge donation from her church at home and donated enough money to the orphanage to feed all the children lunch every day for six months. There were probably 100 kids at the orphanage, which showed how far her gift was going. The orphanage, called Yossa, consisted of one concrete room with a few desks. Normally it is run by local volunteers. There also appeared to be a lot of construction going on around the main building, including a library. I think they had a previous donation to fund the building.

(this little girl was so cute, she was falling asleep while the rest of the kids were eating on the floor.)

Unfortunately, the day we went to the orphanage was the day I was feeling under the weather. Luckily I didn't get as sick as some people throughout the trip. I tried to play with the kids but I also didn't want to get them sick. Some kids were extremely young but oh so extremely adorable. One of my favorite pictures from the trip is this one: these are two brothers wearing identical shirts.

Since I wasn't feeling so well I sat near the Land Rovers and had a very interesting conversation with one of the orphanage volunteers. We talked about Malawian politics, Madonna, the U.S., women, everything. It was very eye-opening and exciting to have such an in-depth talked with a Malawian.

I did finally feel well enough to play with the kids, which was so much fun. I think they really enjoyed having us there. I'm just glad we could be there to give them something different. The orphanage was really our last experience with the kids. At the end all the volunteers were so sad to leave, some in tears. A group of girls sang us what seemed to be a hymn about saying goodbye, which was absolutely beautiful and heartbreaking. There are definitely some memorable faces throughout the whole trip that I will never forget.

For our last few nights in Africa, the WC team drove once again to Lake Malawi. Luckily this time I had my luggage, and it was warm enough to go swimming! Despite warnings of contracting bilharzia, a parasite, aka schistosomiasis, in Lake Malawi, we of course went swimming anyway.

Some from the group went on a motor boat ride to a nearby island, where we got to snorkel! It was so beautiful. I got to see amazing African cichlids up close and personal. I also got to witness a beautiful sunset that evening, the last in Africa. Later that night, we were giving superlatives by the program coordinators. I was the one "whose ipod was most likely to be stolen" because the PC's liked my music and would play it via the tape deck in the Land Rovers on our long drives to the schools. WC also gave each of us an engraved wooden nsima spoon with our name on it as a final gift.

The "resort" where we stayed at a second time, Cool Runnings, was recently host to Ewan McGregor filming for a TV series "Long Way Round," where he and a friend travel by motorbike from Scotland to South Africa. Their whole crew and Ewan's wife stayed at Cool Runnings, which was exciting. I've since looked to see if the show has aired, but I don't think it has made its way to the U.S.

In the morning everyone got up early to watch our last African sunrise. Most of us kept our sleeping bags on and toted them out to the lawn in front of the beach to watch. That morning was bittersweet because the first few volunteers left to go home.

On the way back from the lake to the WC house we stopped at an amazing wood market. For all the deforestation education we brought to Malawi, we sure did cut down a lot of trees via the amount of wood items we bought. Most were made of mahogany and hand carved. I brought back a plate, jewelry box, necklaces, a hippo figurine, and salad tongs just to name a few things. It was really fun to bargain with some of the vendors, and it served dual-purpose too to get rid of some of the things we didn't want to take home with us. Speaking of taking things home, I brought back a good 10 bottles of my favorite Nali hot sauce.

Here is a picture of the whole group together in front of the lake at night:

The last day at the house was full of packing and also uploading pictures onto the house computers to trade with everyone. Some people left later that day. I left the next morning.

I remember traveling home as being extremely emotional. Not only was it hard to leave Malawi, but it was especially hard to leave Africa. I basically broke down in the Johannesburg airport, for a few reasons. I knew I would miss the World Camp lifestyle, the volunteers, the volunteering, the kids, etc. Waiting at the gate for my 18 hour flight home, I was surrounded by tourists. Americans. It was such a culture shock to be exposed to these people again, and for some reason it made me incredibly sad to come back into the real world of American ideals and lifestyles. And to top it off, the movie screen in front of my seat didn't work on the flight either. But it made for a good time to reflect on the trip and organize my hundreds of pictures.

Of course I loved being home again, to see my parents and Kipper and friends. The first home cooked meal I wanted? Spaghetti. And some sushi on the side. But a part of me missed the constant companionship and activity back in Malawi. And still misses it. I did since go to the first World Camp reunion, which was a fun overnight camp-out near Boone, N.C. I got to meet more of the volunteers from the first session and others who went to Honduras and India. It is going to be an annual event from here on out. I've also tried to keep in touch with many of the volunteers. Even though some go to UNC with me, it's unfortunate because I rarely see them. Everyone is always so busy!

I feel that in my lifetime something somehow will bring me back to Africa. But I realized that instead of exploring more places, I want to go back to Malawi more than anywhere. They are still in desperate need of any aid they can obtain. It was in the news recently that Malawi will be unable to reach the UN's Millenium Development Goals by 2015.

I'm looking into how I can go back.