I've never missed a location so much in my 21 years. I suppose it isn't just the location, it is the people I met, the folks I was with; the things that I learned. I hadn't even arrived home yet and I wanted to turn around and go back.
The last couple of days have been tough for me. Not only have I missed Kenya, I've been going through somewhat of an emotional rollercoaster. I received bad news when I got off the plane, and a potential friendship has disintegrated in front of my eyes. Yet, I hit my highs when I think about Kenya, and I can't seem to stop grinning. I met such beautiful people and experienced such amazing things; I will never forget this trip.
I've got a lot of thinking to do, and not much time to do it in. How do I use the things that I learned and the stories that I heard to get others involved on my campus? How do I share my experiences without getting upset when people try to compare their trips abroad to mine? Will I ever be able to wrap my head around everything, or will the thoughts keep bouncing off the walls of my overpacked brain?
Our last day in Kenya was spent in Kibera, which was certainly an experience. The group broke up a little, and I spent the day with Binti Pamoja, a womens center for young girls in Kibera. They were putting together an event for the parents, so Nora and I helped them set up a bit for that, but mostly we just learned about the program and asked questions about Kibera. I talked with some girls about what it is like to live in Kibera (“You're born in Kibera, you get married in Kibera, you die in Kibera.”) and some of them talked with me about the 2007 Election and the violence that occurred, which hit Kibera pretty hard. I heard about 2 and 5 year olds that were raped, girls too young to care for themselves that were having children, and bribes from the police that caused both young women and men to do things they never expected they would do.
It's all I can do to keep myself in Vancouver right now. Certain things scare me; I'm a bit of a chicken when it comes to traveling and living in a place that is new to me, but I can feel myself finding the courage within to be someone that helps the women of the world find their potential and grow to be proud of themselves. It's something I'm learning to do on my own, and there's no better way to do something than while holding someone else's hand. Even if that hand is on the other side of the world.
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