Thoughts

I'm sitting in "my" gazebo by my old house. The birds are singing, and the river is flowing steadily. The sky is aflame in the most beautiful sunset, which is reflecting perfectly in the river.

It's been good to be back. Good and strange, too. This morning, as I walked to a meeting, it felt like I had never left. I was wearing a skirt and my leather sandals, carrying a cup of chai with me, listening to the staff singing during the staff meeting. It really felt like I had never left.

It's been almost a year since I left the village. The kids were very excited to see me, as I was to see them! It's been equally good to catch up with friends on staff. There have been many, many changes in this village in the past year, and I've been catching up on how everyone's doing...

Today, after several meetings, I went to check how the dental team was doing. They were cleaning the kids' teeth. Katonye (Dennis), one of my favorite little ones in Kipkaren, slid onto my lap. He has a raspy voice, and every so often, he'd just look at me, say my name, and give his raspy chuckle.

I've missed the kids. I'm touched to see that they have really missed me, too.

As for our team: They're doing amazingly well. We've laughed lots, and worked lots. My role with them is mostly liaison. And encourager. They're a great bunch, though. They think BIG, which I love. Nothing's too overwhelming to them.

Right now, I need to head to the library to have dinner. Am planning to do debriefing with the team at the gazebo closer to the river tonight, to the light of just a lantern...

I'm glad I'm here for this moment in time.