Africa was absolutely amazing. I remember that after returning from Africa two years ago, I kept using the word amazing to describe so many things. Well, be prepared, I still have not found a better word to describe my experiences in Africa. I want to share just a few stories from my trip, and I'll start with one of my favorites. A day or two after entering Tanzania, we stopped in Iringa. If you didnt know, Iringa was where my team stayed two years ago. I knew that we were going to have the opportunity to visit but I didnt know that one day would change my heart forever. When we reached the church, we were about an hour late to the service (this happened alot since there are 32 of us..and we got used to "africa time"). Anyways, when we stepped inside the church, the small choir, made up of mostly children (did I mention that not only are African children the most beautiful kids in the world, they are naturally extra beautiful when they sing?) and I recognized many of them. The one that I remember the most was Rama. One our last trip, Rama was the youngest of nine orphans being taken care of one of the missionaries, Miss Jackie. Rama had some learning disabilities, and the other kids shunned him a lot of the time. I ended up spending a lot of time with him, and fell in love with that little boy. After the church service was over we all gathered to shake hands and greet each other. When Rama came up to me, I asked him if he remembered me (last time he didnt know any english, but I wanted to give it a try anyways), and he nodded his head! I put my arms out to him, and he hugged me and started crying. For the rest of the afternoon he had the biggest grin on his face, and so did I! I was so happy that he not only remembered me, but had grown to love me as a sister, just like I loved him! At the end of our time I said goodbye to him, and we had an older boy translating, since Rama barely knows English, and I barely know Swahili. He told me that he would be praying for us when we went to Mafinga. Then he asked me if he could come with me. I told him that it wasnt possible and he started crying. I gave him a big hug and told him goodbye, but the other boy had to pull him away from me. I want to tell you a little bit about Rama, so you can understand why he was so devastated. His mother has many mental problems and is unable to care for him, and his three younger siblings. She is a prostitute, and when Rama was younger she would sell him to men. Finally he was brought of the streets by Miss Jackie, but ever since then he hasn't been trusting of men or women equally. Its hard for him to let people love him, and get near him. But at the same time, he has never experienced trust and love from others, and he craves it. The past couple of years he has really gotten better and is now living with the pastor and his family, along with his younger brother Salum. When he saw me, he thought that I was coming back to take care of him, since two years ago I had said that I might not be able to see him again. I ended up writing him a letter at the end of this trip, and had one of the missionaries give it to him for me. I told him how proud I am of him for going to school, and for helping take care of his brother. I told him to keep practicing his English because I believe that he will be very good at it someday since he is so smart. And I told him that I am honored to call him my little brother. When we left Africa to come home, I honestly felt like I was letting Rama down for the second time. I hope that I can return again, but maybe to stay next time.
