1 1/2 Years Later - A Reflection

Friday, September 21, 2012

It has been one year, five months, and five days since I left Dodowa. It has taken me that long to move all my journal entries from paper into type. Those entries fill 42 typed pages, 1.1 spaced. They fill most of three journals handwritten, one each orange and green and blue.

I knew my time in Ghana would be life-changing, but I never could have predicted just how life-changing it would be. Eighteen months ago, I was settling into the routines and rhythms of sixty-six children and the other volunteers who cared for them. Those routines and rhythms remain a part of me today. For months after I left Ghana, I wanted to say, “Yen ko” (Twi for “Let’s go”) whenever going anywhere with others. Over a year after leaving, I wrote about George in my graduate school essay. My last office and current apartment have both prominently featured pictures of the children, including my favorite, one which Claire took of Beauty and I waiting at the bus stop. I think of them every day in some form or another, whether running clean tap water to wash dishes or seeing children play who are both healthy and well-loved.

I am glad that I did not leave unchanged. Among all that I am thankful for from this trip, that stands out the strongest. It’s not just about eating bananas or enjoying the feel of dust and sweat on a ninety-five-degree day. It’s about loving so hard it hurts and putting somebody else’s life and growth above your own for some period of time.

As I began this journal with one quote, I will end with two:

“I have found the paradox, that if you love until it hurts, there can be no more hurt, only more love.” - Mother Teresa

“Travel is like love, mostly because it’s a heightened state of awareness, in which we are mindful, receptive, undimmed by familiarity and ready to be transformed. That is why the best trips, like the best love affairs, never really end.” - Pico Iyer