Last Day of Work

Today was my last day at work. I got to work and Lucinda gathered all of the volunteers and gave a really kind speech about all the hard work I had done over the past two months. I looked around the room at the people – my coworkers, yes, but more importantly, my friends – and realized that there was so much that I had taken for granted every day here. All of the amazing wonderful kind souls that dedicated their lives to this organization, with hopes of truly changing the community – I have never in my life encountered hope of this kind. Just thinking about it now almost brings tears to my eyes.

Later on in the day, we got to interact with the after-school program for the children in the area. There was no IT today, but we sang songs, talked about what the kids did during the World Cup holiday, and said goodbyes.

Lastly, I got to give out the hats and gloves that we were able to buy for all of the children thanks to a generous donation from the Wayne United Methodist Children’s Ministry (Big shoutout to Aunt Betsy for getting all of this going! I’ll have lots of photos and details for you about how it went down when I get back.)! The kids were really thankful and all put the stuff on immediately so we could snap some photos.

Before I knew it, Desiree (the driver that has transported us to and from work every day for these entire two months) was there to pick me up. I scampered around saying goodbyes, hugging everyone I could find, and taking some last minute pictures. I had an emotional goodbye with Lucinda as well. As I left, I realized that I had forged bonds here that I couldn’t forget. This had been a summer that has changed me perhaps even more than I’ve changed the organization.

Saying goodbye to Desiree once she arrived at my house to drop me off was especially hard. I realized that riding in “the van” constituted probably 10% of my total stay here, and Desiree had been an integral part of it all. She was another person who really made my stay here amazing.

These last few days are going to be hectic, crazy, amazing, sad, joyful, and much more. I am frightened, excited, and anxious all at the same time.