Sunday was such an emotional day. I started to pack and sort out what I’m leaving behind and what will come home. It didn’t take long for my room to no longer look like my room anymore. Chelcie and I both wore our Owambo dresses with matching headscarves to church which everyone loved. They are very comfy to wear as they are incredibly loose but with the downside of making you look very large. I cried throughout the service...Gilly said a few words about us at the beginning of the service and we were prayed for. I managed to pull myself together to sing with Chelcie ‘I vow to thee my country’ (this is Gilly’s favourite hymn) as well as ‘From a Distance’ which we have sung together all year. During the Peace we walked up and down the aisle shaking hands with all the children which made me cry again. We had lunch at the Stommels house where we sang ‘Lord of the Dance’ as Reiner had been ill last Sunday so hadn’t heard us. In the afternoon we had all the G7s over for a party and we had a humongous cake with ‘Goodbye’ piped on the top. This was really fun and lovely but Diodores keeps on asking why I have to leave and every time he asks it breaks my heart.
On Monday evening we had our last ever Concert which was brilliant. We had recorders, singing, violins, flute playing, trumpet playing, keyboard playing and it was just a great evening. We then went to sleep in the Girls Hostel which is another tradition. I started off in Protea but then was literally dragged into Sunflower. I slept on the floor on a mattress between Stacy and Theopoldine. The dorms have 20 girls in of mixed ages and I had all of them around me/lying on me while I told them the story of Cinderalla and Rapunzel. I can’t say I slept brilliantly as Stacy and Theopoldine’s idea of snuggling is to lie half on top of you so I had a human blanket!
The last few days as usual were filled with finishing writing the newsletter and folding all the copies and making sure that all the rooms we are in charge of sparkling clean as well as the GAP flat. All the things that I didn’t want to bring home I made up into little parcels that I then gave out to 11 of the children I am closest to. They all came over on Tuesday afternoon with some others for Chelcie and we gave out all our stuff. This turned into the saddest afternoon ever as everyone was crying and it all got far too emotional for my liking. It’s bad enough when the girls cry but when the boys start it gets too much for me.
We spent our last evening at Paul and Sara’s house which was lovely. By then I was feeling quite drained from all the crying and just wanted to have some fun which we did. I also spoke to Mrs Vermaak about Diodores – she said that she was very happy with his end of term exam results but if he stopped working she said she would let me know and then it would be up to me to get him back on track! I’ve made Brenden promise that he will look out for Dankie and make sure that no one bullies him. Desvino is also going to look out for Damian for me and stop people picking on him. I didn’t go to bed for ages as I stayed up writing notes for lots of children to give them the next day.
The last assembly was actually really good fun rather than super sad, which I was glad about. The children were all in their home clothes and it was lovely to see lots of the older ones wearing mine. I don’t think many children in Namibia own an Eton hoodie but Diodores does now! The children sang all our favourite songs and then Mrs Vermaak and Gilly said a few things about us. We were presented with an Otjikondo Book, DVD, t-shirt, baseball cap and a reference. At the end all the children filed out past us and gave us a hug. I didn’t cry until I reached the Grade 7s – knowing that this would be the last time I would see most of them killed me. We said goodbye to Mrs Vermaak, the teachers and then Gilly which was so sad – even made Checlie cry! We then went to say goodbye to the rest of the Stommels; Reiner blessed us and gave us a lucky stone to help us on our way, and then we were on our way to Windhoek.
We got a lift with Fabiola and Rob and after the children had put all our stuff in the Combi we went on our way. The drive to Windhoek was a sad and quiet one. We spent three days in Windhoek trying not to think about Otjikondo and doing lots of present shopping. We met two guys from England who were on their University holidays who were good fun and we went out with them. It was hard being in Namibia but not at Otjikondo and we actually now just wanted to be at home.
Saturday at 12pm we started our long and tiring journey home. I wont dwell on the journey apart from to say it wasn’t fun and it wasn’t amusing when they wouldn’t let us on our plane from Dubai to Heathrow as they had sold our tickets. However, when we walked through arrivals to see our families it was amazing.
It is impossible to try and sum up this year in any way. All I can say is that it has been the happiest and most rewarding year of my life. I have fallen in love with Africa and however cringe it may sound my heart has remained in Otjikondo. The Stommels became my African family, Chelcie became my other half and the children are indescribable. I am so thankful to everyone who made my year possible, everyone who kept in contact with me and the many people who looked after my family while I was away. This year will stay with me for evermore.
love Me xxxx
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