Exodus

Posted by Ali

This week has seen the populations of the CoL apartment shrink from eight to five. Those of us left here feel the huge loss of comrades quite strongly. Last Saturday night Darren and his driver Gabo took six of the CoL volunteers and Simon and me out to eat at Rivertrees, a nearby lodge.

The girls (L-R: Dolly, Shae, Kezia, Danielle, me, Anika)

Before the sun rose the next morning, Dolly (aka Heather) crept off our campus, took a bus to Dar es Salaam and flew home to the U.K. She was here for a month, during her vacation from her nursing job, and we will miss her presence at Cradle, her experience in curing burns, cuts and scrapes, her refreshing opinions and her amazing food!

At lunchtime, Anika, Danielle, Kezia and I walked to Tanz-Hands cafe for Anika's farewell lunch. She brought 'her baby' James and he thoroughly enjoyed being the sole recipient of our attention. He also loved the cake and banana milkshake Anika bought him:) Shae was able to run over for a few minutes between looking after the kids and feeding lunch.

James enjoying a banana milkshake with Anika at Tanz-Hands

That evening Anika spent her last night at Cradle feeding the babies, helping the nannies bathe and dress them after supper, and playing with the toddlers before snackie and bedtime. It was just as hard to watch her do these things for the final time as it was when Ashley left us in October. When Anika got in the Land Cruiser for her ride to the airport we promised to take care of James for her and silently wondered how the apartment would change with her gone. Five of us arrived here the same week and Danielle, Kezia and I have not known Cradle without Anika. Her German-British accent and the way she says "LEE-zarde," her voracious appetite and possessiveness of her food, her James-crying impersonations and, most of all, her doting attention to James and love for the babies at Cradle can never be replicated by another volunteer.

We managed to make it until Friday without losing any more volunteers. But finally Friday did come, and with it, Shae's last day. On Thursday (as you'll remember from my previous post) I had an unexpected day off, so I used it to spend some extra time at the baby home and to go to the pool with some other volunteers for some time in the sun. It was a wonderful surprise and a great way to spend Independence Day. On Friday I left work a bit early and went to Rotterdam (the local restaurant, not the city) for lunch with Davona, Shae, Danielle and Kezia. It was my first time eating there and I'll definitely go back! Buffet-style Tanzanian food is amazing! I spent the rest of the afternoon and evening at Cradle with Shae and the other girls. Then once the kids were in bed we went upstairs and Shae did her final preparations to fly home after her six months of living in Tanzania. Danielle, Kezia and I were able to go to the airport with Shae and we spent much of the drive talking about Cradle, the babies, Shae's special baby Happy, and what life will be like for her back in America. Although it was a sad goodbye at the airport, we are planning to see Shae in Tanzania again in May when she comes back and before the rest of us leave so it wasn't a final-goodbye type of farewell, just a goodbye-for-six-months type. Those of us who remain here on the ADRA/CoL campus already miss Shae's insights and advice on everything from Tanzania to boys to how to deal with difficult day-to-day situations.

Shae and Pendo at Rotterdam restaurant

It's been hard to lose so many good friends and fellow volunteers this week, but at least this should be the last of the mass volunteer departures while I'm here. And I'm glad because saying goodbye to three people in one week is too many. Dolly, Anika and Shae, although we'll miss you all a lot at the CoL apartment, we wish you well as you integrate back into your home countries, cultures and families!