Packing

It's a difficult thing to do – leaving everything you love.  I love home.  I love my grandparents, my parents and siblings and extended family.  I love my friends. I love my bedroom and my pet dog.  I love road trips and weekend adventures.  But it’s probably that appetite for adventure which allowed the whispers of flight to materialize into action.  So where did the whispers come from? By nature I’m an incredibly curious person.  I often find myself wondering how things work.  I find delight in exploring and discovering.  Naturally this leads me to sometimes wonder what the lives of other people around the world might be like.  What’s happening in the developing world?  What is their culture like? What are the people like? Why don’t they have what I have?  Do they even need or want what I have in Canada? Why are things unbalanced?  And why is humanity so broken anyway?  I’m not naive enough to think I will find answers to all these questions.  Nonetheless, it was time for me to find a way into the developing world and scratch the surface.  So now I’m on my way to work with Mennonite Economic Development Associates doing an IT internship in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.  The project I will be involved in is the Tanzania National Voucher Scheme, but I’m sure I’ll have plenty of opportunity to discuss the details of my job position in future entries.  Today I’m focusing on what it’s like to leave.  And of course the emotions are intermingled…yet I find that when I suppress my apprehension, I’m excited to live in a new culture. When I suppress the sadness of leaving family, I find I hope to make new friendships.  I hope to find creative and practical ways to serve the local community.  I hope that I will find my work meaningful.  I hope that the sacrifice will be worth it.