Shae's log: Goodbye to Kezia

Its been a week of goodbyes.

On Monday, my mother (Happy’s Bibi) left to return to America. We were all sad to see her go, but it was a great visit and I am glad she came with me to meet Happy and experience a little of Tanzanian life.

On Wednesday, I met up with my friend Kezia who is a current volunteer at Cradle. We went to visit the orphanage at Nkoaranga where Miriam, one of our Cradle of Love graduates now lives. I had never been to that orphanage before and I wanted to see it for myself. Miriam was/is Kezia’s “baby” so I went along to take pictures for Kezia as Kezia is returning home to Denmark. I only have a few pix from my camera as I took the majority on Kezia’s… and then forgot to swap photos before she returned home to Denmark! Oops.

Anyway, here is the final moments when Kezia had to put her “baby” down for a nap. After I snapped those last images, I stepped outside the room and quietly cried in the hallway. My heart was breaking for my friend as I know the agony of leaving behind a child of whom you love so much. Kezia came out and we stood in the hall and cried together. And then, as quietly as we entered, we were gone.

Since Kezia had to fly out of Nairobi, she spent the night with me and Happy on Friday and traveled with a friend to the airport on Saturday. It was nice having her here with us and visiting before she went home. We were flatmates when I lived at Cradle last year, so it was nice to see her off after all these months. She even let me repack her bags as I was convinced I could get all her loose stuff in them and I did! Anyway, it was good having everyone come see her off. I know that when I left last year, having a support system behind me as I flew off into the proverbial sunset was key to my sanity. And I hope that we were a support to Kezia when she left. We’ll miss you girl!

~Shae