The End Is Near

This Wednesday morning is the last morning I will wake up in Zambia before returning to Canada. I leave for Nairobi, Kenya that day to visit another project similar to the Lazarus Project. I will be there until March 6, when I will fly to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania to visit Claudia. I have the opportunity to spend two weeks relaxing before I fly back to Nairobi on March 20 and then on to London and then Toronto. I will be back on Canadian soil March 21 in the evening. I must say I am looking forward to seeing everyone again and catching up with how you are doing.

My time here has been great, an adventure I won't soon forget. I still remember when I got off the plane the first time I arrived here. The airport is one of the smallest international airports I have ever seen.

I would like to take some time to remember some of the highlights from my experience here. The same week arrived, I had the chance to meet the first lady of Germany with UNICEF. Since then I've been stranded with the truck for three and a half hours with two drums of diesel in the middle of a fuel crisis, I've played countless games of football, Claudia came and we say Victoria Falls, we went to South Africa, I've fixed a tractor, I've plowed a field, I've planted a field (and it's still alive!), I've joined a choir (as the sound technician), I've had two attempted robberies, and I helped put in an electric fence.

If you had asked me at the beginning what I wanted to accomplish here, the list would have been much longer. Although there was much more I wanted to do, I can only imagine all of the 'unwritten' things I have done. For five and half months, I have been a co-worker and a friend for Paul and Nchimunya. During this time, I have become an uncle and brother to so many boys that just need to be loved. If that is all I accomplish here, then it is enough. I am so glad Claudia was here to witness my most memorable moment at the project. We had come back from Livingstone and just got back to the project when little Lazarus saw me and came running. He yelled out "Uncle Dan!!" and gave me a big hug.

In that moment, what was previously unseen became seen, heaven came to earth to remind us what it feels like to be loved...and I wouldn't trade it for anything.

In the words of Five Iron Frenzy...

"Only You can make every new day seem so new."

So long and farewell from Zambia.

The End Is Here