Everyday I am among the last to say goodbye. Sala Kahle- Stay Well. Hamba Kahle- Go Well. Impatient looks glare at me from the bus. It is time to leave our Brettonwood learners again, and I don't want to. I stay a little longer. Engage them a little more. Relish a few more smiles; take in a few more stories; entertain a few more requests to come back with me to the States. Just a little longer.
Can I do it again? Can I go again with one of the learners to meet her beaming mother? Hear again how she rushes home everyday to share with her family what it means to spend just a few hours with her new "sister"? I mean really, does it have to end? Do I have to turn in the worksheet that describes the Building Global Bridges team as the "group that makes living in Kenneth Gardens better"? Let me read it again. Please.
Do we absolutely have to leave the children that rejuvenate me everyday? If so, can I at least hear them again ask that I pose for a picture because I am someone important in their lives? What about another hug? Especially since my learners held me super tight because they knew they would not see me again until Thursday? Too long. Much too long. So how about it? Impatient eyes stare holes in me from the bus. No? Ok.
Sala Kahle- Stay Well. Hamba Kalhe- Go Well. A distinction that was made clear to me today by one of our brilliant learners, Andile. "If you are leaving, then you should say "Sala Kahle".
Ok. I'm coming. "Sala Kahle Andile"
Morgan
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