Impact

Living in Rwanda, I constantly questioned the impact that I was having and now, sitting in the airport at Amsterdam waiting for my connecting flight after a 10+ hour flight, I can see what impact I had on people and vice versa.  

My final farewell as you can well imagine, was somewhat teary and bitter-sweet.  The last 48 hours in the village was filled with countless visits, copious amounts of beer and many verbal blessings.  I was overwhelmed by the people who called me, texted me, whatsapped me, visited me to TELL me the impact that I had in their lives and within the community.  Whilst I take much of it with a pinch of salt, I was touched nonetheless by the types of people who seemed to come out of nowhere to thank me for my time in Rwanda - from bus-taxi drivers, sector executives, the quietest of TTC colleagues, shop keepers, children and neighbours.  Despite being such an obvious presence within my village, I often felt anonymous, nameless and unknown.

Back in London (and other countries I've visited/lived in), I've always had the luxury of people KNOWING me - who know my emotions just by looking at me or hearing my ‘hey’, where words are over-rated and sometimes silent prayers spoken over each other is all that is needed.  I missed this immensely in Rwanda - but the last few days have shown me that I had this.

It's not only within the community of Cyahinda that I had this but my VSO friends are amazing too.  London living is/was convenient (although I didn't often appreciate it!) - having a car and being able to see someone in 10mins is sheer luxury - or even being able to jump on a bus at anytime in the day and night, and I hear there are plans for the tube to go 24/7 too?!  But in Rwanda, despite needing to spend hours on end (whether waiting for buses to fill or the actual length of the journey), squashed till your inners are ready to pop out, just to see one-another…we did it.  Most of my friends left for their Easter holiday before I flew back to London and yet on my flight day and still now, I am receiving Whatsapp/Facebook messages and photos to bless my journey.  These are the types of friendships that under normal circumstances may have taken years to nurture and in some instances, may never have even formed...but these haven't been the most conventional 19 months of my life...

And then I cannot forget my friends and family back home.  Cards, letters and care-parcels from all over the world - from Costa Rica and Mexico, USA, Hong Kong, Japan, Australia and of course UK...I have been reminded of God's blessings over and over again - from people I have not spoken to in years on end to my sisters and cousins who sent me regular 'survival packages' - my heart is filled beyond capacity.  Yes, I am getting sentimental and emotional, I think it's the lack of sleep and having been travelling for 24+hrs...

So, I leave you with this (taken from a previous post and expanded upon): even the smallest of pebbles will make ripples, sometimes you don't know how far they stretch but you've made an impact.