Not a Village Anymore

I am shocked at the growth of Bunju A since I’ve last been here. Actually shocked is an understatement. I’ve never been one to deal with change that well but my god, what happened to ‘my’ little village. So many beautiful trees have disappeared. The population and number of cars are easily five times what they were. What was country land is smothered in homes and the volume of noise is astonishing. I never thought the traffic could get that much worse, I was so very wrong. I spent years learning about urban sprawl and always understood the enormity of its power but seeing it in action is beyond belief. When I first landed in Bunju A in 2009 city problems like crime, prostitution, corruption, pollution to name a few seemed so far away. Although some of our students would face this life once they left the walls of our schools, these issues were not of great concern. Now or in no time these issues will be very real for Bunju and very real for our students.

Despite all the changes there are many things about my home here that have remained the same. There are many familiar faces around town that still remember my name (remembering names has never been a skill of names but I don’t care who you are, after two years, that’s just amazing). Many of my friends and family are still here: Albert + his family, Simoni, Mwenda, Belinda, Babu’s sister to name a few. Of course many of my family have moved on to do other things and I miss their company already. Babu is still my rolly polly, mumbling, warm and funny grandfather. Bibi now has a beautiful grave in the yard with a little oasis that she would love. Every morning Babu makes his rounds on the property to check on his crops and animals and Bibi is perfectly placed so Babu can continue to spend time with his ‘beautiful bride.’

A day doesn’t go by in America that I do not think of my family here so seeing their smiles and feeling their love means the world to me. I can’t wait to reconnect with more friends and look forward to expanding my African family.

Per usual, I have hit the ground running with TEP work and have started to evaluate our past and current projects. I am working with our local point people here to get their feedback and will be reviewing their financials, goals and successes over the next few weeks. We also have a meeting with all of our important players that have been working incessantly on TEP projects since we have last been here and will finalize our plans for this summer as well as future projects once we have more donations.  

As always, thanks for reading and thank you for your support.

-Cassie