May the last one left turn off all the lights....!

Today saw the departure of Dan and Helen, 2 good friends and VSO volunteers who were part of my intake back in October 2009. As I write this entry I can actually say they are literally up in the air, flying back to the UK after completing their placements.

When saying goodbye to each other in Lusaka, we reminisced about the old days meeting on the BA Flight from London to Lusaka on that grey cold British evening. I remember that day like it was yesterday. I remember the heat from the morning sun as we landed into Zambia at 7am. With excitement we greeted each other and the rest of our intake in the arrivals section of Lusaka airport, nervously clutching our backpacks and 2 years worth of belongings. Our belongings contained the usual essentials - insect repellent, hand sanitiser, sun protection and a land-line telephone (how did that get into my bag!!?)

Now fast forward 2 years and its over. I’m the last one left from our intake! There were 7 of us so a pretty small group, however we all managed to complete our placements even though some of us ended up doing different things to what was originally planned. I’ve still got a few weeks to go until I’m packing my stuff up and it will be a challenge saying goodbye to a place that has almost become like home.

I am looking forward to seeing friends and family. I miss my Mum! I’m also looking forward to catching up on X factor. OK, I haven’t watched television for 2 years and so I think I deserve a bit of good old Saturday night with Simon Cowell !!

As the October 09 Seven (as we like to call ourselves), I’m really proud of how we coped in those early days of uncertainty. We asked the usual questions, what will our job be like, how will we react to the heat, the food, the culture, the beer!?

When Dan, Helen and I reminisced and said our goodbyes, we laughed about how ‘old hat’ we had become. Zambia wasn’t foreign to us anymore. We were no longer the cool newbies in town. We’re now used to the bureaucracy, the culture, the relaxed, open way of life. We’re now even used to the weather (I can’t believe how cold 28 degrees is nowadays!) Somehow I think we have learned and gained so much more than we have given and despite the ups and down, I would do it all over again....