Masalaama

Wow. The time has come for me to leave Darfur. I must say, it is harder to leave Darfur than it is to leave Haiti. I have not yet figured out why because I spent much more time in Haiti. (Maybe I will figure it out one day soon). Saying goodbye all of the time has always been emotionally draining, but this time, it has hit me harder. I must say, Darfur is one place that I judged the most before coming. Sure, I didn’t expect it to be like TV or the news, but I wasn’t expecting it to grasp my heart so.

When I was in Haiti praying and researching on where I felt like I should go next, I just had a feeling it would be somewhere influenced by Islam and probably more “unstable” than I have been in the past. I’ll be honest, when the e-mail of whether or not I was interested in my current job came up, I thought, “I’ll say okay, but I’m scared!” I guess I wasn’t expecting the job to actually come through, but it did and I’m so glad it did. I’ll admit that I was not happy with the fact that I was having work visa issues, I could not see how this was a part of the plan! But when I look at it now, it all makes sense (although that doesn’t make it any easier to leave). So it’s once again time to say “ma salaama” (bye).

Thank you to my fellow co-workers who even though I will not be working with you right now, you continue to inspire me. I will think of the advice given and the memories and laughs shared, as they will probably continue to make me laugh for a long time to come, along with how “proper” I now am thanks to all of you!

And to Sudan: thank you for showing me your suffering. Thank you for showing me the beauty of resilience and the power of forgiveness. Thank you for showing me the strength of faith and of love. Although I physically leave, I will not forget you. What I have seen and heard, has taken a part of my heart. I will continue to pray for your beautiful people, for continued hope and for peace.

Who knows, I can hope that one day I will be reunited with you, in some way, in the day when I am sure that other countries can look to you for THEIR hope and strength.

You have prepared me for the next step. Without you, I would not be prepared for it, of that I am sure. Although I gave all the best that I could, considering the circumstances, I wish I could have given you more.

Next step: Somaliland

Inshallah

-Patty