Back to the Dutch coast

July 8th, 2009

The last few weeks in Congo have flown by.
Still so much to do, still so much to organise.
And with the situation changing constantly, the work is never done.

The Congolese love official speeches.
Every last meeting, every event, includes a goodbye speech.
It’s very nice but it doesn’t make my leaving any easier for me.

Early in the morning the local team is there to wave goodbye to us. They are the real heroes.

My final meeting with my nurses. I want to make it special so I’ve baked a giant banana cake. As usual, I begin the meeting with a half hour “English lesson”. My Congolese colleagues are extremely eager to learn English. For that reason, I’ve named Monday “English day” and every Monday I try to act as much like an English teacher as possible. Today I have brought my computer with me. I want to use the lyrics of a song in my lesson. That’s why Lenny Kravitz’s song “Let love rule” rings through the hospital corridors on this final Monday. I think it’s a good wish for Congo.

The goodbye party thrown for me and my colleague (we’re leaving together) is fantastic. After the mandatory and lengthy speeches, we eat, drink and dance together to Congo beats. I have to change my outfit three times to do justice to all of the beautiful clothes I’ve been given.

Then it’s time to go. I am very sad to leave, to leave behind my colleagues and friends. To leave a country in which the situation facing the population is just as poor and sad as the day I arrived. But it is time. I am very tired and don’t have the same energy I had in the beginning.

Early in the morning the local team is there to wave goodbye to us. They are the real heroes. The “national staff” is ready to support the people day in, day out, year after year. I am going back to relax and bathe in Dutch luxury and love. But they will keep going, with unbelievable dedication, time after time.

They are irreplaceable.

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