My arrival in Pointe-Noire (August 1, 2008)

I’m home! I arrived in Pointe-Noire, Republic of Congo on June 3rd, exhausted but in one piece. I was thrilled to see both my parents waiting for me at the airport, as well as my adopted Yaya (older brother) Viclaire.

After resting from the two 9-hour flights to get here, reality set it. This Is Africa (TIA). Nothing is ever what you plan, the timing is always off, and you must be flexible or you will be broken. I was reminded of this when I found out that, surprise! I would be translating for a team of young Americans during their 3-week stay in Congo! I panicked, not feeling prepared for this overwhelming responsibility. I haven’t even spoken French in over 4 years!

…Perhaps I should first explain my relationship with Congo, Central Africa. I grew up here, and Pointe-Noire is my hometown. Because French is the official trade language, I naturally grew up speaking it fluently for the 14 years that I spent here as a child. I also went to a French grade school and later attended an American boarding school in Kenya, East Africa. For me, home is on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean and a few hours from the tropical African rainforest. My family came here to work as missionaries, and no childhood could have been better than mine. When I graduated high school I decided to go to college in the United States. I wanted to do something that would help my beloved country, and that was how That Congo Thing was born. And now, after an absence of 4 years, I’m finally home.

As much as I can complain about power outages, water shortages, hot humid weather and giant bugs, I honestly love it here. My panic over my new job as a translator quickly subsided as I reminded myself that my reason for coming was very simple: to help. If my parents needed me to do something, not matter how hard or easy, great or seemingly insignificant, I would do it gladly knowing it would help them out.

The team of 5 college students from Texas turned out to be very nice people, and a delight to work with and talk to. With this experience, not only did my French improve, but the young people on the team have turned out to be wonderful friends, and I have really learned a lot from them. They came to encourage the youth groups in the local churches and so we had a service almost every evening! My voice tired quickly from translating and I felt like my French was not up to par, but I could tell that their presence was appreciated. Thank you Josh, Dara, Jackie, Bridget, and Stephanie for answering God’s call and spending part of your summer with us in Congo!