Learning Under a Canopy of Stars

It is no secret that I love the stars and some of my best memories in Africa have taken place under them. It should be one of the natural wonders of the world. When I look up, I am reminded I am so small and in the grand scheme of things, not that significant.

I am nearing the end of my first year here in Congo. Upon commencing my contract, I wasn’t sure how long I would stay – one year, two, maybe longer ?!  I am headed home to the States next week with the intention of returning for a second year. This past one hasn’t been easy. I, however, have learned and grown so much. For the first time in my life, I have felt free to do what I love – no school to go back to, no apartmenet to pay for, or other obligations tugging me in different directions. I have had the ability to be present in the here and now not really wondering what was next because this was it and for once I was ok with that.

Over the past year I have spent a significant amount of time filling positions, being several things to several people at the same time, and overseeing many responsibilites. I have obtained some valuable management skills, a second language, and a new experience in another African country I have learned to love despite all of its disfunction.

Throughout all of this time of long office hours and many days with only my Congolese staff to keep me company, they have become very near and dear to me. I wondered out the other night to give the garage keys to the guards, who I always enjoy talking to. They were lounging in the yard on their wooden chairs listening to the news transmitted in French, happy-go-lucky as usual.

Two of my favorite guards were working and they set out a place for me, as if anticipating my arrival. Due to their position, they do not have many tasks aside from maintaining security ; therefore, they always find the time to ask me how I am doing, how my day ways, and what is new in my life. The guards probably know me better than anyone else on my base : they have seen me in my pajamas, seen me when I am sick, they witness the amount of hours I spend in my office, and at the end of every day when I wearily walk home at night.

I pulled up a chair. We shared our day together which then easily shifted to topics such as politics, what life used to be like here, our families, rememberance of past employees, arranged marriages, and my vacation plans. While sitting there engulfed in darkness covered by the stars these are the moments I treasure the most. I easily forgot the trials of the day, my laundry list to be completed before checking out, and the un-read emails still left in my inbox at 9pm. My mind finally slowed down. We exchanged stories, experiences, opinions, and ideas together. Even though many things separate us such as culture, age, race, and gender we are also beautifully connected merely by shared time and space under the African sky.

These are the small, significant moments that shape my life. These are the special people who day in and day out, little by little, mold me into the person I am. Of all that I will take away from this experience the past year, the most meaningful, impacting, and important is to always remember to stop, pull up a chair, gaze at the stars, and listen to the heart of someone else.