Packing and getting organized to travel on a trip to Maranyundo Girls School always seems to have so many details to attend to. For some reason(s), packing and organizing for this trip seems especially intense. I guess it is because Joni and I are preparing to launch a writing project with the students. We have been planning our workshops, revising our lessons and gathering materials for several weeks.
I guess it is also because on this trip we will be accompanied by my grand-daughter Kaelen who will be experiencing this part of the African continent for the first time. I will be introducing her to the school that has been such an important addition to my career in education. I want her to see all the wonderful aspects of the school that keep me coming back year after year. I also want to learn from her impressions; to learn what she sees, looking at this school for the first time.
I have just re-read the last blog post I wrote in December while waiting fir the flight to leave for Boston from the Amsterdam airport. I was reflecting on how leaving MGS is a process, not a singular event. It reminded me that preparing and leaving to go to MGS is also a process. It also is a process full of possibilities and new opportunities to learn from the students and educators at MGS, to think about the ways that school is thoughtfully preparing students to respect one another, be responsible young people and look to developing their leadership skills for this still young century.
Last night, to calm my racing mind and be free from packing lists for a moment, I read this piece from John O’Donohue, a Blessing for the Traveler:
When you travel, you find yourself
Alone in a different way,
More attentive now
To the self you bring along,
Your more subtle eye watching
You abroad; and how what meets you
Touches the part of the heart
That lies low at home.
O’Donohue reminds me that as important as the planning and packing for travel must be, a traveler must also be aware that new, unplanned adventure can await and I must always be willing to look for those new ideas and possibilities that a trip to a Rwandan school may teach me.
But first, I must finish the packing!
Linda V Beardsley
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