My trip to Burkina Faso was a great success! I'm happy to report that the 10 days passed quickly and, as expected, I'm thrilled to have had the opportunity to work with this team. Thoughts of our journey into parenthood were with me all the way, but it was refreshing to have a forced focus on work, for which I feel a great personal passion. Talking to people about their daily lives is what I thrive on. I value their input into the work we're trying to do, in this case providing solar power to schools and health clinics. If the systems don't work for them when we're not around, they won't work. We spent a lot of time troubleshooting and developing maintenance plans to keep things running.
It was rewarding to be useful in providing translation, but it was also a real treat to be immersed in a West African culture again. It was also fun to be reminded of how casually our West African counterparts develop friendships with us and how genuine their laughter and acceptance in life is. Although this community was predominantly Christian and Niger is populated by Muslims, some regional cultural norms transcend religious practices and it just felt like home.
Still, I came home hoping to learn of our baby's due date and if there were any current updates on the progress with the paperwork surrounding this process. Nothing to report on that front. In this final home stretch, we're about a month away, I'll be focused on important meditations we learned in training about staying grounded like a 100 year old tree is connected to the earth. There is going to be a lot that rocks the boat in the next few weeks, but if we can remember that this is all unfolding as it should and at the right pace, we'll be able to ride the waves. I saw a lot of trees on my trip that will aid in this focus on staying grounded. The strong Fig tree is a constant reminder of longevity and maintaining roots to our solid foundation.
