2 Weeks in Congo
Each time I visit Bolingo Village it gets a little bit harder to leave. During my 2-week stay, I quickly grew to love our new village manager, met 10 new children that we have welcomed home since my last visit, and bonded more closely with our amazing staff. This makes goodbyes tougher, BUT it will make the next hello that much sweeter.
This visit brought several key takeaways that we’re excited to share with you. Here are the short and sweet versions:
Bias to Congo . This trip, more than ever, we experienced and acknowledged the vast cultural differences between the Congo and the U.S. Many aspects of living, from our work styles, to our day-to-day routines, are simply different. And that’s okay! We understand that sometimes our Congo staff thinks we’re crazy for how we do things and vice versa. However, we have now come to the very important conclusion that when it comes to our cultural differences, we should always have a bias to Congo.
Community
Bolingo Village has always been located inside a populated town; however, our land has always been pretty secluded. In fact, you had to drive about 5 – 10 minutes through the road we built to reach where other people lived. Not anymore. Every time we return to the village, more and more people have moved into our surrounding area. People are purchasing land and building near us, and fast! It’s become clear on this trip that the work we’re doing will not just be impacting the future children and residents of Bolingo. We will be creating and contributing to an entire community in more ways than we ever anticipated. This has us creating an updated vision for Bolingo’s future that involves us being the focal point of the community!
Bolingo Village is the Real Deal!
I was most looking forward to meeting the new kids on this trip to see how they were adapting to their new home. I was even prepared for some of them to not quite be comfortable yet. This could not have been farther from the truth. They had all already joined right in with the other kids. They were playing together, arguing, and bonding with their new mamas as though they had been here all along. Simply put, they were happy. This reaffirmed for me that Bolingo Village is the real deal. The GOF family is providing a love-filled, impactful, true childhood experience for these kids. There’s no better sight to see!
P.S. It’s also of the utmost importance that I introduce Bolingo Village’s newest member… Snoopy the dog!!!
Snoopy will be an added security measure for the village and will double as a therapy tool for children who have experienced trauma.