Arrivée au Congo !

After 20 hours of traveling, we arrived in Congo.  We knew we were back in Africa when the windows of the plane fogged immediately upon landing, and my heart skipped a beat to be back in the place I love so dearly.

The familiar face and wide grin of our local coordinator, Jean, was a wonderful sight at the airport. With 6 out of 7 bags in tow (and hoping the last will be here Tuesday!) we loaded up in the van to trek our way through the city of Pointe-Noire to the nighttime sights of barbecuing and after-dark gatherings.

Coming into the walls and door of Mwana in some ways was like coming back home. The welcoming arms and beautiful smile of Madie; the happy faces of two “mamas” (caregivers) who had so dearly loved my own two children from the day they arrived to the day they left Mwana…these were sights that made my heart swell.

The children were asleep by the time we arrived, and truly the sense of peace walking down the hall and peeping into each bedroom was overwhelming. Each baby and child, clad in his or her footed pjs, was sleeping deeply and quietly, just as any child does at the end of another happy, playful day at home.

After a wonderful meal and a long dredge of the quietness in the home—a calm that would surely be lost to the songs, laughter, chaos and joy of the children’s busy playing the next day, we called in a night. Congo, it’s good to be back, and we can’t wait to see what you have in store in the next week.