Travel from Thailand to Laos:
This was one of my more insane travel days. The entire squad met in Bangkok, and to get to Laos we took an overnight train to the Thailand/Laos border near Vientiane (the capital of Laos). Out seats on the train were like the hard plastic formed seats like one would find on a subway, and our seats were assigned so we were mixed in with locals (and live chickens…and large boxes of produce). Some of the windows also could not be closed so the ride got quite chilly (or…freezing). We struggled to get comfortable and attempted to get some sleep. When we managed to doze off a bit…at around 2 am, the train stops at another town as is usual, but when the doors open on walk people selling a variety of food, from ramen to fish soup, all of them yelling SAWATEEKAAH (hello in Thai) and walking up and down the aisle of the train for about 30 minutes. The smell of fish and ramen filled the train and all hope of getting any more sleep disappeared leaving us all exhausted, cramped up, and grumpy. We got off the train near the Laos border took a bus to the border, crossed with no issues and dispersed to our ministry locations.
Month 7: Laos (January)
This was my first month with a new team. We helped at a school that taught students skills, such as cooking and cleaning (for the women), and construction and engineering (for the men). Everyone learned English too. This would enable them to find jobs more easily in their society, which can be very difficult. We helped dig holes in preparation for a new kitchen as well as painting, staining, cleaning, and other odd jobs that needed to get done around the school and to help the teachers. My head lice also came back (but this time we successfully purged my head of the parasites).
Travel from Laos to Cambodia:
This travel day was a bus adventure. We took a sleeper bus from Vientiane to the Cambodian border. We got charged an overstay fee though we had 3 more days on our visas. We then proceeded to a bus that took us to another bus station, and we ultimately bussed to Phnom Penh.
Month 8: Cambodia (February)
This month I taught English in a public school as well as 2 classes in a private school in Kampot. I had 2 classes of elementary age students, and another class of high school boys. We had basically no internet access this month, which took away a lot of distractions and helped us to come together as a team and really focus in on our relationships with Jesus.
We also had opportunities to visit the killing fields near Phnom Penh which helped me understand the social context that we were entering into as well as forcing me to confront how I handle and what I really believe about evil and humanity in this world.
Travel from Cambodia to Philippines:
We flew from Phnom Penh to Manila with a layover in Malaysia. Thankfully we had little issue on this travel day.
Month 9: Philippines (March)
This month I worked with Kids International Ministries. I helped at a children’s home, built relationships with girls at a girls home, and helped at some feedings around Manila. We were well taken care of and it was really awesome being a part of a ministry that we knew we were truly being a help. We saw how we were fulfilling needs, and I enjoyed being around the kids more than I anticipated.
Travel from Philippines to Swaziland:
We flew from Manila to Johannesburg with a layover in Qatar, then our contacts drove us from South Africa to Swaziland.
Month 10: Swaziland (April)
This month I got to help with (and attend) a sports ministry conference. It was very exciting for me since I’m hoping to use soccer ministry in the future. The conference really helped give me more of a grasp on what sports ministry looks like and how useful it can be. I also helped at a preschool a couple of times and one Sunday I helped with the children’s ministry during the service. This month was a month of rest for me, which helped me prepare for a very busy Month 11.
Travel from Swaziland to South Africa:
Our Swaziland contact drove us to the bus station in Johannesburg where my team’s contact picked us up and brought us to our ministry.
Month 11: South Africa (May)
This month we worked in a children’s home. We were up and ready to go by 6am and we finished after getting the kids in bed around 7pm. We took care of children by age group according to a schedule. We changed diapers, gave baths, played, read stories, fed them, and cleaned around the home for 10-12 hours a day. It was exhausting and wonderful.
We concluded our Race in Cape Town for a week. We got to explore and I even got a tour of the World Cup stadium (there’s a 50% chance I was in the same locker room as Tim Howard!). It was a wonderful conclusion…then our final travel day came…
Travel from South Africa to HOME:
Our first flight from Cape Town to Johannesburg got cancelled. We were all put up in hotels for the night and we ultimately got a flight to Johannesburg the next afternoon. We did not have a connecting flight for a while, but ultimately, after flight delays, boarding, deplaning, and reboarding and running through the Qatar airport we landed in Chicago a mere 25 hours behind schedule. During this 60ish hour travel day I developed conjunctivitis (pink eye) in both of my eyes and an upper respiratory infection that I had been battling for a few weeks decided to come out in full force, so my first stop in America was an ER to try to get healthy, and I got significantly better within a week.
