The 12 weeks and 2 Days living in Africa will always be remembered

Wow, how can I describe my time in Africa? I’ve had the privilege of visiting Malawi, Zimbabwe and Botswana. I have loved every moment of it and have become an African! Lol, seriously some people thought that I was half, especially when I had the rad braids haha. How will I ever be able to say goodbye to the people, continent, culture and my braids haha?

In the continent of Africa there has been many things learned, many opportunities to try new things, experiences to be grasped, the work of the Lord seen, and many relationships built!

Here are a list of a few things I will always remember in Africa:

1. Having deep intentional conversations with strangers that soon lead into friendships.
2. Sharing about who I am, my own people and language, the Navajo, because no one knows what ethnicity I am. So getting to connect with other people through tribes and languages is amazing! It’s another way to see God‘s Beauty.
3. Seeing Orion’s Belt and the rest of the indescribable beautiful blue/black night sky.
4. Riding in kombies aka local transport vans that fit 12 comfortably, but usually fit 19+ people.
5. Always seeing bright joyful smiles on people’s faces especially the children.
6. Having no electricity and no running water and enjoying each others company in the simplicity of the night.
7. Pumping water from a well and carrying buckets of water on the top of our heads just as the locals
8. Carrying 5L drinking water jugs back home in the blazing hot sun.
9. Driving two hours in a Kombi once a week from the village to the nearest city for the sole purpose of finding wifi and buying groceries for the week.
10. Extra long bus rides from country to country that were supposed to be 12 hours but turned into 24hrs.
11. Using squatty potties and sometimes going just outside the house at night because the outhouse was filled with roaches.
12. Having bonfires with the locals and some calling them bone-fires as they threw their goat bones into the fire.
13. Only eating noodles, pb and j’s, and tortilla, honey and peanut butter because we didn’t have a fridge. Grilled pb and j’s is a serious life changer.
14. Learning to hand wash all our clothes
15. Being surrounded by kids 24/7. Kids literally stand outside the house watching you.
16. Learning to farm (aquaponics and natural) and plant a variety of plants and crops.
17. Getting asked to be someone’s wife once a week and creating a fake husband that I’ve been married to for 2 years and has the character of Jesus! Haha this one was so funny!
18. Locals wanting to touch your skin and hair.
19. Getting called Auntie Kelsey by the local kids in Malawi.
20. Meeting people that are the most kind hearted, most loving, and hospitable human beings.
21. Seeing the beautiful green trees of Africa.
22. Getting caught in a torrential downpour that lasts 5 minutes and dancing in the rain.
23. Eating sudsa, nsima, and pap which are all the same in Africa, which is a staple maize meal.
24. Killing a chicken and eating it after we cooked it.
25. Getting to help butcher a goat for Christmas and being the one to clean out the intestines.
26. Eating wild animals like impala, kudu, giraffe, wildebeest, zebra, ostrich, and warthog.
27. Eating a worm called the Mopane Worm in Zimbabwe.
28. Having a Braii at least twice, which is essentially an African barbecue.
29. Going on a safari and riding alongside Sable and many other wild animals.
30. Petting rhino and Cape buffalo.
31. Running after a giraffe and watch it go majestically in slow motion.
32. Jumping off a bridge at Victoria Falls
33. Jumping off a power pole at the camp we worked at.
34. Climbing up a steep hill/mountain every morning to start ministry at 5:30am.
35. Working at an American Cafe in a rural village in Botswana.
36. Watching the Lord answer so many prayers!
37. Seeing the Lord provide countless times. One being fully funded!
38. Wearing and sweating in the same long skirt multiple days in a row without washing because it’s the 1 of 2 that you own and its required every day due to cultural expectations in the Malawian village
39. Learned some new songs and dances that the local children teach you.
40. Being part of something bigger for a community of people! Including being a camp leader to inspire and lead other young children closer to Christ.
41. Learned to start a fire by friction and with a soda can
42. Loving, serving, and encouraging the people of Africa.
43. Making others laugh!!!