Following today’s coffee break, the workshop participants and organizers gathered together for a brief good-bye “ceremony” where several community leaders each said a few words of thanks for what I had helped them begin to achieve, then anyone else who wanted to say something was also given the opportunity to do so briefly. Finally, I was also asked if I wanted to add anything to what I had already said at the beginning of the day.
One of those who spoke mentioned that Thionck-Essyl had not yet had enough of me, so he expressed the desire for me to return sometime in the future. In my closing remarks, I followed up on that comment by saying that I also had not had enough of Thionck-Essyl, affirming my pleasure with all that I had experienced while among them. This remark drew bright smiles and noises of appreciation from my audience—my friends.
Thinking back on my experience there, my emotions bubble to the surface and my eyes begin to water. Somehow I became quite attached to this community, developing significant relationships with a number of those who were involved in the workshop, the strongest of which was with Mo Préfet, whom I wrote about yesterday. He shared with me, as we continued our collaboration on translation after the thank-you ceremony, that he had not said anything there because he has difficulty controling his emotions when he has to say good-bye to a friend. That statement communicated a ton of emotion and reinforced the friendship that has developed between us. He then gave me his phone number and asked me to call him on Monday before leaving Senegal, saying that he wants to hear my voice once more before I leave the country.
What a privilege it is to have been given the opportunity to impact the lives of these individuals whom God created and loves!
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