New Year’s Eve 2012

Tuesday 1 January 2013

Almost half past 12, New Year’s Eve, I am sitting in the kitchen with a cup of tea. It is quiet in the house, just a moment alone to melancholically think back to all the events of recent years and to realise that time flies. I’m always a bit emotional on an evening like this, I don’t know why. Memories come back, when 14 years old is hanging out with your friends, smoking cigarettes under the guise of handy for lighting fuses. Running home 5 to 12, stowing an oil ball inside and wishing everyone a Happy New Year and then going out on the streets again at 5 to 12 and passing the homes of friends and family to wish them a Happy New Year and light up fireworks. The New Year’s Eve in the desert under the stars in Australia, which I thought was going to be the most boring night ever and which turned out to be one of the most beautiful nights of my life… The nights you were really looking forward to because it’s New Year’s Eve and you pay a huge amount of money for a party and in the end it is very disappointing. Here you just go to bed on time and wake up in the New Year, no flares in the bush bush or big parties. In Kampala we do, but here we quietly go into the new year and tomorrow we just go back to work.

Surrounded by pictures of friends and family I realise how rich I am with so many sweet people around me and how much I miss them. Thoughts about living in the Netherlands regularly come to mind and of course I make a far too romantic picture of that. Eventually I will have to work hard there as well and I won’t go for a nice walk on the beach/forest every week with friends and babies in the buggy or bake biscuits regularly with the kids, which I would like to do, but which is often not feasible. Every time I give myself a time limit, in 3 years time I will go back to the Netherlands and do the nursing training, but will I ever be able to leave Uganda behind and start all over again? Time will tell and who knows… someday I will be ready to take the step, but at the moment there are still too many responsibilities here that I can’t let go of yet, so I will certainly continue to do my best in 2013 to help the people here and make the projects a success.
The past year has been another fantastic year. A new work permit for 3 years, a wonderful holiday in the Netherlands with the girls, the land title, the start of the department for malnourished children. We stayed healthy again although the stomach has a bit more complaints this year than before, can’t hurt the line. The children who are doing well at school and are growing up to be independent orphans, who look to the future with a positive outlook. The beautiful nature and the sweet people keep touching me.
Of course there are good intentions, regularly go to bed on time, have all Christmas cards arrive on time, do yoga more often and write more updates for the site. Maybe next year it will be possible…….
At this moment it’s 12 o’clock and I wish you all a healthy and wonderful New Year!

Good night
Kim