Claire can't wrap her head around leaving this place

Over the past few days, I have been receiving messages from friends and family about when I will be arriving home. When I tell them the date, they respond with excitement, but I just can’t wrap my head around leaving. I am now becoming more and more aware of how different life is going to be like back at home. When Eric came home last year, he mentioned how it was hard for him to talk about what he had experienced here because it was hard for people to engage in conversations about the racial differences and disparities that we have seen here. I believe this is going to be the hardest challenge. I am going to want to tell people what I’ve seen and talked about, but it’s hard to care to a certain extent when they have no idea how different life is 8,000 miles away. While here, I have also learned to be more independent, especially having to live in a house and cook and clean for myself. I know it’s going to be nice going home to meals cooked for me, but I think the adjustment process is going to take a little while.

One of my favorite parts about being here in Cape Town is working with the Khayelitsha Firefighters Football Club. Yesterday, we brought 6 huge garbage bags of donations filled with new soccer balls, cleats, shorts/shirts/uniforms, shin guards and other equipment for the team to use. As we were laying the stuff out on the ground, the kids were so excited. They aren’t often able to get new cleats and balls due to lack of funds at home. Seeing a few kids get these new things almost brought tears to my eyes. It really shows how a little goes a long way here in Cape Town. What might be someone’s old cleats from 5 years ago are someone else’s brand new cleats that they will have for the next few years. On Easter weekend, the Firefighters will be hosting a tournament at Mandela Park with about 20 other teams in the surrounding area. I am excited that we will be here for that, helping manage and run their first home tournament! Although we still have a lot of prep to do, it is going to be so worth it in the end. With the money that we have fundraised for them, we are going to purchase new uniforms for the team, sign them up for a soccer league and use some money for transportation to all their various tournaments. These kids deserve so much and it makes me so happy to see them smile