Today was an early morning, the earliest morning yet for us. There was no sun in sight as we lugged our bags to the back of the bus.
No goodbye is ever easy, and this one was a lot harder than I could have imagined. Leaving a place we called home and the people that made up our special family for 3 weeks. Especially Raksha, our guide. If you ask me, she’s undoubtedly the most wonderful person in India. With her kind heart and multiple languages she always made our trips a success.
As our final night came to an end we all pondered about how different life will be, we won’t step out our doors to a group of friends. Things were going to change. But we all looked forward to returning to our families and sleeping in an air conditioned room.

Although the outcome of our trip seemed unknown most of the time, we eventually found our purpose, implemented or suggested solutions that “lit a spark” for the community as Arron would say. We started a change that would not have happened without us. The community accepted us and showed their thanks with many smiles and a lovely bunch of flowers. We all felt very appreciated. That gave us a hook that made us want to stay and continue to encourage change.

I felt that knot in my stomach, as we drove away. I did not want to leave. Knowing I had 30+ hours of travel before arriving home motivated me to stay. But we were on our way, back home again.