Bonne Arrivée Tats!

The past few days have most definitely been a whirlwind. In the best possible way.

I arrived in Cotonou, Benin on Saturday night around 8:30pm local time. The next hour was spent going through the process to enter the country and then waiting for my bags. I had arrived to Brussels from Chicago very early on Saturday morning, so my bags were obviously some of the first ones on the plane. Therefore, they were the last ones off the plane! I had a little Beninese helper. Men work at the airport for a living gathering people’s bags and taking them to their car for them. I felt bad for the guy! We just kept waiting and waiting. I finally got all 4 bags that equaled 200 pounds total and we were on our way through to the next room where they can search your bags if necessary and also make sure that your baggage claim tickets match the numbers on your bags. This helps decrease theft. One of my bags was of course chosen to search and I just laughed. I told the guard, “You’re not going to fine anything in there except clothes for a bunch of orphans in Sakete.” He say, “Oh! Ok. It’s fine. It’s fine.” And then tried to coax me into staying in Cotonou with him and not going to Sakete. No thank you sir. I have got an agenda to keep and you are most definitely not part of it!

Typically you walk out of this room with the guards in it into a large gathering room that loved ones are waiting in. This large room was completely empty! I look up at the clock. 9:22pm. Well, sure hope Ashley and Jon didn’t get tired of waiting for me and leave me. They were waiting outside where everyone has to wait now and could see me the whole time. I guess my face said it all! I kept walking toward the exit door and saw a mob of people gated off at the entrance. Still have my little helper guy with me pushing 2 of my bags on a cart and I have the other 2. I finally see Ashley first. Her little 5 foot nothing body is jumping up and down waving and waving. Then I see Jon and before I know it Mathias was right in front of me, busting through the crowd to hug his Tats. The second I saw Ashley jumping up and down I felt it. Home. I had felt it quite a few times within the last hour….

Butterflies in my stomach when the plane landed in Cotonou…

Being overtaken by the muggy, thick air when I walked out of the plane…

Hearing French…

Greeting everyone you pass with a “Hello!” or a “How are you?”…

And then Ashley, Jon and Mathias standing right there in front of me. I just kept saying over and over again, “I Cannot believe I am here right now!” It almost felt like a dream.

Some of the kids were on their way to Cotonou from Sakete to greet me at the airport and there was a problem with the taxi they were in. They arrived at the airport soon after I got out to the car and I just felt like I couldn’t get my arms around them fast enough. They had on their t-shirts I had made for them, all matching and just so darn cute I could hardly stand it!!!

We all left the airport to make the 2 hour drive to Sakete. We stopped by the orphanage on our way into town. It was midnight by this point and the kids were fast asleep! One of our cooks was waiting up and ran out to hug me. I went up to the house and woke up all the sleepyheads. Pretty sure most of them thought they were each dreaming. I was kissing them all over the place. Hugging them. Couldn’t get enough!

Jon took me up to show me the dorm. It’s so incredible. It was amazing, even by flashlight. All I could keep thinking is, when I was here this spring we broke ground on this project. And now, it’s this huge, fantastic home!! When I arrived last time that land was the soccer field and now it’s where the children will all soon be living. I was overwhelmed with gratefulness to be part of all of that. To be part of any of it, really.

How did I get so lucky?

To know these people. To know these kids. To be given the opportunity to help make their lives a little better. To be given the opportunity to love them. And to have them love me. And to have them make my life a whole lot better.

How did I get so lucky?

I am not sure, but that night when we arrived at Jon and Ashley’s apartment and I laid down for the first time in 2 days, my heart was overwhelmed with joy. I’m not sure how I got so lucky, but that night under the cool fan and dark sky of Sakete, Benin…my heart felt at home and I just felt extremely, extremely lucky to have this all be part of my story. 

(ash asked damien, "Did you find your Tata?"; he answered with a sleepy, "Yes!" and squeezed my neck a little tighter.)