Returning to Mozambique

With our trip just days away, our team is busy settling up last minute details before departing on their journey to the other side of the world. Visits to the travel doctor and pharmacy for our vaccines and malaria pills along with last minute trips to the store to pick up travel size toiletries have built up the excitement of the trip.

For me personally, every time I travel something big seems to happen at home. Last year my dear mother-in-law came to help my husband with our 5 children and fell and broke her leg on her first day at our house. This year, I’ve decided to just embrace it – I’ve already been down with the flu, had a little pink eye, and yesterday our washing machine sprung a major leak, putting it out of commission. But as my good friend and fellow team leader, Cristen Incitti told me last year “something really big must be in store for you in Mozambique”.

You can read our blog postings from last year to get just a sense of how incredibly powerful the trip was for all of us. That’s likely part of the reason at least some of this year’s participants are making the journey. For me the trip last year was life changing enough that I am eagerly awaiting this year’s trip. Those who know me well know I usually don’t go to the same place twice. (I also don’t watch movies more than once or re-read books.) I’m kind of an “experience it once kind of person”. But, Mozambique is very different. A full year has passed and not a day goes by when I don’t think of Eliot, a blessed 13 year old boy who captured my heart and forever enlightened my soul.

Eliot, who shares the name of my Grandfather, was the oldest boy living in the village where we built. Each day when we arrived on site he would lead the other children in a large pack calling out our names to greet us. The energy and excitement was intoxicating. We are reveled in our celebrity but, the real celebrities were the children, and for me; Eliot. Each day he would try to teach me a new word or show me something he had made out of wire or sticks and in return I would teach him a song or a few words in English. He held my hand as we walked from work site to work site. Being a mother of 5 boys, I often wondered if my own sons would be able to survive the life Eliot had endured, and with the spirit of gratitude Eliot displayed.

He made the connection to Mozambique very real for me, and since leaving, I’ve wondered if Eliot might still be there, or that just for a moment he might remember me as I have him. I wonder what has happened in the past year for Eliot and if he is happy. Whenever I feel a little overwhelmed or stressed I think of Eliot and how his smile beamed even though he had little.

Each of us will have a different experience and each will undoubtedly return with a treasured gift. Cristen was right last year: something amazing was in store for me, and it will be for the rest of the team this year. So families, if things fall apart in our absence… hang in there. I can assure you that your sacrifice will be worth it for us and for those we will serve. In the words of my friend Eliot “Thank you/ Kaninmambo!!”

Trista Matascastillo, Government Relations Senior Associate