Fare Thee Well

I hate to say goodbye...as a matter of fact I'm awful at it. I tend to wax poetic and cry a lot. Everyone around me generally gets embarrassed. It's not much fun.  And so knowing this, and because I've had to say a lot of goodbyes in recent years, I've tried to find other ways to leave without actually leaving...thus fare thee well.

I love those three little words...they have good intent behind them. And more importantly they don't trigger me into crying like the thought of goodbye does. Goodbye is an end, but fare thee well...it doesn't end anything, it just means I wish you the best. It leaves hope that this isn't really the end, that there's more to be said and more to be done.

Left to right: Alfred, Peninna, Loy, Margaret, Boniface, Brian, Me, Dennis, and Joan. (Team members not pictured: Joseph, Pheona, Brenda, Denis, Rachel, Rashid, Cox, Paul, and Anatole)

Today I said fare thee well to my friends at CDRN and began my journey back to Dublin. I am going to miss them as much as I hate the mosquitoes here (in other words a lot). Over the past nine weeks I have worked with CDRN to build a new technology strategy, modify their existing ICT policy, come up with a plan to virtualize their resource center, and draft a proposal that I hope we'll be able to work together on increasing digital literacy in Ugandan schools. It's been a productive summer for me, but it is nothing compared to the gift that they have given me...an invaluable life lesson that I will carry with me for the rest of my days. I hope you can see why I am unable to say goodbye.

So instead I'll say fare thee well, and to add a bit of color to my hopefully temporary departure I have found an appropriate tune to send us on our respective journeys...OK to be honest this song isn't a perfect fit because it's an English folk ballad about sailing, but it says "fare thee well" over and over again and the examples below are performed by two great Irish bands, so it's definitely worth a listen.

Leaving of Liverpool - Version 1: the Dubliners    Version 2: the Pogues  Pick your favourite (or post your own).

And, there are a lot of people I need to thank for their support this summer...

Thank you Joseph, Rashid, Susan, Elaine, and Purity for bringing me to Uganda.

Thank you Musanje Brian for your mentorship.

Thank you Cox, Margaret, Loy and Denis for your help and support on those difficult first few days.

Thank you Joan for your bodyguard services. You are fearsome!

Thank you everyone at CDRN for your friendship and for making me a part of your family.

Thank you Mom for supporting my dreams.

Thank you Mary Anne for grounding me in reality.

Thank you Janet for being my role model in kindness.

Thank you Gearoid, Brian, Taryn, Craig, George, and Frank for helping me maintain my tenuous grip on sanity.

And thanks to you for reading. Fare thee well, and I hope you've enjoyed the story.

Maureen