I got back from South Africa two and a half months ago. Long time, no posts. The reason I couldn’t blog while in South Africa was quite prosaic, my laptop broke and there was no stable internet connection. But during adjusting to life in the UK again, I found writing very helpful in the process of slowly understanding what I have experienced. Over last month I felt like I haven’t been thinking about my South African friends enough nor reassessing the impact we made as volunteers enough. I was worried that my passion for development didn’t survive the experience of working on the ground. However, I can now surely say that it was a reverse cultural shock; getting used to living in England again wholly consumed my days and thoughts. I used to wonder at the beauty of a shower every morning, wash the dishes for the whole house of 10 people just because we had a sink and running water and it seemed too wonderful and convenient to be true. I couldn’t get hold of the bigger picture. I just hated everyone who would leave a tap running or throw away food leftovers.

On the other hand, how do I know that South Africa has changed my life? By the sole fact that every time a see ‘South Africa’ in the news, on the Internet or if someone is South African, I feel that warmth in my heart telling me I’m closer to home. And I know this feeling will never go away.