We were ready with the preparations: we’d got the farewell gifts, practised our song and hung up the piñata. It was Friday 5 pm and all the Ruach staff and members of the board had gathered at our community home to wrap up the two months that Judith had volunteered for us.
Judith came to us through the German organisation Promosaico, which creates openings for German volunteers in Guatamala and Nicaragua. Judith started with us mid September, shortly after the opening of our home. For us it was an experiment to see how valuable a volunteer from Europe with limited knowledge of Spanish can be. But all of us wholeheartedly agree that Judith was a great asset to our team. She was active, worked more than we asked her, and fitted in very well with other staff and residents. Judith came to us armed with her training in social work and with some experience of working with people with disabilities in a holiday home.
It was a beautiful farewell. These two months have for sure made a permanent impression in Judith’s life and contributed to her growth as a professional and human being. Judith made the best of her opportunity of contributing to the development of our residents and of improving the organisation of our community life.
Saying farewell is dying a little. But also that is part of community life. And as a Dutch saying goes: ‘Out of the eye is not out of the heart’. Judith, we wish you well!