Rural Leaders ― a Travel Log Vol. 21

February 7, 2025
Makiko Abe

We are sharing with you a series of travel logs written by ARI staff member Steven, who visited Africa in August.
The trip, which lasted more than three weeks, has finally come to an end.
We would like to express our sincere thanks to all of you who have been with us and read this far.
Let’s get started on our last trip to Africa!

【An African journey to visit ARI graduates, Day 24-26】

Heading home
Wow! After more than three weeks in Africa, Kai and I are going home to Japan. “Atto iuma” are the Japanese words that come to mind. Literally, they mean “in the amount of time it takes to say ‘ah,’” but they are better translated as “in the blink of an eye.” Yet, somehow, in that eye blink, I feel as though I have lived a long life episode. Here I have done my best to describe what my eyes, ears, and taste buds have learned about the land and people of Zambia and Malawi during this short sojourn. Especially, I wanted to draw out not only the “official work” of our graduates, but also their daily lives, in which you can see all the small invisible ways they are with their people; or to put it in another way, they love their people. I hope you have enjoyed reading these stories as much as I have treasured experiencing them.

Well, we are not home yet. There is still a bit more to go. As with the “getting here” travel experience, the days taken to get back also seemed to compress into one crumpled flow, like that wrinkled blanket. Mac kindly drove us to the airport together with Veh, where we met one more graduate! Martin (2013 ARI graduate) works in the far north of Malawi, north of Mzuzu, I believe, very far off of our travel itinerary. Business brought him down to our regions, but our schedules left us only about 30 minutes to meet and he came out to the airport just for this purpose. In short, we found out that he is now employed in a large ag company and that is about it. I suppose I should have pried a little more, but time was indeed short.

Kai and I said our goodbyes to MacDonald, our noble host of the last few days, and Veh, with her ever-animated character, even when she is not on the radio! After passing through security, we had a small toast with our last two bottles of Fruiticana (see vol.8) and used up the remainder of our unexchangeable Kwacha on some “airport priced” souvenirs. Truth be told, Kai and I both had several bottles of Fruiticana packed away in our suitcases. It’s just too good to leave behind. Inside the terminal we ran into two guys from the conference. They were heading home to Zim, through South Africa, on the same flight with us.

We had to spend a night in Johannesburg, but our South Africa sightseeing was limited to the airport and a hotel connected to it. J-burg has that reputation of being dangerous, and we were advised by a South African friend not to venture out on the town, unaccompanied. Undeterred, we headed for to a restaurant within the terminal that supplied us with our last mouthwatering, meat laden African dishes. I had pork, but I desperately want to usurp Kai’s memory of the incredible steak he had chosen from the menu. Apparently, I still had not learned my lesson of “always order what Kai orders!”

Breakfast next morning was at a popular South African chain restaurant called Wimpy Burger. One day I want to return to see South Africa properly. Just those few hours in the airport whetted my appetite. I could sense that out there beyond these bland metal walls was another adventure waiting.

We boarded our Cathay Pacific flight, and several movies later arrived in Hong Kong. Unfortunately, there was no time for the #701 noodle dish before our flight to Tokyo. Haneda airport was even more crowded than when we were leaving. The passport gate was overflowing with inbound tourists. Good for Japan, I suppose! Here, Kai and I parted company. It’s such a weird feeling to say goodbye to a travel partner after a long trip. You feel the bond of time and experience together shouldn’t be so easy to break as to simply walk in separate directions. But Kai headed back to ARI, and I caught my next flight home to my family in Oita.

When I walked through the front door house and flopped on the couch, I noticed that time had warped me to Monday afternoon, August 26.

Thanks for reading.
Until the next adventure…

Gratitude
Everywhere we went, we were warmly welcomed by ARI graduates. They introduced us to the communities they work with and eagerly showed us their activities. We felt truly cared for as part of a big ARI family and are especially grateful to John and Judy Nyondo for hosting us for several nights at their home/organization the Ecumenical Development Foundation AND for driving us far and wide across Zambia and showing us the best spots in this country that you can’t find in guidebooks. We also want to thank MacDonald for hosting us in his home, caring for us when we got sick, and driving us to graduate locations all over Malawi in his trusty Toyota!

This trip would not have been successful without the help and generous gift of time of our graduates! We also want to thank the American Friends of ARI for organizing the Graduate Convening and sponsoring Kai’s international travel to attend. It was full of rich moments of sharing, learning, and solidarity among ARI’s hardworking graduates!

Written by Steven Cutting (Graduate Outreach Coordinator)
Travelling with Kai Shinoda (Admissions and Recruitment Coordinator)