Well, here goes. I might as well start this off with something …and since I really don’t want too, now is as good a time as ever.

“I have to include all the wonderful things I have experienced in Africa up till now in my first post” I keep telling myself. “I want to start off with some photos,” I say to myself. Well, bad news. Life is what happens to you . . . when you are planning on what you should do. Happened to us this week. We got some terribly sad news, for us anyway. Our beloved Tunde, safe keeper of us while out and about in the bowels of Lagos, fetcher of children out on play dates, fixer of bikes, . . .friend, is leaving us.

This is a very good thing for him. He has two small children and a wife and needs to support them. Lagos is a very expensive place, and for him to rely on teachers to provide for his salary is hard. He was at the top of the pay scale for any driver here at AIS. He has been here the longest of any driver. He has the most respect of anyone of those guys just hangin’ around in the garage, wondering where they will be dragging our spoiled behinds to next.

The hard part is he is leaving us. When my oldest son heard this, he broke down and sobbed. I am getting tears in my eyes just thinking about someone else taking his place. He was much more than just a driver to us. And to that end . . I wanted for him much more than Ken and I could ever give him. His personality and professionalism warrants much more. If he lived in the states, he would be one of those guys who goofed off during high school, then settled down, got an associates degree, maybe started his own business, and found major success with all the customer loyalty he would generate.

The other hard part is he is going to work for an oil company. Their compound is just around the corner. My family frequents there often. We have some of our closest friends there. My children have play dates over there on a weekly basis. And I teach their children. Thoughts of theft, rich oil companies stealing beloved employees away from poor teachers invade my thoughts. Damn them! The fact that he will be doing the same job for them as he was doing for us poisons my mind. I wanted for him to be much more. Mechanic, electrical technician, head mechanic! Anything but just driving!

But then I think of his beautiful children. His wife; small, amazing, quiet and loving. His talented hands and his understanding of all things human and humane. I can’t help but wish him the best. They will be paying him more, probably much more. They probably have funds for the kids’ education. They probably have a much better medical than we could offer. They probably have jobs which he could work into, such as head mechanic!

Tunde. I will miss him so much, my kids will miss him. Our family will have a hole in the everyday operations of it.

There are probably a hundred different ways Africa can break your heart. I am experiencing the truth of that at this moment. That being said, I would not have missed having Tunde in our lives for the last year and a half for the world. I am richer for it. My children are richer for it, and as Tunde says, we are family now; it is not about the job. We will always have Tunde in our hearts.