Debora Lucque<\/p>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t worry! Senegal is quite safe so no risk of repatriation\u201d<\/span><\/i> is one of the messages I kept from <\/span>the<\/span> induction training that took place in Madrid, a few days before leaving for Senegal. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The country is quite safe all right. However, little did we know that the risk of being repatriated would not only exist but also become reality. Of course, no one could have ever foreseen that a pandemic was going to wreak havoc on the entire world.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Whenever I go back to the repatriation episode, I <\/span>can\u2019t<\/span> help but <\/span>think<\/span> of that <\/span>phrase<\/span>. At first, I thought my brain remembered it as a perverse way to mock me. I was mistaken. By engraving the phrase and the episode in my memory, my brain simply wanted them to be proof of how even the least expected things can happen. \u201c<\/span>You better be prepared for anything, you know, just in case\u201d <\/span><\/i>is<\/span> the underlying message<\/span>.<\/span><\/i> However, such epiphany would come only later, at the very end of what I now call the five (5) stages of repatriation.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Not so long <\/span>ago I heard about the K<\/span>\u00fc<\/span>bler \u2013 Ross grief cycle<\/span>, according to which people who suffer a <\/span>loss go through <\/span>five (<\/span>5<\/span>)<\/span> stages<\/span>: denial, anger, bargaining, depression<\/span>, <\/span>acceptance.<\/span> The <\/span>model<\/span> ruminated in my mind for a while until I started to find some similarities with my recent personal experience. <\/span>Had I gone through a similar cycle myself? Indeed, I did.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n There was denial. \u201c<\/span>Repatriation? Surely, <\/span><\/i>it\u2019s<\/span><\/i> not happening. <\/span><\/i>The situation is not that serious! I won\u2019t leave<\/span><\/i>\u201d.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n There was anger, but mostly frustration. \u201c<\/span>Why is this happening <\/span><\/i>right now?<\/span><\/i>\u201d \u201c<\/span>Can\u2019t it wait some more days?\u201d \u201cI am being robbed of my last month!\u201d<\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Afterwards<\/span>,<\/span> numbness<\/span> came<\/span>. <\/span>P<\/span>acking, checking in, showing my passport, <\/span>gett<\/span>ing on and off the planes<\/span> were<\/span> all<\/span> actions I wa<\/span>s not aware of, as if<\/span> I <\/span>had<\/span> completely detached from my body. <\/span>Somehow, I <\/span>had <\/span>switched to autopilot mode.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n A <\/span>week or so after <\/span>having returned<\/span> home, the 4th stage kicked in: nostalgia<\/span>, where <\/span>anything would <\/span>remind me of my <\/span>life<\/span> in Kolda<\/span>.<\/span> \u201cThis was the time of the day where I woul<\/i>d sit on the terrace and watch the sunset.\u201d<\/i><\/span> \u201cI can\u2019t believe I am <\/i>missing <\/i>yassa<\/i> poulet<\/span><\/i>, <\/span><\/i>and <\/span><\/i>thiebou<\/span><\/i> dienne<\/span><\/i>!<\/span><\/i>\u201d <\/span><\/i>\u201cIt\u2019s so quiet here.<\/span><\/i>\u201d<\/span><\/i> The <\/span>familiar <\/span>background <\/span>noise<\/span>s, <\/span>all of a sudden<\/span>,<\/span> had <\/span>disappeared. <\/span>The<\/span> b<\/span>aa<\/span>, <\/span>th<\/span>e<\/span> call<\/span>s<\/span> to prayer<\/span>, <\/span>the<\/span> ding <\/span>ding<\/span> ding<\/span> the <\/span>jakartas<\/span> would make when turned off<\/span>,<\/span> the <\/span>sounds <\/span>of the bustling <\/span>daily market<\/span>, all of it was gone<\/span>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n F<\/span>inding closure<\/span> is not easy<\/span>, espe<\/span>cially when you <\/span>d<\/span>o<\/span>n\u2019t<\/span> get the <\/span>chance <\/span>to properly say goodbye. But in the end, <\/span>I<\/span> reach<\/span>ed<\/span> the last <\/span>stage: acc<\/span>eptance. <\/span>I<\/span> accept<\/span>ed. I <\/span>let go<\/span>. I readjusted to the life back home, <\/span>to <\/span>the new normal pandemic-times lifestyle.<\/span> And e<\/span>ventually, <\/span>I <\/span>move<\/span>d<\/span> on<\/span>.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Being repatriated for whatever reason <\/span>it\u2019s<\/span> never easy.<\/span> It\u2019s<\/span> difficult to be<\/span> prepa<\/span>r<\/span>ed <\/span>for<\/span> the eventuality <\/span>of l<\/span>eaving before time<\/span>. <\/span>Y<\/span>ou <\/span>don\u2019t<\/span> really<\/span> think<\/span> of it<\/span> as a possibility<\/span>, especially if you are deployed in a low-risk country<\/span>. At least, I <\/span>know it never occurred to me.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Now that a couple of months have passed, I see my repatriation not only as a cautionary tale, but also as one of the most important lessons learnt thus far as <\/span>a<\/span> EU AID Volunteer. In the humanitarian and in the development field, your plans are going to be derailed hundreds of times. Don\u2019t take it personally. It\u2019s just the way it is. You might as well try and be prepared to face the unexpected. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Debora Lucque \u201cDon\u2019t worry! Senegal is quite safe so no risk of repatriation\u201d is one of the messages I kept from the induction training that took place in Madrid, a few days before leaving for Senegal. \u00a0 The country is quite safe all right. However, little did we know that the risk of being repatriated […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":8355,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[354,534],"tags":[312,448,146],"class_list":["post-8353","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-senegal","category-voluntariado-internacional","tag-euaidvolunteer","tag-senegal-3","tag-volunteering"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n