Transfiguration

In the days we had left in Zambia several daunting tasks remained. Cook some passable burgers for the Capuchin brothers, visit three different cities, give a philosophy conference to the Poor Clares, play with some kittens, create a program to assure that girls like Agness don't get denied scholarship opportunities in the future...and find a great local school for Miss Kapesa here in Zambia. Based on the recommendations of our friends, we went against all Irish-American wisdom and enrolled Aggie at Cavendish University, an internationally recognized British school where she will study year-round to complete a Bachelor Degree in Information Science Technology. Tonight we toasted here with orange concentrate and on Monday, August 11th, her 21st birthday Agness will formally be enrolled in college. Goodbyes with Agness fit between the final performance of "We're all in This Together" of High School Musical fame and evening prayer and dinner with the Franciscans. There are moments when Meghan's talent awes me...and watching 50 orphans dressed, choreographed, and singing along in perfect mimicry of Broadway-style dance truly rendered both the teacher and students brilliant...that will show up on youtube upon our return.
So tomorrow we depart, and after layovers in Nairobi and London we will arrive home on the Feast of St. Clare, exactly four years after I left for Africa for the first time. Much to my chagrin, I turn to Disney and the words that repeated hundreds of times in harmony out of the girls' mouths this week, "We're all in this together, and it shows, when we stand, hand in hand, make our dreams come true."

In Christ,
Luke Patrick