The uncomfortable truth

We spent seven a beautiful afternoon with Eugen and the guides at the Mount Meru waterfall. It was the last day we had seven young women together and we wanted to take advantage of this. Amelie (Belgium) would fly to Zanzibar the next day and Seyma (Turkey) and Zofia (France) followed three days later. Then there would be only four of us left over the weekend, namely my three girls, Manon (Switzerland), Isabel (Mexico) and Roisin (Irland). So, well, back to our excursion. As usual, we sat in the car with loud music and drove to the waterfall. There guides accompanied us to the waterfall. To do this, we first had to go through a steep path into the “valley” and then a long way along the small stream to the waterfall. Arriving there we took photoshootings and the fresh air and the atmosphere.

On the way back I jumped after the guides and followed their trails, which at some point led so far that I landed on a stone island and could not continue. Of course, then everyone, including me, had something to laugh at and I understood once again that it is better to go our own way and not always try to find room in other footprints, but to take my individual path.

When we got home, we all relaxed, packed our bags, telephoned with our families and friends and then prepared for our dinner, which we would enjoy in a restaurant. I called my family at home and was first in front of the house. Roisin was also in the garden, calling one of her friends. I went back to the room, as I was still going to finish, and I kept on calling in the meantime. Our room had a window and curtains. The window had bars so no one could pass through.

When I entered the room, I stood in the door frame. The curtain made a strange curve and hung in one of the bars. I didn't like it at all, and my stomach feeling told me something was wrong. Coincidentally, Roisin just came around the corner and turned to our room. My family was still on the device, but then I put it on. Roisin and I were standing in the door frame wondering what might have happened. Quite quickly we realized that probably a wind hole had deformed the curtain. In retrospect, it would have been absolutely impossible, a hurricane would have caused no light wind blow. That's why I got up on my bed and set the curtain. We did not pay much attention to the whole thing and prepared ourselves for the evening.

We went to a pizza restaurant and a very good Italian food. We laughed a lot and cuddled even more. We had a really cozy and nice evening. When we arrived at the Sawa Sawa house, we made a group hug and said goodbye. We grew up pretty much together over the last few days and now it would be time to say goodbye and soon we would only be four instead of seven girls.

I went into the room and Roisin was in the bathroom. I was trying to infect my phone and couldn't find any of my electronic things. I searched and sought, but was not found. Those were the longest three minutes of my life that Roisin spent in the bathroom. When she got out, I told her all my electronic things were gone. We couldn't find the camera, my power bank, the charging cable and my headphones. The contents of my backpack were in Roisins dirt wash basket.

We went out and woke up the others and picked up our moms. It turned out that Isabell missed her Apple watch and otherwise everyone had everything. A few of the girls blamed the moms for this, but it was clear to me from the beginning that this was not the case. Jessica, one of the moms, took me by that evening and assured me there was no one in the house, and I told her I hadn't even thought about it. Above all, this would mean that employees would throw themselves out of a well-paid job.

Then it all started. The next day the police came to us and searched the house. We found fingerprints on the wall and hung the curtain again as it was the day before. Roisin and I soon realized that the robber was hiding under our bed and hiding there for a long time until we were gone. This idea alone is still difficult for both of us to grasp. We then changed the room as we both couldn't sleep there anymore. The whole thing was a tohuwabohu and I, although I was the main affected at the time, was the quietest.

A whole day full of speculation and waiting around passed and in the evening it was said then we go to the police. So Isabel, Roisin and I went to the police with the Mamas and one of the organization's chief officials. Later there my view of material things completely changed. The three of us were waiting outside in the car with Eugen. It was one of the experiences that completely changed my view of the world. We saw how people we had closed to our hearts were beaten and really tortured to get an answer out of them. They wanted to keep our three responsible persons in jail that night. Tina and Jessica, got the management of the organization, because the two were still young women and they negotiated well. But they wanted to keep our goalkeepers. In fact, our white skin once gave us an advantage in this terrible situation. So we all drove home that evening at eight o'clock.

It was one of the most emotional experiences I've ever experienced. That evening, many tears of despair, innocence and injustice were wept. I understood that it wasn't about the material in life, but about the experiences you make with your heart and eyes. These are much more valuable, because no one can take them from you anymore. Material things can just be gone from today to tomorrow. Roisin and I had a lot of conversations after this experience. We are still talking about it today and are constantly amazed at how calm and with what strength I have gone through this experience. I never blamed anyone and if only me, because who is so stupid and leaves everything on the bed, although there is a lockable wardrobe in the house 😉.

I had another week in Tanzania after this event and I it to the full. I was in the here and now. Lived in the moment and spent a lot of time with the moms and my girls. We even got a 50% discount on a trip, as the organization said we should go out and free our minds. My parents wanted me to pack my bags and go home, but I stayed because I knew I was going to finish these five weeks, no matter what happened. A tip from me: in Africa, don't get involved with the police, but rather be a little more submissive and do what they say. Because there are actually sticks and bars used here, because it is the only way, in their opinion, to get the truth out of the people.