Dear friends,
I have now completed two years and three months of life and exciting work in South Sudan. A year flew in the enchanted village of Isohe and the rest in the hectic life of Juba. I am writing to inform you of the journey I am about to begin. Tomorrow I will leave Juba with my bike, a Yamaha Tenere 600, to return to Sondrio through 8 countries for a dozen of thousands of kms. Find attached the itinerary for those interested in the details of the stages. You are welcome to join me, or recommend me to any of your dear friends on the way.
The idea of this trip came almost a year ago. Preparations started amid skepticism, could I really embark on a similar adventure? The days have passed, I have been granted the though visa of Sudan and the bike slowly assumed the needed shape for such an enterprise.
The desire for this journey raised together with the understanding of my lowering enthusiasm vis-a-vis the daily routine. The security and satisfaction of the position I was covering, made me too busy and less attentive to the needs of the people I was meeting every day. I felt that this ‘everyday’ made of exciting projects and negotiations rather than fully feeding my identity through the meetings that offered me, was flattening me. I felt the desire to return to the uncertainty of the adventures of my university time. By then we started our trips with the backpack without knowing if the journey would have turned into a summit.
I have a fearful respect for the thousands of miles that I have in front of me in the next two months. Everything can happen. I am open to the unexpected, to remind me that with faith and hope I can chase any dream, catch every desire. There is nothing that the Lord allows to happen if we are not mature enough to receive it, the important thing is to draw the right lessons from these events.
I was reminded by my friend Giorgio and the Father Provincial of the Comboni Missionaries, that I always put myself as gravity force of my decisions. A time must come in which decisions assume the shape of responsible choices towards our loved ones. I pray to learn from this journey to understand that the ever more stimulating experiences I chase are nothing but suggestions to the true inner journey which lead to the conviction that the real goal is to tame (in italian the etimology is more clear: to drive towards the master’s scope) ones mind.
I’ll take three months time, two for the trip and a solid one to enjoy the richness of friends and family in my valley. Eventually I would like to resume work in the promotion of private sector for development and public-private partnership, this is fruit of what I saw in these years and it would deserve a good conversation time in front of a drink.
It is possible to follow my journey through my blog (www.wanderingeyes.net – which is now also going to be in english) and I will update hopefully at least once in each country visited and through the map that draws sms with geotagged updates (http://www.youposition.it/it/map/3771/sud-sudan-italia.aspx) . Thanks to the technical assistance of Alessandro.
In the picture you see the motto of the trip (suggested by my brother Sebastiano). It means “Not to show off, but to be” it is also the motto of the fifth regiment of the Alpini. It was proudly painted by Anna who along with Samuele inherit what has been done so far in Juba. Thanks to them for this great month of friendship and communion.
See you soon, Inshallah
Gabri