Monday (Final day in Zimbabwe)

Today is the day to get some shopping in and head back home to Seattle. We have a long trip ahead of us, a full 24 hours of flying not including layover time. We have all had such an incredible experience on this trip and are already planning for when to come back! The people in Chidamoyo were all so friendly and welcoming and Kathy and Major welcomed us with open arms into their homes and treated us so well! We are very fortunate and grateful to have had this opportunity to come to Chidamoyo and help out at the hospital, work closely with Brighton with his rehabilitation department, and experience the culture and beautiful people here. We are sad to be leaving, but also excited to be home to spend Christmas with our families.

Thank you so much to Cheryl Kerfeld for being our main support system behind GROW and for encouraging us to make this trip possible! We also want to thank the entire University of Washington Rehabilitation Department faculty who has also supported us along the way.

A huge Thank you to Sara and Kendra, our amazing physical therapy clinical instructors, who jumped on board with the opportunity, even when this first GROW trip to Zimbabwe had some unknown expectations. We have gained so much from this experience with your guidance and appreciate everything you have done for us.

Last but not least, we want to thank our friends and family who have all supported us and made this trip possible with the help of your generous donations and kind words!

-Until next time,

Lauren, JD, and Melissa J