Leaving Ndanda and Mtwara I think "I will never be here again"; but I thought that two years ago. We fly back up to Dar and are met at the airport by the Peace Corp driver Toby, and a Peace Corp volunteer, Amanda. Amanda has just come back to finish her last months of service; she had gone home to the midwest for her brothers wedding. Amanda had been a new volunteer two years ago, and had been with Joseph that weekend. She had hiked with Joseph the day before the fatal day, but was too tired to do the long hike to the rock on 9/22.
Now, she has volunteered to accompany us all the way out to the rock, and to meet with PC volunteers along the way.
We went to the Peace Corp HQ in Dar, where Andrea introduced us to the staff members. Many of the staff had been working on 9-22-09 and had helped in the rescue of Joe's body, the autopsy and the return to Dar and the US. As Andrea was introducing us, it dawned on us just how difficult those days had been for so many people. And we realized that another part of this trip was to say thank you to all those people who had helped our son, while he was alive in Tanzania, and to bring him home.
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