I flew back to Cairo soon after my last sightseeing trip to Bhutan's forests and temples and sites of interest. I was already missing everyone back home.
"This has been awesome, hasn't it?" My brother asked as we alighted from the plane in Cairo. We headed over to our military plane afterwards, and were given a salute worthy of a military boss. It was an amazing homecoming gift.
Namjoon and I had texted a little bit while I was in Bhutan. There were a few weird jokes we exchanged, since we had a similar sense of humour. He congratulated me on my presentation, and even recorded a video of him and the boys cheering for me.
UNEP congratulated me on Twitter and this was followed up by a few more people cheering me on through Direct Messages and tweets. It felt good to be amongst many on the front line to preventing desertification.
My project was classified as a buffer zone, and fell under the larger Sahara Green Belt project. Only difference was that we were the community doing it while for the rest of the green belt movement was done by the local communities next to the desert.
My brother and I discussed a few things about the proposed River Congo channel to Lake Chad. While he was obviously a medic, my brother was who he was because he was always reading up on stuff. Like the proposed project of diverting water to Lake Chad. Or the many trees submerged in Lake Volta.
His favourite, of course, was about geography, the most recent being of Bir Tawil and how it related to the Hala'ib Triangle and Lake Nasser. He always came to find me when he came across articles that were our mutual interest.
This was probably why I was closer with him than with my baby brother. Nick and I connected because he was once a producer of my first album. That was before my father told me to leave his house. His residence, his rules.
Back to Ryan, i was very eager to hear what he had to say about the project and we couldn't help imagining how beneficial the project would be for the wetlands surrounding Lake Chad. The lake's waters had receded so much in recent years, and scientists were afraid of the effect that would have on the populations surrounding it.
"Shallow lakes are like that Jimin meme."
"Oh, that one?! I never ask to suffer but I always do?"
"Rift Valley lakes are obviously the ones running the show, especially Lake Malawi and Tanganyika. They're attractive from a bird's eye view, and the waters are teeming with lots of wild fish that are probably endemic to those regions."
I smiled as my brother spoke a lot more about those lakes. I could not help wondering about scuba diving into Lake Victoria for some reason. Then my mind kept wandering in its thought process until I got to Lake Kivu.
My brother eventually noticed my distraction and wondered why I was so distracted. I could only smile for a short while. "Are you still thinking about the source of the Nile?"
"Mum used to tell us that the source of the Nile was not Lake Victoria, but collectively, all the rivers that flowed into it... Right?"
My brother laughed. "Dad used to insist it was River Kageha, then he switched to Lake Victoria... It was actually funny listening to them talk."
"They were both so passionate about it."
"It is kind of sad that they are getting a divorce now, but it is for the best." He took my hand and held it in his. "I understand that she needed this for her own peace of mind, but I will always have two minds about it."
I could only smile as I remembered the Skype calls we did together while at Bhutan to mum. Even though she was so far away, it was amazing how she still sounded so cheerful over thousands of miles away.
"I miss her everyday," I told my brother, who could only hug me tight and assure me that everything was going to be okay.
Our previously boisterous mood was gone in an instant just like that. By the time we touched down at the base, I wasn't as excited as I had been before I got on the wagon to the sad news parade.
Watching the enthusiasm of the staff waiting for us cheered me up considerably. They led me in while laughing and we had a little dance party which Carter obviously recorded on video. Then, Richard and the rest of the team hastily directed me to the newest delivery of trees just two days prior to our arrival.
"Ooh! They came with a card!" Mercy cheered as she handed me a pretty eggshell white envelope. I gently tore it open and pulled out a pretty card.
Dear Raina,
I am so proud of you!
Please accept our humble donation to your huge cause! I hope they will help you make the world a much better place.
More are on their way!
Your newest friend,
NJ.
PS: everyone says hello! We all chipped in and got you three thousand trees that evolved to grow specifically in your little corner of the world. Hwaiting!
I found myself grinning as I smiled at Mercy and Richard. The latter started teasing me about getting a love letter, while the former teased me about dowry negotiations.
Still, I didn't focus much on their mischievous comments. Kim Namjoon had sent in BTS' trees and now I had something to cheer me on my reclamation project.
"Hwaiting!"
YOU ARE READING
The Republic of ARMY
Fiksi PenggemarI always lived for the moments my father would tell me I could not do something... then I would go ahead and do it. That had been my entire life. Maybe he was just really angry at me. Or maybe he just hated having a daughter who didn't measure up...
