00 | Fieldnotes to a Friend

Before diving into the journey ahead, I would like to share a few thoughts about this little blog and what it means to me to leave home.

First of all, welcome to this place, called Fieldnotes to a Friend.

Fieldnotes, because I am going to "the field". In the so-called "field" I will be meeting many new people, encountering things I have not seen before, experiencing emotions I have not felt before, and playing games of which I do not know the rules of. As I am going to make memories, I will try to capture them through taking (field)notes and photographs. I will whatever seems worth sharing, publish on this website.*

And, to a friend, because I would like to invite you to be part of this journey. I am not only writing about experiences to remember them (although that is part of the reason) but to give you the chance to participate. Consider yourself the friend to whom the fieldnotes are addressed. As I am going to write about complex topics and take potentially controversial photographs, I think it is good and valuable to keep an open dialogue. 

The way I imagine it is something like a collective undertaking of exploring the colours of culture and learning together about hope, suffering, joy, insecurity, and whatever else we encounter on the way. I am inviting you to ask questions, leave comments and send a postcard. 

As some of you know, I have left home many times in the past. I used to think it was quite easy to leave home because I did not have a lot of reasons to stay. Looking at it now, I think I was mistaken. It is much easier to leave for a foreign place if you know you have a place you can always come back to. Family, friends, community — you are home. 

In some ways, it is like climbing. One can argue that a climber is not free, because they are attached to the rope. The rope is binding them, or even pulling them in a certain direction. At the same time — paradoxically — the rope is the only reason most of us would dare to climb a difficult rock face in the first place. The rope, as binding as it appears, enables us to be free. 

To me, this analogy describes how I think and feel about two important things in my life: home and faith. Both provide a solid ground, a place of peace and rest. It will be difficult to leave, but it is comforting to know that there is a place called home. 

I feel ready to go. If I am ready to arrive at the so far foreign place, called South Sudan — I guess we will find out. 

Markus

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