Saturday, July 17, 2010

Fun visits

This morning we arrived at the Center to an eager group of children, who squealed delightfully when we pulled into the school gate. They knew we were going for a ride (continuing to visit houses; this time to the “left” of the Center, which is more or less “north”). However we realized we had 4 adults (the 3 of us from Messiah plus Daniel, one of our aides, who was going to come and help us efficiently find the children’s homes) and 14 or more children! This was going to push the limits of even Matt Walsh’s rhino.

After a few obliging children who were willing to stay back with Dr. Hare to play in the library (some of the ones we visited yesterday), we set off. I (Bethany) drove to the Center but let Katie skillfully take the wheel as we headed off for our photo taking adventure. I perched somewhat precariously in the back and made sure everyone was okay. Only my shoe fell off…but it was retrieved :)

We visited many houses today (about 10 homes in 3.5 hours), and it was a great opportunity to see the kids’ families (often older siblings and parents came in from the field for a family photo) and where they live. It was interesting to see the range of animals (goats, chickens, dogs, occasionally a cat, and once, a monkey!), gardens/trees, and huts/houses. Sure, we could tell which of the families had more money than others. But there were some similarities between all the compounds (their home/compound was an enclosed circular-ish area with several small huts, benches/chairs out in the open, a fire pit and various pans for cooking, and huge plastic containers for water). The girls often posed by the cooking area or with an empty water jug for our photos.



Every child seemed happy to have us come and take photos at their house. But Abraham, our young comedian (often inadvertently) was the only to do the “happy dance” after we left his house. Katie even got a video, which was great, although Abraham’s “c’est bon! C’est bon!” was drowned out by our laughter!

Thanks to Daniel, we were able to convey our project to the families quite successfully. Many parents did not speak French, and Katie and I happily greeted the families in Gourmanche [“Good morning!” (n faanda) “How is your family?” (adem pote) “How is your work?” (a too na te)] but then we were out of things we could say. We very much appreciated Daniel’s help in communication, and also definitely in finding the homes. Some of the children live well off the road, so Katie and I were appreciative of the Rhino and quite impressed with the amount of walking these children do every day.




We don’t believe in abiding by the rhino’s recommendation/rules of 2 passengers and keeping all arms/legs inside the vehicle. Instead we gave the children a ride toward their houses at the end and then bid them adieu for the weekend.

Next (on Monday) we will be recording the children saying a few of the sentences they wrote about their life (i.e. their chores/work at home, what they like doing for fun) to put on the picture frame that will be left in the library this Thursday when we leave! As of right now, we have begun the images and sentence captions for the photo album.



This evening we were able to relax at the Walsh’s house. In celebration of Francoise’s birthday, we had a delicious chocolate cake. Julie cooks so well, and the lasagna for dinner was above and beyond what is expected in Mahadaga. After a few years of living here, Matt and Julie have figured out ways to adapt their favorite dishes to life in Mahadaga. Or, in the case of lasagna, how to cook a sauce and cheese (ricotta and mozzarella) to make a normal lasagna here in Mahadaga! We were well hosted this evening, and personally I was very excited for our Dutch Blitz game after dinner...a nice end to a good day!

Keep us and the children we are working with in your prayers. We (Katie, Dr. Hare and I) are still happy and healthy. After visiting the children's houses I have been thinking a lot about how different our lives are, and we know that some children in our program have very difficult lives (depending on how loving, helpful, etc. their parents are). So we would appreciate prayers for them, and for us as we live amongst them for such a short time and wonder what the future holds.

God bless you!
-Bethany

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