Farewell Dinner with the Team

We had a farewell dinner last night with our ABC interpreters and Makalani village team including Gracian and Timothy.  We have new interpreters, John, Mary and Aninafe.  They have been such a blessing to me.  They worked tirelessly with me as I talked with the kids.  I had taken a book with each of the kids names and their sponsors' name of which I shared with them.  Everyone wanted to see their face in my book (photos taken by the team last year) -and they swarmed me.  It really gave me an opportunity to get to know the kids a little better each day as I recognized them, said their name and found out about them.  It also allowed me time to find out their interests, what they want to do when they grow up and what their favorite subject is in school.

They have the same interests as our children - policeman, teachers, President, pilots, surgeons etc....They had "hope" as we have a black President that they also could be President some day.  Their biggest interest is soccer (football) with the World Cup or whatever being held in Africa this year the interest is peaked even higher.  I was amazed that there wasn't any explaining that game.  However, we had a few issues when I taught them kickball.  They "thought" I said that they ALL had to run around the bases when one kicked the ball.  I know I don't remember all the rules, but think I lost something in translation when explaining the game to John.  I was surprised when everyone ran around the bases 4 times when the ball was kicked.  Well, maybe next year they will catch on?  They also learned volleyball.  I wasn't good at that either - but at least I tried.  We had to play in the sand and they made me remove my shoes as well - there is no restriction of glass on the beach or anything else, so you can imagine what it looked like.  There are goats that run down the beach with the little goat hearder and I can only imagine what else was on the beach along with the lizards and chameleons.

One evening we broke after our devotions and it was dark and there were lights.  The kids RAN towards the lights which had swarming flying bugs and started to catch them.  I thought - oh, just like lightening bugs as we did at home?!  But, no, these are giant termites that come out at night with a wingspan of 2-3 inches.  They were catching them to eat - ALIVE!  Oh, yes it was a treat to see.

Then there was the "fishing" for small minnow-like fish in the lake.  They would catch them by hand, string them on a long reed and take them to the firepit where the cooks made dinner and roast them.  Eating them head and all.  This was also a treat to see.

Now, you would think, we weren't feeding them enough?  But no, we fed them three meals a day and they were large meals with fish, chicken, beans, rice, Nsima, etc.... and this is more than they typically get in a day - it is just that these were their delicacies.  I talked with a couple of the village elders (Gracian and Lawrence) and they said it was fine and common and quite a treat for them.  They weren't hungry - just something they like to do.

It was fun to see them happy, full and satisfied.

More later....