The last day was a tough one. I had gotten sick on Saturday and the days following at the safari were a bit brutal. So when we got to the school on the last day, I tried to give my full effort, but not having anything in my system made it hard for me to actually participate in the activities for the day. However, one of the words of the week in our devotions was joy. So the last day I tried to find joy in one of the toughest days to come. Being sick and weak is obviously not joyful, but I found joy on the last day by just being able to sit back and see what was actually happening in the lives of the kids and the lives on the team. The day consisted of the swearing in of the prefects where the elected leaders of the school were sworn in, and the kids who were elected were so proud to be in front of there classmates and taking the role of a school leader. Then next, a DJ set up in the middle of the school and set up massive speakers all over the school, and started to blast music. Once the music came on, everyone started dancing. And when I say everyone I mean, EVERYONE. Not only the little kids, but the big kids, our kids, the teachers and even godwin, the director of the school. Next, Ivan announced that we would be having a massive feast and that we would be serving the kids. All of the kids had massive smiles walking up to the table to be served their food and the fact that they were getting served by mzungus is unheard of in their society. The kids actually believe that because they are black, impoverished, and young, that they have little to no value in the real world. The whole week, we continued to remind them how important they are not only in the lives of us, but how valued they are in gods eyes too. To round out one of the best weeks most of us had ever had, we attempted to have a water day in which the kids would rotate around to 3 stations. After about 2 seconds, that whole idea was put to shame and it turned to a massive water fight. Water balloons being thrown, buckets being dumped, everyone was getting soaked. Mrs Martin got hit, mr story got a good bucket to the back, and mr gray got a water fall over him every 2 seconds thanks to nick and spencer. At least everyone was laughing though. After the water fight, the goodbyes were said and this is easily the toughest part of the trip. The younger kids usually do not get that it's time for the mzungus to leave, but the older kids get more attached and you can see the distraught faces. When I was leaving, 2 kids came up to me and insisted that I take their pipe cleaner bracelets that they made during the week. At first I declined, but they grabbed my wrists and began to tie the bracelets to me and said, don't you ever forget us Joe. Then another kid came up to me and handed me a red pen full of ink and I told him that he needs to keep his pen, and he said the same thing about me not forgetting him. I opened the pen later that day and when I did, I had seen that he put a piece of paper in the cap that spelled out his name, "Brian". We all got on the bus, and the slow drive out of the village, seemed like the longest of the trip.
This week, we were all impacted by the kids. Each day making us a better person through their smiles and laughs. We will never forget nations Changers and they will never forget this week, that we provided for them.
-Joe
No comments:
Post a Comment