Apparently everyone wants to hear stories from my trip so here goes!! Since it is 7:07am and both of my Littles are still SLEEPING (unheard of) I will share a story, and maybe even a video clip!
When in the villages and towns of Kenya we stick out like a sore thumb. Our white skin shines like the midday sun among everyone else's smooth, chocolaty skin. So when we pull into the primary school and step out of the car we are immediately swarmed with children who want to touch us. They hold our hands, poke our arms, touch our hair, exploring and discovering what makes us different.
On Thursday morning the school bell rang and all the students fled their classrooms for the field. It was break time which means football, skipping rope, dancing and singing, climbing on the monkey bars and enjoying a bowl of porridge. I decided to go play with a group of girls who had been begging me all week to skip rope with them. We stretched the rope out and chose to girls to swing it. By the time I stepped up to it I was surrounded by hundreds of little eyes all waiting for me to jump. Of course, my first five jumps did nothing, resulting in the rope simply slapping my ankles and hitting the ground, which also resulted in lots of giggles. I finally got in the groove, took my turn, jumping ten times and receiving an applause.
When finished, I asked them to sing a song for me. They sang "Jesus Loves Me". While I was soaking in their beautiful voices they were slowly closing in on me, holding my hands, touching my arms. Before I knew it I could not escape or even get my hands free from the grasp of at least fifty small children. It can make one start to panic very quickly!! So, I thought back to my teaching years and came up with a game. We all put our hands in the middle, counted to three, threw our hands in the air and yelled a phrase. They LOVED it! And for a few seconds my hands were free and I was surrounded by giggling children.
When in the villages and towns of Kenya we stick out like a sore thumb. Our white skin shines like the midday sun among everyone else's smooth, chocolaty skin. So when we pull into the primary school and step out of the car we are immediately swarmed with children who want to touch us. They hold our hands, poke our arms, touch our hair, exploring and discovering what makes us different.
On Thursday morning the school bell rang and all the students fled their classrooms for the field. It was break time which means football, skipping rope, dancing and singing, climbing on the monkey bars and enjoying a bowl of porridge. I decided to go play with a group of girls who had been begging me all week to skip rope with them. We stretched the rope out and chose to girls to swing it. By the time I stepped up to it I was surrounded by hundreds of little eyes all waiting for me to jump. Of course, my first five jumps did nothing, resulting in the rope simply slapping my ankles and hitting the ground, which also resulted in lots of giggles. I finally got in the groove, took my turn, jumping ten times and receiving an applause.
When finished, I asked them to sing a song for me. They sang "Jesus Loves Me". While I was soaking in their beautiful voices they were slowly closing in on me, holding my hands, touching my arms. Before I knew it I could not escape or even get my hands free from the grasp of at least fifty small children. It can make one start to panic very quickly!! So, I thought back to my teaching years and came up with a game. We all put our hands in the middle, counted to three, threw our hands in the air and yelled a phrase. They LOVED it! And for a few seconds my hands were free and I was surrounded by giggling children.