Greetings from the Democratic Republic of the Congo!
I arrived here on May 6 with Willis and his brother TCat. This place is hectically crazy but it's nice to have Will (who lived here for 5 months last year) to direct us around. It's just nice to have those boys in general. So entertaining. Will has the dirtiest feet in the history of dirty feet and Thom is rocking the Orlando pony.
So far we've been doing nothing. It's been nice. Just hanging out. Yesterday we went to Kikula, a community just outside of Likasi (the town we're staying in). Kikula is caring for 50 orphans and vulnerable children, visiting them regularly in their homes and feeding them 6 days a week. We arrived around 1:30 pm and stayed until 5:00 pm. Doesn't sound like very long, but it felt like eternity. We were so tired by the end. When we first arrived Will, Thom, Carey & Alissa instantly started playing games with kids. Thom invented this French counting game with actions. He would count to 5 in french and on each number he had a different action. I think "un" was a clap, "deux" was hands on lap, "trois" was crossed arms over chest, "quatre" was touching the head, and "cinq" was arms in the air. The kids loved it, I found it entertaining. All round good fun.
I've spent many, many days and hours in communities like this one and my first instinct isn't usually to play with the kids but to sit with the care workers and learn about them and bond with them in the kitchen. This is what I did. But the Congo wasn't colonized by English people. Their native tongue is Swahili but the colonial language is French. There were 3 care workers in the kitchen and only one could speak a bit of French. It was quite nice because I'm not fluent and neither was she so our conversation was a series of simple sentences and head nods. It was really fun to practice my french ... I'm actually really surprised how much I've retained from Chabot's classes 7 years ago. The most difficult part about trying to bring my french back is that I've learned multiple languages after that and usually resort to one of these languages when searching my mind for the right word. Spanish (University), Siswati (SA), Shangaan (SA/Moz), Bemba (Zambia), Chichewa (Malawi).
Mama Deda, the coordinator of the program for the kids, made us play game after game with the kids and sing song after song for the kids. We were seriously running out of things to do. Erick was supposed to fetch us at 4, so we figured we only had to run a few things, but when it became later and later, we feared there would be no end. Alissa and I tried to think of every camp song possible and Thom and Will also dove into their camp songs. I had to resort eventually to songs like Little Bunny Fufu (which I didn't remember anything past "bopping them on the head" and was forced to stop), MM-NN went the Little Green Frog (which didn't really last long so tried to make up verses past the first and failed miserably when what came to mind was "Bam Bam went the Rabbit" of which didn't go well with the rhythm and was so funny to me I couldn't contine). We sang Jesus Loves Me, the Banana Song (3 times), Tarzan, Funky Chicken (twice with new and improved actions), and Petite Poisson. We played Duck Duck Chicken (Alissa didn't know Swahili word for Goose) and that was a HUGE hit ... until the kids started cheating and cutting through the circle. Poor Thom just couldn't make it back to the space before any of the kids...
We're here in the Congo for two weeks and don't really have much planned. We will probably just visit communities and hang out and explore as much as we can without getting harrassed by the Yellow Fever (what Erick calls the police here.. they wear full yellow outfits and yellow hats).
But speaking of harrassment, just want to love on all the Mothers out there! In particular want to send love to the mothers in my life: Pauline, Kimmy, Helen, Jessica, Trish, Grandma G,B,D, and Aliah. I love you all! Hope you enjoy this special day and take pride in all those years of worry, tears, and sacrificial love.
Prayer:
Please pray for Katie who got Malaria and left the Congo early to receive proper treatment in South Africa. Pray for quick recovery and for their insurance to come through.
Please pray for Kelvin (our bookkeeper at Hands). He got Cerebral Malaria, which is the most serious kind. He's currently in the ICU at our nearby hospital in South Africa.
Also pray for me on a less serious note. I've had a cold for over 2 weeks now and just can't shake it. When I think it is getting better and almost gone, it just kicks in again.
Thanks.
Much love.
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