Wandering~

Do you ever have one of those moments where you think your heart feels too big to stay in your chest? When you suddenly just feel more than you can put words to; when you feel like crying or laughing because your throat gets tight and your eyes prickle? Today was one of those days~~I showed up to teach today and our kids were taking exams….leaving me with an hour and a half to wander the school.

Jemima's office

I wandered into the kindergarten class and found Lynley teaching a lesson about germs. Watching was so fun, all the little faces and their wiggling in their seats. One little one raised his hand to give an answer and it just hit me. Just a rush of feelings. Not my first “moment” since I’ve been here, but another cute one. I got to help Lynley teach them “Do As I’m Doing,” which pretty much means me and Lynley sang a duet while a class of little ones mimed our motions as best they could. Haha…

There are always little ones eating breakfast around

the campus grounds. Looks like porridge?

Hello!

Next, I wandered over to the older kids class to watch them dance. Lots of Michael Jackson impersonators. Way to go Michael…what a legacy! Then…..I’m really not sure what made me think it would be a good idea….. but I DARED to wander outside and pull out of my bag a sheet of stickers. Bedlam, pure bedlam. I was showered in “Madam, please. Madam, I want one.” Seriously, I was swarmed with children. It was all I could do to keep upright. And at one point my skirt was literally being pulled from my body. Pretty sure I flashed some children…not my fault. And the pipe cleaners, well, I handed out 4 and had to put them away. “Too crazy!” was all I told them. “It’s too crazy!” Too bad, but they can be vicious:)

We rode back to the hostel and had a class on parasites. It is so gross how many things can infect people here from poor hygiene and sanitation. One of our maids actually is infected with something they call the "fiery serpent." It enters the body through drinking contaminated water, grows about the length of your leg, then tries to exit the body right above the ankle, the whole time making your leg "burn." It can take months to mature, then up to two months to exit the body. They tie a stick to the ankle, wrap the head of the worm around the stick a few times, then everyday for a month make one turn of the stick to slowly pull it out without breaking it. Just awful. I'm learning lots of crazy things here; things that make me (a germ-a-phobe) even more phobic. Anyway...

We've got a big day planed for tomorrow. The kids have some drumming and dancing for us to learn, and we have "field day" activities. With 350+ kids, this could be "too crazy!" Then we head back to the girl-guides to teach lessons requested by their leader as well as to play some games. Granted, this is all in the works. Things have a great deal of ebb and flow when it comes to plans. Seriously, everyday is a surprise on some level. We just go with it, since the whole purpose of our time here is to help and teach what the people really feel they need.

It has been a crazy feeling knowing I am on the tail end of my experience here. I have waited a life-time to come to Africa and this experience has been so much more than I could have planned. As hard as it has sometimes been for me to accept, I have to admit that the Lord's plan for my life is far better than my own. I "envisioned" myself somewhere else entirely at this point in my life/education. But you know what? This path just worked out pretty great for me so far, so I think I'll just keep rollin' with this one for the time being. His guiding hand has directed my wanderings so lovingly through the years, I trust it can only continue~