"You are all so special!"

Written by Carrie and Martha

Today we all had an enjoyable day the the Mkhomabasa and Chigumukire childcare centers. As we drive down the road, the children excitedly race behind the vehicle chanting "A Mzungu, a Mzungu" which means "a white person". We are barely out of the back of the vehicle when we are bombarded with fist bumps, high fives, and handshakes.

It was heartwarming when we said Good Morning to the children, the replied with the usual good morning and how are you, madam. Then then said " you are all so special!" It was so nice to hear from the children themselves how the week we spend with them is so appreciated.

The morning began with a Bible story about the Widow of Nain's son being raised from the dead. The children listen very attentively and are able to answer each of the questions.

A note from the VBS consultants: In the pictures above, Khomabasa is on the left and Chigumukire is on the right. You will notice the Chigumukire has MANY children attending. Last year our volunteers had roughly 600 children attend each day. This year we decided to break up the VBS at Chigumukire into two weeks - one week with our team now from children aged nursery to Standard 3 and one week with the Dutch group in the near future with Standards 4-8. As you can see the crowds have not diminished… shown here is only standard 2 and 3 aged children. Incredible - these ladies have their hands full trying to organize this many children. Well done ladies… keep courage!

We have figured out that a few favorite games include: Simon Says, duck duck goose, soccer for sure, and dodge ball. Today we introduced potato sac races which was a big hit. When it was time for lunch one of the teachers gave a short meditation for the children about how a tree is known by it's fruits. It was nice how he related it to the bible story told in the morning, by saying that as the young boy was raised from the dead, so a spiritually dead sinner (a tree with no fruit) can still by grace be made alive because of the Lord Jesus. He earnestly told the children to ask for this everyday.

The cooking mothers are always happy to let us help to serve the nsima to the children who all wait very patiently for their turn to get their plate of food. We have also all enjoyed the nsima served with cooked vegetables and sometimes soya pieces or other meat.

The most difficult part of each day is saying good bye to all the children. When we have to collect all the toys and say "Tio Nana mawa". The children all look at us as if to say" already you have to leave?" We assure them that we will be back tomorrow and they are relieved and allow us to go home.