Habari
za usiku (or Habari za asubuhi for everyone back home!) from Nicole
Today
was another beautiful day in Tanzania!
My day started off watching the sun rise over the mountains while going
out for a morning run. It was a sight to
see full of yellows and oranges and very few clouds. Hopefully we can get some pictures and post
them soon. I can’t say that too many
exciting things happened during Swahili class today, except for the constant
references to the Lion King (today it was Hakuna Matata J ). The excitement towards going to the orphanage
later in the day kept us all moving though.
Our journey to the orphanage started off
great until we reached a giant rain puddle (or more like a small pond…) that we
had to trek through to get there. The nightly
rain storms have been leaving these little ponds for us that make traveling
difficult but this was our first time having to walk through a puddle this
size. After getting past that obstacle
it was an easy journey to the orphanage.
Once there, the kids were super excited to see us!! We brought our donations to give them and
they all wanted to get their hands on the toys before we were even through the
doors. Our donations included a wide
array of clothes, soccer balls, books, stuffed animals, coloring books, and
crayons. Before going to the orphanage I
thought that the kids would be most excited about the soccer balls, but they
were more excited about the crayons and coloring books. A few of them really wanted to color. One little boy loved to color all the
dinosaur pictures bright blue! All of
the kids were fascinated with the stuffed animals too and they were trying to
stuff as many gifts into their small hands as they could. Besides the colors and stuffed animals, they
loved our cameras. Once they saw us taking
pictures, they wanted to take pictures too.
We all got some pretty funny pictures including many close-ups of the
stuffed bears and dolls. As well, they
enjoy copying whatever we say. The favorite
line of the day came when a little girl sat down on Emily’s lap and she said “Ouch
my leg!” and the little girls said it as well in the sweetest little
voice. Leaving the orphanage is always a
little sad, but we plan on making the journey back there again tomorrow!
When we got back to LJS we were excited
to see spaghetti for dinner, along with freshly grated cheese, rolls, and fresh
pineapple. I think we all enjoyed a
little bit of comfort food and a reminder from home. Who knows what adventures we will have
tomorrow, but whatever comes I know we will be enjoying it!!
Thank you for sharing about the orphanage...what a wonderful way to reach out. Wish I was there!
ReplyDeleteWe love reading the updates! Thanks for keeping us posted on the happenings.
ReplyDelete-Angie E.