Taya

I've been learning some Krio. It is harder than it seems! It is very similar to English and in many ways but very different. I struggle speaking because it feels like I'm using bad grammer and my English teacher is going to correct me! The word for tired is taya (a as in palm).
I have really never experienced anything like it. I go to visit the children and for hours I am a jungle gym! Today, at one point I had 2 in my lap, one on each arm, and several on my back. They pull my ponytail, stick their fingers in my ears, give me zerberts (I'm not sure what you call them but that's what they always were in my house! I think some people call them raspberries), try to scratch off my freckles, yank on my clothes, and if they are not sitting on me they hit whoever is! We have one boy who is big for his age and a dead weight, he slept on my lap for over an hour. It's better than lifting weights for hours…my arms hurt! So, I come home taya!
I was reflecting today how most of these little ones were carried around, strapped to their mother's backs the first year or more of their lives. As infants they never left their mother, they went everywhere and did everything with her; this must create a very strong bond between the mother and the child. And now that bond is broken, and in most cases gone forever. It is no wonder they long to be held and hugged and loved on.
I've been helping to edit their social histories for their files and I am overwhelmed by their stories. Loss, heartache, confusion, transition, instability, and fear are not strange to these children. They've been abandoned by fathers and mothers; cared for (or not cared for) by grandparents and relatives who have little or nothing to give them. They've been forced to do farm work instead of go to school—even as young as 3. They've lived on the streets or in places that are really beyond our comprehension.
Yet they are so resilient. They laugh and play. They study hard and care for each other. They love! It's an amazing thing to be a little part of their lives. I continue to pray that they will grow to be "mighty oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor." Isaiah 61 has become my prayer for them. I would love it if you would join me in that prayer today! AND I would be so happy if you could come here and hold some of them for me…if we each took 4, I'd only need 19 of you!