Underpants!

Yesterday, because of a generous gift from one of Ashley's friends, Osseh and I went to the "outdoor mall" in Freetown and bought the children new underwear. I had so much fun! As you can imagine, buying underwear for 80 children is not an easy assignment. Especially when they come in 2 sizes and you are not entirely sure how many children are what size! But that comes later…So, first we found a man who was selling underwear from his table and he told us that we could buy a bale of underwear with all kinds of sizes…800 pairs at once! Then he took us to his "shop" by leading us through a maze of small walkways, in between what seemed like hundreds of stalls filled with purses and shoes and clothes, until we came to a little concrete building filled with bales of underwear! It was so hot in there and I was sure that we might never make it back out to the street. We decided to wait on the bale at that time and went back out to the street (Osseh has a good sense of directionJ) and found someone who was selling underwear a dozen at a time instead of hundreds. We bought the underwear…it was hard because they didn't have enough size selection and I don't know the numbers of kids in each age/size yet but we got some!

I wrote all of that because today we got to be there when they passed out the underwear to the kids. The girls were so excited to receive 2 pairs! It was as if we had given them the greatest gift! I have never seen anything sweeter than that. Who would have thought that underwear could bring such joy. The boys were excited too but more so for the plastic bags the underwear came in than for the underwear. Many of them have not had underwear to wear. The caregivers told me today that for many of the kids they've had to start with the basics…they aren't used to wearing clothes or shoes or sleeping in a bed or using a toilet…so underwear is yet another thing to learn and remember for these little ones who I am sure and confused about so much.

Ok, so I never in my wildest imagination thought I'd be blogging about underwear. But there are just some things that are too precious for words. It reminds me to be thankful for all the things that God has blessed me with. Sam (14) told me today that he and his sister Betty (11) are fasting for us from midnight to noon so that God might bless us and take care of us. Wow! Such strength and passion for the Lord and others from children is amazing. I fight back tears every time the children pray for us and thank the Lord for all He has given them. What a joy it is to be working with them!

Oh, and here's a picture of the little boy I wrote about on Monday, Maligie. He decided to give his bear a bath today! We are so excited because we received the funds to get the treatment he needs from the doctor! Praise God! I hope and pray he'll be well soon.

It takes time!

I was reminded today, as I suppose I will be everyday in Sierra Leone, that patience is a necessary part of life here. When something needs to be done it seems to take much more time than I think it should. I needed to go "downtown" to get my cell phone reconfigured or something and it took us 3 hours round trip…we spent about 5 minutes at the cell phone storeJ Then we had to drive to the doctor's office twice. The first time he was not in, even though the sign clearly states that he is there from 8am to 8pm. Come back at 2pm they said. So we went back at 2pm to talk to the doctor and then back to the center again. And that was a full day! It takes so much time to go anywhere or do anything. It's going to be difficult for me to get used to accounting for travel time and all the extra time it takes to do anything.

I have many moments throughout the day when I have to remember that it takes time to adjust to a new country and a new culture too. I would compare myself to a young child again. I have to get a ride from someone if I want to go somewhere…no car or driving for me…I carry a huge stack of what seems like play money and it disappears as fast as play money too…I can't communicate with everyone…I understand pieces of what they are saying (which comes in handy when they are talking about meJ…but I am not always understood. I am not sure if it is the loss of independence that is bothering me today or just the reality that it is different here; that adapting to life here will not be as easy as I had thought and that it will just take time!

There is lots of time for relationships here though. It seems that people are always stopping to chat and share with each other. Talking about family and life comes before business and I like that. There is so much community among the staff at the center, they seem to genuinely enjoy working with each other and the children. The woman who we are staying with also works at the center and we have delightful conversations about the children every night when we come to dinner. She loves those children so much! Tonight at dinner one of the older girls from the center called her and asked her hoping that she was coming soon to help them go to bed tonight. These children need more people in their lives just like her…she makes them birthday cakes and makes them feel so special. She truly sacrifices to love them and I feel so blessed to get the opportunity to stay with her and know her better.

Well those are my random thoughts for today….