African Child Day, Da Bush, and Sierra Leonean Sledding

Today, Wednesday, June 16^th is African Child Day. The whole continent stops to recognize the value, power and needs of children in Africa and remember the students who died in South Africa and helped end Apartheid there. For the children at The Covering, it was a day of fun: no school, special meals, birthday cake, juice, and popcorn. They spend hours watching the World Cup and even got to watch a movie. We arrived mid-afternoon after the program, which included singing, speeches, and prayers; we were sorry to have missed it. The children had so much fun though. Some were wearing traditional African dress and others were simply enjoying a day of rest and football. As we drove up-country this morning we listened to a radio program about the plight of children in Sierra Leone. It is very common to see young girls and boys on the roads selling small items instead of going to school. It must be a difficult choice for a parent to choose between having enough money for food or for school. It is a choice that is unimaginable to me. Many people in Sierra Leone put so much hope into their children…they know that these children can grow up to change the country. They can make Sierra Leone strong again; they can stop the suffering of the next generation!

So, I mentioned that we went up country today. Not so far, just 67 miles or so, but it was 8 hours round trip! The countryside here is so beautiful! If you've ever seen the TV show Lost, it looks like that. We went to see some land that is a possibility for us to build out own center on. We even got to get out of the vehicle and walk about 20 feet into the bush! I felt just like Kate (again with the Lost reference) although I am sure I didn't look like her! How did she always have nice hair and makeup after running through the jungle and I was drenched in sweat after just stepping out of the vehicle. Wait, if I had a crew of 25+ people or so following me around to make sure I looked good I could manage tooJ Sorry that was way off the path!


One other thing to note today was the Sierra Leonean Sledding. I had so much fun watching two of our little boys take plastic soda bottles and flatten them and "sled" down the sloped area in the drive way. Antie they would call…watch! I am continually amazed at how these children will take anything they find and turn it into a game or toy. Everything becomes a small treasure to enjoy and to hold onto. Sticks become parts of games, bottle caps are great for table/floor soccer matches, rocks become goal markers, plastic bags become slippery shoes, and bottles become sleds. They are so creative! I wish that too would continually treasure the little things…small beads, and bottle caps can bring such joy!

Car Seats?!?!

My goal today was to get 3 of our children to the Doctor at the Family Kingdom. As Ashley and I were talking about how to accomplish this, she asked me a question that struck me as so funny I couldn't help laughing out loud. It was one of those moments when I was overwhelmed (again) with how much we (Americans) do to protect our children, here they would call it spoiling. She asked me if they had car seats here; a practical, good question but the answer is no. I imagined asking the staff here for car seats to use to transport the children and their faces of disbelief. So, instead of strapping the babies safely into car seats, we took 5 adults for 3 children to the doctor down the hill, over multiple bumps and through some crazy traffic, and the whole way each of those children were lovingly and tightly held onto by a caregiver who was ready to meet their needs. I watched them talk, sing and play with the babies. Encourage the 7 year-old who was afraid of another shot, and make the trip as safe and enjoyable as possible.

My thoughts though continue to turn to what I know about the emotional, physical, social, and spiritual needs of children and how to use what we already have been given to meet those needs in the best way possible. What is a necessity and what can a child learn to survive without…maybe the better question is what are we willing to allow a child to live without? Car seats don't seem so important in the light of basic things like clean water and healthy food, but there are so many things that fall in that grey area between what is essential and what is good and right and what is excess. Having a teddy bear to go with you to the hospital and someone who will explain what is happening might seem like extra in a world where there is little to go around but it doesn't seem like extra to me. Having someone that makes sure you take a nap and get a bath may not seem like a lot but to these dear children it means the world.

I struggled today with one of the little boys. He has grown attached already and cries and gets so upset when we leave. At rest time he kept sneaking down to sit on our laps and be with us. As a preschooler he needs his rest and he needs to learn that temper-tantrums are not the way to get what you want but it was so hard to follow through on that because he just wanted to be held. I could be accused of spoiling him if I sat and held him for hours at a time (and there are several other boys that would throw tantrums or hit him if I paid too much attention to him) but that is exactly what this little boy needs; someone who can do that for him every day until he decides he is too old to cuddle and he begins to trust that if he falls asleep someone he loves and trusts will be there when he wakes up.

These are my thoughts for today. Maybe you have some answers…