Returning Home to Tanzania

I spent almost two months in the U.S. and returned to TZ at the end of May. The children at Treasures of Africa Children’s Home know the routine…I leave and then I return. Then I stay in Tanzania for a long time (once I was in TZ for two years straight before returning to CA for a visit), but eventually I leave again to go back to America for a visit.

It is hard to leave the children but it is pure joy when I return to them.
I remember one year, our youngest were a year and a half. I wasn’t sure they would remember me because I had been gone for six weeks. When I walked into the orphanage it was almost lunch time for the younger kids who were not yet in school. They were all coming to the table to eat and the kids over two years old remembered me right away. The youngest were not afraid of me but they didn’t fully get that it was me…that is all of them except Moses. Moses was upstairs with one of our workers and he was the only one up there with her when I went upstairs. I called his name and he looked at me and came running to me. He came into my arms and would not let me put him down all day long. He didn’t even take his nap that day because he would not let go of me. I finally told him he could stay with me and then he ate his lunch and I was able to spend time with the other little ones as they laid down for their naps. I remember Diamond looking at me and I could see her face trying to figure me out. As she lay on her bed for her nap I ran my fingers over her forehead and temples like I would always do as she laid down for her nap six weeks before leaving. It was almost like a light-bulb went on because she immediately said out loud, “Mama Lydia!” She remembered me! That was a really fun moment. Then almost the exact thing happened with Maria except with Maria I would gently rub her back before her nap. She remembered me instantly!
One by one each of the little ones began to have these “moments” where their memories came back. It was so sweet and unforgettable for me.

This year retuning to Tanzania our youngest are now old enough to remember me without it being a problem, and they are clever enough to know I am there and shout out my name just as I am walking in the door!
Since I have been back I am still noticing things in them that show me how they continue to react to me being gone. If I am with them in the room and get up to leave they want to know if I am going to America again. When it is evening time and I am ready to go to my house (about a mile from TOA) they want to know if I am going to be gone for a long time again. When the little ones lay down for their naps they often ask me if I will be there when they wake up.

With the older kids it’s a bit different and yet the same. Our kids are wonderful but the older they get the less touchy, feely they are. We have a nice-size group of teenagers (about 10 of them). When I first came back they were all happy to see me and hugged me, but even now, after a few weeks of being back they are still hugging me like I just walked off the plane…love it!
This probably won’t last much longer so I am really making the most of it!!!

I spent all day last week with our older girls (our day started at 6:30am). They were home from school so I took them with me out to Pastor Zablon’s village. It was a long day but what a special time it was with them. Last night I was talking to our assistant director Eli and his wife and they told me how much it meant to the girls to spend that time together.

Being gone from the kids is hard, but being back is also an adjustment. I am so thankful for the children. What a wonderful blessing they are and I am so thankful for the love we share for each other!