This and That

I have officially spent all the major holidays in Africa…Thanksgiving (not a holiday here), Christmas, New Year, and Easter. My birthday isn’t a major holiday but I will include it in this list just because it is significant to me. In Africa holidays are celebrated so different than in America. Attending church is part of every holiday celebration. If there is a holiday you will find people attending church.
I spent Christmas, New Year, and Easter at Pastor Mbasha’s church. I told him that in America it is rare for a pastor to give up his pulpit on a holiday. Pastor Mbasha said it is the same way in Africa except that he and I are mapacha (twins) “You are me and I am you, so it is the same.” This is what he always tells me.

I was at Pastor Mbasha’s church for the Easter weekend teaching a three-day seminar. It was really fun. Being at his church is like being at my African home church. It was a blessing for me to have three days of teaching and ministry time with his congregation. Melissa and Steve also shared in the teaching during the three days.
About two months ago Pastor Mbasha’s church was destroyed in a storm. He was able to repair the metal roof and re-attach it to metal poles that we purchased for him. So the seminar could have been called an “open-air seminar.” It was great to be able to look around at the beautiful land while teaching. The occasional herd of goats and cows roaming not to far away was an added bonus.

It is amazing to me how African life is very easy and comfortable for me. There are still some parts that I am adjusting to…the giant bugs still take me by surprise. I am trying to photograph as many of them as I can. I have a file of photos in my computer titled, “Life at the orphanage.” There are no pictures of humans…just the huge creatures we encounter on a daily basis. There is one creature I have not been able to get a picture of…yet. It is the lizard that has an orange head and green body. They are the largest lizards I have ever seen…and beautiful too.

The other day I was thinking about how our kids spend their day…so different here in Africa than in America. Our school aged kids that attend elementary school wake up, are dressed and outside doing chores by 6:30am. After chores they have breakfast. I drive them to school at 6:50am. School begins at 8:00am but they are required to be at school by 7:00am to do the gardening and cleaning around the campus. My first and second grade students are finished with their school day at 11:30am. When I pick them up if they have not completed their work or if it was completed sloppily then they have to stay at school until 3:30, when I pick up the older children. So far all of the younger kids have had to stay until 3:30 more than once except Fatuma…she is going for the record…working nice and neat while doing it all in a timely manner.
Once the kids are home from school they have a snack and then back to work for two more hours of studying. We have two teachers at the orphanage who work with the kids in their most needed areas of study. It may seem like a lot but our kids are developing a love for learning and a discipline for what is important. We have a schedule that will soon include sports, gardening, and cooking. We would like to purchase a sewing machine and have a class to teach tailoring…we already have a seamstress working as a care worker.

Life at the orphanage is a busy place. In the mornings when the kids are at school we have begun nursery school for our two kids Tina age 3 and Antony age 4. This morning I heard a little girl cheering. I went to see what was going on…Tina wrote a number one and was cheering over her accomplishment. :)