On our second night, we walked over to the Girls' Home
dining room to meet the girls and have dinner. Having been warned that the
girls would be shy at first, I pulled out a children's book I'd brought along,
about Lazy Lion who can't be bothered to build himself a house for shelter from
the Big Rains, and was surrounded by 4-5 girls.
I read the book out loud first,
and then asked the kids to take turns reading. Several different groups of kids
drifted in and out, so we probably went through the book three or four times as
children jockeyed for position and I tried to keep the book in the light so we
could all see.
Then I asked the children around me how old they were, and
I shared pictures of my children that I had brought with me (picking apples, at
a pumpkin patch, in our crayon Halloween costumes), and showed them a campus
poster of Deerfield. Danny, one of Chris' sons, pointed to the
Civil War memorial that is shown on the poster, which led to an impromptu
history lesson, and I was impressed with his understanding and curiosity.
The children had all changed out of their school clothes and played
around the room until mealtime was announced. Dinner was cooked cornmeal, which
the kids balled up with their fingers like playdough and dipped into beans, and
some delicious cooked greens.
After dinner the girls arranged themselves
into four rows and sang several songs for us in amazing range and harmony (a
couple in English and a couple in Swahili), and then led us through a prayer
session... "Praise the Lord - Amen! Praise Him Again - Amen!"
