Girls Hike 03-09-13

Since most of the boys got to go to Bujumbura for the basketball and soccer matches, Hanna organized to take the girls on a hike.  We were going to hike one of the highest mountains/hills in the area called Mount Songa.  So, early Saturday morning, Hanna, Jen, and a driver took the Children's Home bus to the school, and picked me, the girls, and a couple other staff members up.  All the girls went except two.

 Unfortunately, we were running late.  We did not leave before 8am, the starting time of the mandatory community service time in Burundi.  We got stopped by a road block...I think it serves us right for not doing community service, but I'm probably the minority in that opinion.  :)  Most people don't do community service, and it's questionable if it's an excuse for police to block the road.  The police may accept bribes and allow certain people to pass.  Most people stay at home, and avoid traveling.  The house parents at school are wonderful, and often do a community service activity with the kids at the school.  I should help and schedule something for the kids to do outside the school for community service.

Since the road was blocked, a local man that lived close to the mountain directed us to an alternative route.  Many girls and staff were afraid on the bus taking the side road.  The bus tipped a little, and went up a pretty steep slope.  I think it was fine though.  :)  We stopped the bus in a small village.  I haven't been around rural people that much.  The people in the village were pretty poor. 

Hanna and I heading up.

We headed up the mountain.  Hanna took the front, and I took the position of Tailgunner.  Originally it was by choice, but I fell into my normal hiking routine of huffing and puffing up the mountain.  The Academic Dean accompanied us on the trip because the school wanted one man on the trip for security.  The girls gave him a girls name for the day.  I was very thankful when he carried my backpack up the mountain.
Part of the way up, we were on a road.  The mountain is very rocky so trucks often drive up to get rocks for the foundations of buildings and walls.  When we weren't on a road, we were on rocky foot trails.  Some children followed us up the mountain with a herd of goats.  They didn't have shoes and they had dirty and torn clothes.  They did not want me to take their picture, which happens here.  The youngest was probably about two, and the oldest would occasionally carry him.  The youngest boy had a bulging stomach...a sign of malnutrition.  I had two vitamins to give to the kids, and that was it.  One of them had ring worm, and I could see the large, white round bumps on the kids skull.  Several had fungus on their head.  That's very common here.


One of the girls on the way up wearing an Incredible Hulk shirt.

One of the house mothers that stay at the school some nights.

I've learned how to get things at the market, but I still have some work to figure out how to get things from the pharmacy.  Jeremy and Nadia are working on getting wholesale or bulk medications for the clinic, but I think it may still take some time.  It would be nice if I could carry around vitamins, deworming medicine, soap and extra shoes.  But, I have to be careful that if I give something, I don't get swarmed.

Eventually we made it to the top of the mountain.  We rested, then went down to a landing.  We ate oranges and bananas, and prayed for Burundi.  The extra food we gave to the kids that followed us up, although the girls from school were pretty hungry.  The kids collected the plastic water bottles the students tossed away. 

 



 

When we were sitting, I spotted the biggest caterpillar climbing up the back of one of the girls T-shirts.  The caterpillar was brown and fuzzy, and about the size of finger.  At that point, what I should have done is taken a video with my phone of what happened next.  :)  When I drew attention to the caterpillar, the girls screamed and scattered.  The girl with the caterpillar thankfully was calm and let me take it off.  It probably helped that she couldn't see it.  We took pictures of it, and then I put it in a place where no one else could see it, and hopefully it was good.  I was afraid the kids following us would kill it.

 

Jen, pretending to eat the caterpillar.

One of the students was brave enough to hold the caterpillar.

 

We went down the mountain pretty fast.  Between the match and the hike, I think it was a lot more physical exercise than the girls were used to.  I'm guessing we went about 5 miles.  For me...it kinda felt like a field trip to Colorado.  Parts of it felt like home.

Walking down.  You can see a couple of the local kids on the right.

Gathering for prayer on the way down.