Operation Christmas Child 5/26/13

On Saturday, I had the opportunity to pass out Operation Christmas Child boxes to the children at a local church.  For those of you who aren’t familiar with Operation Christmas Child, it’s a project run by Samaritan’s Purse.  People (many in America) take shoeboxes and pack them with toys and basic needs.  Then, for $7, Samaritan’s Purse will ship the box to another country with children in need.  It is a project my church and other churches I know in America have participated in for several years.  I believe the boxes we distributed came from a North Carolina warehouse.

 

http://www.samaritanspurse.org/what-we-do/operation-christmas-child/

Melanie talking to some of the children on stage. 

Boxes ready to be given to the kids.

 I went with several for Christ (YFC) staff, Nadia, and her friend Melanie who was visiting from Canada, to a church to help distribute the boxes.  YFC is responsible for delivering the boxes in my town for Samaritan's Purse.  We have had the container of boxes for awhile, and I have been anxiously waiting to see what would happen.  YFC has been planning when and how to distribute the boxes.

The church we handed the boxes out at is one of the largest churches I have seen since I've been here.  I have questions about the building's structural integrity and wondered how the building was standing, but I guess it works!

Children lined up outside the main door.



Kids outside looking in the church windows.

YFC gave the church Sunday School teachers sign up lists for the boxes.   But...kids not on the lists came to the church.  We didn't have enough boxes for the extra kids.  YFC had a meeting, and decided to take all the kids outside the church, then let the kids in that were on the original lists.  I felt sad at first, but then I remembered...this is Burundi!  Kids share, lose things, and sometimes steal.  So, chances are the items in the boxes will end up benefiting the neighborhoods they go to.

As kids slowly trickled in the church, I walked around and took pictures of the kids, and showed them the pictures.  There aren’t many mirrors here, especially big ones.  Mirrors, cameras and pictures here are a luxury, not a need.  I wouldn’t be surprised if many of the kids don’t know what they look like.



Girls waiting to receive the boxes.

The boy in orange followed me and sat so he could have more than one picture taken.

We passed out the boxes, cut the tape on the boxes, then a YFC volunteer talked to the kids.  They stood up and cheered, then opened their boxes.  I came across one boy that was sitting with his box, while the other kids were opening their boxes.  Someone forgot to cut the tape, but even when the boxes were open, some of the younger kids weren’t really sure what to do with them.  It was cute, but probably a sign that these are children in need, and children that haven’t received many gifts like the shoe boxes. 

Once the boxes were opened, it was pretty chaotic, but that was expected.  I've been in similar situations, and one of the things I try to do is teach people how to play with the toys.  I tried to show someone how to play with a slinky, and you put it down stairs.  I showed a couple mothers how to use a wind up toy car, and that one ball lights up when you bounce it.  I told three people that play dough isn’t for eating, and either Nadia or Melanie had to tell someone play dough also wasn’t facial cream.  Many girls here don’t have hair, so unfortunately hair clips, hair bands, and brushes probably won’t be used for hair.  Dolls and balls were big hits, and I’m sure the coloring books and crayons will be used.
  

Thank you to my friends, family and church for supporting Operation Christmas Child, and for this opportunity!

Beads 5/22/13

This term, I've been teaching beading in Arts and Crafts.  I brought the beads with me from America.  At one of the airports coming out here, they inspected my carryon because of the beads.

 

I haven't been able to use the beads until now.  I did not bring enough string with me, and it's been difficult finding string and other supplies for the bracelets.

 

At the end of last term, one of the girls brought me a bracelet.  The bracelet was made with thin fishing line, and was designed so that the bracelet could stretch over someone's hand and fit comfort on the wrist.  Like many bracelets I see here, it was black, and was decorated with colors from the Burundi flag.

 

 

 

So, this term we started by planning the bracelets on paper.  I shouldn't have been surprised when the girls planned to make black bracelets with white writing and mini flags.  Creativity is something we are working on, and it's one of the goals of the school. 

 

The girls have done well at beading and have been anxious.  I expected to spend a lot of time teaching how to do the beading and untangling knots.  Instead, a lot of effort goes into set up, clean up, and managing the beads.  Some of the beads have been stolen, so now I only let them bead during Arts and Crafts time.  I keep the projects and materials. 

 

Some people steal here and at times it has been very frustrating.  It is apart of the culture.  But, I have to keep telling myself that's one reason I'm needed here.  Our school promotes excellence, integrity, leadership and faith.  Hopefully our students will have those qualities when they graduate and that will help Burundi and future generations.

 

Bike for Burundi 5/22/13

This week, about 9 men are riding their bicycles around Burundi in an event called "Bike for Burundi."  The majority are friends of Simeon's (mentioned earlier in this blog).  Most are originally from England.  A lot of the money raised from Bike for Burundi will go toward the school I teach in, the children's home I live in, or the clinic by the children's home.

The men came and stayed in the Children's home a few days ago, and I was able to talk to them and spend some time with them.  I have to say, I was especially excited that many of them had business and science backgrounds.  It was cool to hear what they did or have done.  One works for a company that makes flash drives, and another man is a mechanical engineer.  One was a civil engineer that works on mapping oil fields using magnetic fields, and one lives in the same town as my uncle and does land development work.

The men flew in on different days.  They put their bicycles on the plane, but unfortunately, because of a baggage strike in Brussels, four of the bicycles didn't arrive until Sunday night!

Simeon has been sick, and has been riding some of the days.  Jeremy, the nurse that lives at the Children home, is also riding.  A friend of his is visiting from Canada, is also biking.  Please keep him in your prayers though...he has had a problem with his knee.  A good friend of Hanna's is riding.  He lives in the capital.  Most of the men biking this year have not done something like this before, and all of them have been training for this event.  One man lost over 100lbs from training.

I hope to see them tonight.  They are biking through my town, and will be staying at the Children's home tonight. 

If you would like more information, check out the links below.

http://www.simonguillebaud.com/bike-for-Burundi
http://www.bikeforburundi.com/what-s-the-story/

Dinner with the majority of the men riding in "Bike for Burundi."

Birthday Wishes 05/17/13

I had a wonderful birthday in April.  My birthday was on a Sunday.  Since one of the drivers wasn't available, I drove everyone to chapel at school in one of the trucks.  I enjoy driving once in awhile.  At chapel, everyone sung Happy Birthday to me.

In Burundi, the tradition on your birthday is to soak you with water!  So, the girls coaxed me up the hill to the girls dorm, and we had a massive water fight.  There aren't squirt guns or hoses...just facuets and buckets.  The girls used the 5 gallon buckets that they use to wash their clothes in.  I managed to get a couple girls wet, but I pretty much got annialiated.  I couldn't fill up a bucket fast enough, so I learned to catch the water they threw at me with a bucket, then throw it back at them.  It was a lot of fun.

That night, we got together and had a special dinner at Jeremy and Nadia's new house.  Ryan made spaghetti and garlic bread.  Calvin backed a cake!  It had chocolate icing, and was similar to banana bread.  It was delicious!  Nadia found a birthday hat, and Hanna made me a card.  She makes some of the most beautiful cards I have seen.  Jana gave me some cookies from the capital, and they all gave me a basket with some excellent chocolate, and some other packages of cookies.

Workers Day 5/12/13

Last Wednesday was Worker's Day.  It was the Burundi equivalent to Labor Day.  It was a holiday, so the kids didn't have classes.  The schools in the area celebrate by having a march or a parade.  Each school does a circuit around the stadium.  For the occasion, we dressed up.  The students wore their uniforms with their green sweaters and staff wore dark clothing.

We took three bus loads to the stadium of the staff and the students.  We didn't quite fit everyone, so Jen, Hanna and I ended up in the normal truck.  The road to the stadium was packed with children from different schools, and adults from colleges or technical schools waiting for their turn to enter the stadium.  Jen, Hanna and I walked through the mass of people to get to our school.  One guy came and hovered his arm across my shoulders and pretended to escort me.  He was showing off for the other students in his school.  Once with our school, we waited and slowly inched our way to the stadium.

Waiting in line down the street form the stadium.

 

The math teacher from Uganda pointed at my camera and said, "Do you appear in this?"
He then borrowed my camera, and took a picture.

The students wore their uniforms with their green sweaters.  They were pretty hot in the sun, but they handled it well.  The students said they got several comments that they looked "Smart" compared to the other schools.  When you look nice here, they don't say, "nice," "beautiful," "pretty," "handsome" or "cute."  They say you look smart.

We entered the stadium and walked around the stadium.  They had music playing that sounded like circus music.  When we walked in front of the stands, they announced our school.  Our school staff was invited to go into the area in front of the stands.  I thought someone wanted to take our picture, but they escorted us to some empty seats!  We got to see some of the schools and organizations walking by, and some of us got to see a drum presentation.  Some of the schools and organizations walked by with different equipment.  One group walked by with prosthetic limbs.

Our school staff, sitting in the stands.

Teacher's from one school marched by the stands holding chalk.
The drummers are in the background.

 

This technical school marched with surveying and computer equipment. 

I hung out in the seats for awhile, then joined the kids in the concrete seats surrounding the stadium.  The kids wanted water, but I didn't see anyone selling water until it was time to leave.  Hanna and I did buy a bunch of peanuts, and gave them to the kids.  One kids found his parents, and they snuck him a Fanta and some food.  :)  For security reasons, we discourage the kids buying things.  I was thankful there wasn't much to buy!  There was a water spiket, and but there was fighting between people to get to it.  Who knows if it was clean drinking water.

There were a ton of people, a ton of kids, and I saw one other muzungu (white person) outside of my organization.  A midget marched in the parade, and then came and talked to Hanna afterwards.  His English was pretty good.  A group of people gathered around the two of them and just listened to them having an English conversation.  It's funny how the crowd mentality works.  If there's a group of people, it doesn't mean there is always something to see.  :) 

After the last bus left, Jen, Hanna and I waited outside the stadium with some other YFC staff.  A group of kids gathered around us.  It's not uncommon that if we are in an area for some time, a group gathers around us...especially kids.  It can be awkward.  But...I gave a shot at teaching them Peace Like a River in English with hand motions.  It went alright, but I think was better then just staring at each other.  :)  I need to work on learning more Kirundi.

Dodgeball 5/12/13

Calvin plays sports with the kids at the primary school close to noon, and the kids at my school for club time after school.  This week, he's been teaching the kids dodgeball.  I joined the girls sports club on Wednesday, and gave it a shot.  I haven't played in about 12 years.  I was afraid of playing with soccer balls, and afraid for the kids.  I did hit one girl in the side of the face with a ball.  She took it well, and is doing alright.  Calvin and some of the boys can throw hard enough I can't catch the balls.  I really enjoyed it, and managed to be the first on to get Calvin out.

On Thursday, there was a holiday and no school.  So, we had a dodgeball tournament.  Jen was the referee.  I was on the last team with some boys and Hanna.  We lost both our matches and were one of the first two teams eliminated.  Hanna told me her favorite part was when someone hit my feet with a ball.  I went down just like a tree and I remember hearing the "Yo!" exclamation from the crowd.  I sat up laughing, and walked away with a big bruise on my rear end as a souvenir.  I don't know who hit me.  Must have been someone with a bad grade on the last science quiz.  Maybe I will stick to playing with the girls.  :)



Kids watching from the steps.

One of the kids left on his team against six on the other.

This student probably threw balls the fastest.  The girls would scream when he threw.

 

One of the problems with the court is that balls do go over the wall and down the hill.  We are working on putting up a net.  On the other side of the wall generally there is someone that will retrieve the balls and throw them back over.  When I first arrived we lost some balls and all of our
volleyballs.  Some were stolen.  Others were lost.  We are doing better with that now.

New Toy 5/10/13

Jeremy and Nadia have spent the majority of the last few weeks in Bujumbura looking for a truck, and looking for a motor bike.  Hats off to them...they finally were able to settle on a truck and purchase a motor bike. 

When Jeremy and Nadia brought the vehicles back to the Children's home, it was hard to tell whose new toy it was.  The motor bike has an alarm on it.  The kids were excited to see it and they loved going over to the bike and making the alarm go off.  One day, I caught the kids at school doing the same thing.

 

 

 

Hair 5/5/13

 

 

 

Often, I will be standing in a group of people somewhere, and someone behind me will start fiddling  with my hair.  I've gotten used to it, but at first it was odd.  One day, the kids at the Children's home decided to braid Hanna's hair.  She let them do it, but at times it hurt (you can hear her whimpers in the video).  :)  One of the older boys told her in English, "Be quiet, Hanna."  When I was a kid, Mom would braid my hair in small braids.  I might have wanted to be the next in line when I was a child, but now I think I will pass.

Solar Sisters 5/5/13

Here's a couple interesting articles. One is about providing clean water in Liberia, and one is about solar lighting in Uganda, and the organization that sells the lighting.

I have a solar light similar to the ones in the pictures in the articles. I use it when we run out of electricity from our solar panels. Sometimes, we don't have much sun during the day, so we are only able to store a couple hours of solar power. The lights in the picture will collect enough solar power to stay on for 4 hours at night. I think if they are low on power, they are dimmer, but they still work. The muzungu price (white person) is $12.

Light has a big impact on education. The light allows students to study and do their homework at night. In Haiti, kids will gather underneath the street lights to study for national exams. If they don't pass the exams, they don't get to continue in school. I think the same is true for kids in government schools in Burundi.

http://edition.cnn.com/2012/12/17/world/africa/solar-sister-africa-light/index.html

http://edition.cnn.com/2013/03/22/world/africa/face-africa-water-liberia/index.html?hpt=iaf_bn3