As hard as it is to be here during this time and to see the children this way, I am grateful and thank God that we are here. We are able to give these kids a little distraction from all the changes that are occurring around them. Before Sammy and Elikim left yesterday we took all the children into town for ice cream (frozen chocolate milk or strawberry yogurt) and sodas. We had a great time and even obtained a few new children on the way! When we were buying the kids' ice cream from the ice cream man on the bike, four random kids gathered around and tried to integrate into the other kids. My mom has a bleeding heart so she bought them all ice cream as well and even bought one for this random lady that walked over and wanted in on the action. Good job Mom, now they think all Yevus are suckers! The random kids even followed us to the soda shop and sat at a table next to us just staring at our kids getting soda. So.....of course next thing you know Mom is ordering them sodas too. This didn't make our kids too happy, I think they were a little jealous or annoyed. After Elikim and Sammy left we were able to dry the tears quickly and return their smiles with good ol' bubbles! Even when the bubbles ran out the kids continued the fun and used the bubbles that spilled as soap! They soaped up their arms and heads and took impromptu baths!!! Very resourceful kids!
Tomorrow Mom will stay with the kids and I will travel to Accra with Peace (one of the girls that is 10 and is always the little hostess of the house). She will be going to live with a family there where her older sister (14) lives. I want to try to ease her concerns and mine over her departure and check out this family and house. It sounds like it could be a great place and opportunity for her. The couple is wealthy, have no children of their own, travel back and forth to the US often, and apparently live next to Kofi Annan. Um, I may see if they want to take me too!
Here are a few more pics:
We did a little shopping at the market earlier this week. My mom was just fascinated by the piles of charcoal and the way they sell it.
Here are some yummy peppers and tomatoes at the market!
This is the kitchen at the orphanage. Yes, it is outside!
Here we are getting the kids ice cream. Which of these kids don't belong???? I think we bought out all of this guy's ice cream!
The girls and me! We are enjoying nice cold bottled soda at the local drinking spot!
Here are our boys! My mom brought these posters for them to color and they loved it! The older boys in the back were all very meticulous in their coloring. They would take one marker out of their bag, use it, and then put it back in right away. Kind of reminded Mom of a small Jeff Johnson!
Here is sweet Sammy! His eyes and smile are irresistible! He's small but he holds his own with the big boys and is great on the drums!
Here's Elikim with a drawing he did for Mom (oh, I mean Mummy). See below for the close-up.
Oh My! It is a drawing of her and says 'I Love you Mummy.' Seriously, I really wanted to know if he could fit on our suitcase.
It is something about the boys that really have gotten to my mom and me. I don't know if it is because we expect them to be so tough and uninterested (the 13 year olds in particular), so that when they are so loving like this it is shocking and adorable. My dear college friend Rita Pita has always said that she thinks little black boys (she is usually referring to babies though) are the cutest kids......there is something to this.
No comments:
Post a Comment