17 June--week three

Yesterday we went to church in Ravuma(5k from here). I am so impressed by these kids. There were around 100 kids in the Sunday school class, around 15 of those were girls and another 15 were small children or babies on the backs of those girls. Some of them are probably not older than 8. When I was that age I'm sure my mom wouldn't have trusted me with a baby--and it's a good thing! After church we walked outside and the kids swarm to us and just look at us. White people are really rare around here. They talk amongst themselves and then when the teenagers get brave, they step up,quickly, brush their hand on my hair and then step quickly back. They love to teach us clapping games. Our communication is limited here more so than in Balama because most of then only speak Makua. They haven't gone to school (or they don't go for long) and that is where they learn Portuguese, so it's a struggle. But a smile and a high five surpass language limitations.
We came back to Balama and went to church there. It's more energetic and the kids are mostly the same ones we see all week so they flock to us. We hear "Hannuh, Keitee" as we walk up and they run to grab a hand. We sat in the back because their service had already started, and we are a distraction. They were intrigued by my bible and then even more so when they found my family picture inside of it. I am sure they were thinking 'that is a lot of white people!' But I put it away until after church or every child in the building would be sitting on me trying to see in about thirty seconds. We sang a few songs and then the kids dancing choirs started. There are about twenty kids in each choir and they line up in two rows at the back of the aisle, they dance and sing their way to the front and the complete a few more songs before dancing and singing their way back to the back. Then a few kids will get out of the line and a few more will jump in and they do it again. Bertino, the children's pastor grabbed Hannah's hand and dragged her in. Even though I was sitting all the way against the wall I knew he wouldn't let me out of it. Haha, not a chance. But even though I'm not a good dancer they brought me in and it was super-fun! Who knew that our just dance game on the wii at home had helped prepare me for Africa. All I had to do was watch Bertino's feet and do what he did. It doesn't matter that it didn't look quite as graceful, everyone was having a blast and singing to God. That's what He wants from us.
This morning Fred went with Hannah and I to visit the homes. I loved it! We visited five homes and spoke with the mothers in those homes. One mother, Ernestina, invited us to come visit anytime and said she would help us with Portuguese. Another mother, Balbina showed us her home. The girls were hanging around getting ready for school and we said hi and chatted for a few minutes. Filomena is around 8 and she was eating breakfast. Balbina motioned that the fresh, full bowl across the table was for us to try, she handed a spoon and Hannah and I both tasted it. We decided that it was delicious! It was like the consistency of grits but made out of farinha(corn flour), sugar and water. It's what they all eat for breakfast. As we walked between the houses, Fred introduced us to people along the way, one of the guards' wife, the case worker's daughter, the preschool teacher's daughter, etc.  Fred was greeting everyone, sending the kids to school (since they were already late), and teaching us some new words along the way. I loved being out among the people, on their turf and getting a better glimpse into their lives and making connections: who belongs to who. What a privilege to get to experience this.