The second half of ABO went quickly by. Meghan finally recovered and both of us were very active with the children. On top of learning new things about the various African countries and animals, the kids got to experience a trip into the market, a home visit, and time spent at a local school where they also got to swim. On the last day of ABO the children got dressed-up in different African garb and set up a market of their own. Each child laid a konga (blanket/wrap) on the floor and displayed all of their crafts they had made throughout ABO. The parents later walked through the market and did a little “shopping.” Although getting the market set up was a bit stressful, everyone had fun in the end.
Alex Juggling Chicks
At the end of the last full week at ABO we had a fun night and a celebration dinner. The fun night was just a bunch of skits, jokes, dances, songs, and trivia games. The kids sang some songs they had learned and a few of the girls put on a puppet show. There was a challenge between the kids and the parents about who knew more about Africa. The kids won. The Scot taught us a Scottish dance. One of the Brits juggled baby chicks (not even kidding!). One of the parents made up a song about coming to Africa to the tune of The 12 Days of Christmas. Our skit, though, was hilarious. Meghan, Rachel (one of the 12-year-olds), and I were the six-legged elephant named Gertrude. We covered ourselves with this blanket; my arm as the trunk and Meghan as the rear. Carolyn narrated as we did two tricks. The first trick was to walk over the middle of a person. We got one of the kids to lie down on the floor and we walked over his middle. Then we got Mr. Fast, who is one of the ABO leaders and also incredibly tall, to lie on the floor and we would walk over him from feet to head. When we had walked over half of him we stopped. Carolyn started saying “Gertrude, what are you doing? No, don’t do that!” And about that time Meghan (being in the rear) lifted her leg and dumped a bottle of water onto Mr. Fast’s stomach. The audience and Gertrude were laughing hysterically. The night ended with ice cream, cookies, and brownies. (Yes, I am in Africa, but I don’t get to eat these things all the time!) Now, onto the celebration dinner and, oh my, what a dinner it was! I’ve never seen so much meat in my life! I think the men were getting pretty desperate for iron and protein and, as a result, dinner was a meat fest. I’m not kidding. It was meat for the main course with a side of more meat! We had steak (fillet mignon w/bacon wrapped around it), chicken, pork tenderloin, hot dogs (that tasted like American hot dogs), and all in a large abundance! We also had some sautéed onions, grilled pineapple, fried potatoes, cheese, fruit salad, and, to top it off, ice cream. I don’t think I’ve eaten so much meat in my life! Everything was grilled outside and it was amazing. Poor Meghan, though. She doesn’t eat meat so it was more potatoes for her! After the dinner, a group of young Kenyan women came in and danced for us. They also had us join in for one of the dances. Only a few of us (me included) got up to dance but it was so much fun.
Kids at Fun Night
Becca, Amanda, and Lorien
On February 5, we said our goodbyes to everyone and headed up to Nairobi with Carolyn. As soon as we were settled in Nairobi, we grabbed some pizza for lunch and then headed to Junction to shop a bit. Carolyn had to debrief with the ABO leaders, so Meghan and I wandered around this book/music/movie store. After a while, we met Carolyn at Java House to do some emailing, drink coffee, and eat dinner. The next day was the big shopping day. After breakfast at Java House, we bought a few African crafts then head back to Junction to shop at Naukumatt. After shopping a bit we saw a movie…this was our third movie in Africa! Once the movie was over, Meghan had to finish up a little shopping so Carolyn and I went to Java House (again) to do some emailing. That evening Carolyn made dinner for us and we watched a movie. Thursday morning we flew from Nairobi to Loki. We were only in Loki for the day so as soon as we dropped our stuff we went into town to run some errands. We met up with Phil and Linda who were bringing a team out of the Didinga Mountains and also Russ and Lyn, who were out for their resupply. We literally spent the entire day running around and getting things organized for our flight out to Sudan the next day. (Meghan had to do her resupply in Nairobi and Loki so she had A LOT of stuff and weight was becoming an issue since we were taking the small plane into Sudan. Luckily Phil and Linda were able to take all of my stuff and just a few things of Meghan’s with them in their vehicle.)
Me and Rachel
I finally arrived back in Torit early Friday morning (February 8) and, after a little recuperation, spent some time in town and at the AIC church. My, how much has changed! The little town I left in December has grown quite a bit in my absence. Although the town itself has changed, the people themselves have not. I was greeted by the same friendly faces I left two months prior. The greetings this time were “Happy New Year” and “You have been lost!”; appropriate greetings for the beginning of a new year and for one returning after some time. As I continue to reacquaint myself with the town and my ministries, I will share with you more. I thoroughly enjoyed my time in Kenya. It is such a beautiful country and I would love to explore it more in the future. But for now, I am excited to be back in Torit. Welcome back to Sudan!
