You can't imagine the sheer joy on the children's faces when they finished sewing the legs on their shorts...eyes were wide, and so were the smile! Tomorrow...waistbands!
Under Laree's guidance, we taught the kids to thread bobbins, as well as the machines. We had been doing it for them when we started, but the children need to be able to sustain the machines and learn to do it for themselves after we're gone. They are SO focused and eager to learn that it took them no time to "get 'er done"! But because we are teaching more children than there are machines, they have had to be very patient waiting their turns. That's when we noticed one of the boys hand sewing on a piece of paper--no pattern--but there were just holes in the paper, and he delicately wove the needle and thread through the lines he made. It wasn't long before the rest of the children had needle, thread, and paper, and they were sewing their names on their scribblers. Their joy at such simplicity was a little tap on the shoulder that it's not about the bells and whistles for these children.
Once the machines were away, I had some time to hang out in the yard, but I wasn't alone for long. Three beautiful little faces came to squish themselves on the green bench beside me. Before I knew it, they turned into a little team of hairdressers braiding my hair. Three tiny twigs broken off the tree beside us turned into combs for separating my hair into pieces. There was much twisting and tugging, but braids eventually made an appearance in my hair, and the girls were so proud of their work.
Then, with 16 kids in tow, we took a walk along the canal outside the orphanage, all the way to the mango tree, which really isn't that far, but when you have that many children, from 3-13 years, it makes for a pretty significant family outing.
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After some tree climbing and rock throwing, 3 year old Sandra in her little green dress, grabbed my hand and wanted to 'kouri' (Creole for 'run') as fast as we could, which was no easy task for me in this heat. I tried to interest her in stopping to 'talk' to the billy goats grazing at the side of the canal, but she would have no part of that, so I 'kouried' as fast as I could. I hate to admit that I was counting the hours until I could put my head down and zip up my tent, but there were computer lessons to be done first.\
Moise, Djemima, Leica, and J.J. come to the main house every night around 7 for at least an hour to learn computer basics on their laptops. They have made great progress in only 3 evenings of work, but I will never forget the look of pride on Moise's face and in his voice when he read me the 4 sentences he had written in English. The teacher in me was just as excited for him and very proud of him.
With laptops finally put away and crickets out in full force, it was time to make the trek up the concrete stairs and put another day to bed, and all I can say is it was 'sew'...'sew' good! :)
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