"Teacher, Teacher"

I have been in this beautiful country for a whole week now- almost hard to believe! I don't know if I can even begin to describe how much I love it here. It seems as if every day just gets better and better. Almost every morning I wake up and think, “Wow, I'm actually in Africa. Thank you God!!”

It is very different from what I imagined (the school I'm working at is extremely rigid and strict...I have a hard time being so firm with these adorable children!) But I trust that this is right where God wants me and that he has a plan bigger and better than my own.

I spend my mornings in pre-primary (4's and Kindergarten) and the afternoon in primary school, mostly in P1 (1^st grade). I absolutely adore these children. They are precious and just warm your heart. The other day we were reading a Bible story about people going to see Jesus. Little Peter piped up and said, “I want to see Jesus.” SO precious! When I am in the school the students call me Teacher. I love the sound of their high sing-songy voices calling “teacher, teacher” when they want to tell me something or get my attention to show me something. I love the smiles that light up their face when you look at their work and say, “good job!” Outside the school many of them call me aunty. They will call out, “Hello Aunty Chelsea.” To which I reply “Hello! How are you?” And they will sing back, “I am fine. How are you?”

Yesterday I was with the 4 year olds helping a little boy tie his shoe when he reached out and felt my hair, running his little brown fingers through my smooth blonde hair as I bent over his shoes. When I finished and looked up his eyes were big with wonder. I smiled and said, “it feels different doesn't it?” Then I reached out and felt his short dark hair which made him laugh. I love their laughs, their big bright smiles, their beautiful voices, their precious little hands holding mine. It's hard to even explain, but they fill your heart with joy and break it at the same time.

In the evening I eat dinner with a family (at Rafiki they take in orphans then put them in a cottage with other children their gender/age and an African mamma so that they have a family). After dinner I go and read to the kids before bed. I brought some Alaska picture books with me to show them. It is so much fun to show them pictures and tell them stories about snow, bears, moose, the Northern Lights and the ocean. I love sharing these things from my world with them as I experience theirs. After seeing a picture of a moose one little boy looked shocked and said, “they have very bad horns!”

I feel as if every single day I am learning, experiencing or seeing something new. Today some of the girls showed me how to weave using palm fronds...they are so good at it and I am so bad! But it was fun to sit and learn and talk with them. When it started thundering I headed back to my cottage. Along the way I stopped to talk to a family (IF I had favorites, these boys and their mamma would be it!). They looked at my weaving and started telling me about their garden when Mamma Florence said, “But Aunty, you should hurry. You can't beat the rain.” I started running but she was right. It rains harder and faster here than I have ever seen in my entire life! By the time I got back to my cottage about 2 minutes later I was already soaked. I am amazed at how warm and sunny it can be one minute and literally a minute later the sky is dumping down buckets of water. But now the rain has stopped and the laughing voices of children playing beckon me back outdoors to enjoy every moment I have in this beautiful country with these beautiful people.