Emily has finals this week. Botswana seems a long long way off, even though we leave in a few days

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Emily’s last trip to Africa was when she was in 4th grade.  She was 10 years old.  What an adventure.  We visited the Mpala research station (http://www.mpala.org/) and I installed a Linux system that they used as their server for years.  We helped setup some experiments, and explored the region via borrowed 4×4.  We also visited Solomon, a friend who offers Nairobi kids living on the street a home in an orphange run by the Church.  The orphanage is out in the countryside, in a beautiful and green area.  Emily and I will have a similar chance to help out with some kids in Botswana.  More later… we have to head to the airport in a few minutes.

Ok. So hey everyone :). I know you have been sitting at your computor refreshing this page every minute just waitingg for me to make a post.. So I thought I wouldn’t keep you in agony too long. Hah jk. Although I may not have seemed like it, I am very excited for Botswana! But… With the first 11 hour red eye flight over, and a six hour delay here in istanbul followed by another 9 hour red eye to south africa followed by a 2 hour plane ride to Botswana, it’s hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Well, time to uhh.. Sit around the airport some more :). Thanks for all your prayers!
– emily

Wow.  I cannot find words to describe the warmth and kindness of the people here in Botswana.  It is good to be here.  We arrived yesterday afternoon tired, beat, and hungry.  For Emily and I, the trip was 38 hrs door to door.  Together with the other 7 folks from the US we enjoyed a pizza dinner as we planned our week.  We know here in Africa plans are but wishes, but the Westerner in us compels us to make schedules and organize to-do lists.  Pencils work better then pens here.

This morning we awoke to the wonderful birds, roosters, and braying donkeys of the village called Maun.  After a quick breakfast we drove to sing and have devotions with the 20 or so local students OneWay is training.  The small cement room amplified our voices, and we sang, clapped, and worshipped together.  I was able to catch a little audio.  It might give you a small glimpse of the wonderful vocal tradition the people of Botswana share.

Frank and Scott stayed with the local team to provide leadership training while Emily, Beth Bounds (college student intern for OneWay), Jim, Derek (8yrs), and Jake (11yrs) Johanik, Hannah Thompson (12yrs), and I went to the small children’s day care to teach, laugh, and hug kids.  The school has about 50 kids whose ages range from about 2 to 7.  The small school gets support from the Botswana government and churches to teach the kids.  Many of the kids are AIDS/HIV orphans.  Most of them stay with “Aunties” or their grandmothers.  A few are able to stay with their mothers.

The kids were so happy to see us.  Initially, they were a little shy.  We do look very different.  But within minutes they were crawling over each other to get a chance to hold our hands or hug us.  I could sum our day with them as “Hugs, Giggles, and Love and an occasional improvised activity”.  Before we left for Botswana, we had somehow gotten the impression that we were going to just help a bit at the school, as they proceeded with their normal activities.  :-)  Of course, experienced readers already know what really happened.  The school staff thought we would be taking the kids for the day.  They did provide a translator, but we were mostly on our own. It all worked out, but there were plenty of “Uhhhhh what other games are good for 5 yr olds?” and “Hmmmm, I’m trying to think of a song….”.  If you have game or song ideas for 2 to 7 year old kids, please leave them as comments in the Blog.  The team and I are busy brainstorming how we will handle things tomorrow.  I think breaking up into smaller groups will help.

Tonight we will be driving to a small village nearby and have a bonfire and sing and dance and pray with the local teens and children.  If I’m not totally exhausted, I’ll try and provide some pictures.

-Pete

A small glimpse of the music we enjoyed this morning and this evening:

Click-to-hear-their-singing

A picture from this evening’s bonfire in a local village:

Hmm. I don’t even know what to write about; these first two days have just been amazing. Right now I’m sitting in our little thatched-roof hut. It’s our break time between leading the school activities and accompanying the OneWay team here in Botswana on an outreach trip to a nearby village, which includes singing, dancing, a bonfire, and storytelling (yeah.. I got out of the storytelling last night, but they did drag me into the dancing :P). One thing I just can’t get over, though, is the Botswana OneWay team’s passion. When they’re worshiping, each person sings out and dances with such freedom, giving Him their all, like the room is empty except for them and God. This feeling is also the same in their prayer and preaching. If people in Naperville could have this kind of zeal for the Lord, it would be truly revolutionary :].

Ha ok.. enough of that. The experience with the kids today at the school was just as wonderful as yesterday, if not more so. By breaking them into 3 groups we kept relative order, although there’s always just that onee kid, or the awkward moment where we were all kind of asking: “Uhh.. so.. anyone know what we should do now?” hah. The day disappeared quickly though as we had them play games with beach balls, draw pictures and use foam stickers, make “Jesus bracelets” (the bracelets with the 6 beads, each representing a part to the Gospel), listen to (and participate in through hand motions) stories, and sing songs.  With hugs and high fives all around, I was sad to say goodbye. Although I didn’t even attempt to learn 50 kids’ crazy African names in two days, I already felt like I knew some of their unique personalities.

Well, I’ll close this up with a prayer request.. Please continue to pray that our team stays energized (and especially for Derek, who isn’t feeling too well) and that I have the courage to step up and out of my comfort zone as God calls me to do so :]. I love you and wish that you be out here with me! Thanks for checkingg innnn.

-emily

ohh. and as for the title, the kids at the school kept saying “Teecha, teecha” to get our attention :].

Beth Bounds, OneWay Intern:

Wow! Technology… I almost forgot all about you. And you people at home… Well, I haven’t forgotten about you. I do not, however, wish to be in America right now. I’m rather content here in Maun, Botswana. We were greeted with so much love at the airport. I can hardly believe it. Why on Earth do they LOVE so much better in other countries?

We spent yesterday at the orphanage/school after a fired up devotional at the school of missions with SUPER loud singing. I mean I assumed that there were like 100 people when really there were only like 40 people. We went to the orphan center and had a rather hectic time. One little girl seemed to stick by my side and so many of the children just wanted to be cuddled.  Others wanted to talk, but that was a little more difficult. None of us went anywhere without a little child (or 5) to accompany us anywhere.  The children would respond with “Aye-mah!” when they understood something, which means Yes, Ma’am.  If they didn’t or wanted something, just like Emily said, “Tee-cha!” was more commonly heard.

After a wonderful night of dancing around the fire and singing with more passion that I’ve probably ever heard in my life, I felt ready to take on the world again today. Man do these people sing out! I recall one of the boys with us, Jake I think saying,  “Man! When are they going to stop singing?” I responded with “Probably not until the fire goes out”. We laughed and that’s about how it actually happened. Emily, Hannah and I even joined in some dancing and singing. I had to quit early though because one of those treacherous migraines began. I ate two fatcakes (fried dough balls) for dinner and went right to bed when we got home. I woke up ready to take on the world yet again!!

It’s almost noon at home but it’s evening here and our stomachs are grumbling. They aren’t grumbles like the one little guy had this morning though. We spent yesterday and today at the Maun Counseling Center. As you have already read, I assume, this is a center for children who are orphans or “vulnerable” of some sort. Anyways, this little guy had eyes full of tears and a bloated tummy. When one of the Batswana women talked to him, she finally got him to say that his tummy hurt. It was almost breakfast time at the center and he continued to cry until after he ate. I felt so terrible for him. At least I knew that he was getting a breakfast and a lunch at the center.

It amazes me how two ladies teach these fifty orphan children everyday with little guidance and little funds. Another two ladies cook for them. One of the teachers told me that they follow different lessons and do an art project every day. Whoa. What dedication. (Mom, you thought your job was hard at home? Try children with the same problems and no one help you in the process of diagnosing them or managing them. It’s you versus the world. Literally! I admire what you do, but MAN I can hardly believe what those two women do every day.)

The funding comes from the government but they still need more. We left them with many many bars of soap (Thank you Best Western in Naperville!) for the bathroom. We noticed the day before that the children came out of the bathroom with just as dirty hands and that they didn’t have soap.  I wish that we could have left more, but it was difficult because we knew that we were going to a different school on Thursday and Friday and needed supplies.  I will probably go back to the Maun Center next week when the rest of the team leaves. Hopefully I can help and leave some things with the children.

We’re going out a village like 2 hours away tomorrow and then spending time at a new school on Thursday and Friday. The following week when I’ll be staying here after the team goes home, hmm, I don’t think anyone knows the plan for that, and you know what, I’m pretty fine with that.

All in all, we’re doing well. As for prayer requests, please pray for all of our spirits and energy. I don’t understand why these headaches have been coming, but they have continued in Africa too. Oh the rain too! Please pray that it stops. It’s wintertime and it’s not supposed to be raining and for tonight, it has stopped our going out to another village. Thank you for following along with all we’re doing. Thanks for your support and love.

~Beth Bounds

PS I’m not so sure I can get used to not waking up under my thatched roof or the smell of my rainy thatched roof! And as for taking a shower with bugs and living with some lizard in my hut? I couldn’t be more content.

Hannah (Michael Thompson’s daughter) is an accomplished blogger at almost 12 years old.  Give her some spare time between activities and she can crank out pages and pages in her journal.  Check out her pictures and perspective on the trip here

We went to another school today. Singing, storytelling, and crafts with the kids went much smoother today as everyone knew routine. I had one cute little girl stubbornly refuse to smile for me. It is precisely those kinds of challenges I love…

Yep. We’re basically pros :]. Today we trekked down the muddy roads in our four wheelers to another school. This time around, we were even more prepared with our songs, games, crafts, and stories. I think we accomplished the same number of activities in half the time! Although… this could be mostly attributed to the fact that these kids spoke English.. hah. One of the most memorable parts of our two hour stay was the story telling. We told (and once again.. got the kids involved with hand motions) the story of Jesus calming the storm and chose one of the children to tell the story back to us. All the other days, the kid would stand there looking confused with maybe a hint of stage fright; but today, a little boy popped up and excitedly told each part of the story, including the motions! It was so amazing to see a little kid learning and remembering stories that show the power of God :]. Also, the Jesus bracelets were a highlight. There was pure joy on the each child’s face as they proudly held their bracelets up to our faces, just wanting a simple “woah!” or “good job!”

Alright, well if you know my lovee for blogging then you know I could just go on foreverrr (sarcasm :P). Therefore, I’ll end this here :]. You know.. more later and thanks again for the prayers! It has been rainy and cold the last 2 days, so our outreach trip to the bush, which was supposed to be today, was postponed to tomorrow. But, the weather is supposed to clear up, so pray we can go!

lotss of love,
emily

ha p.s. (I always seem to forget something) this morning we went to worship and listen to a short sermon again with the local Botswana missions team. As I said before, it was just so amazing. I realized one of the reasons I like it so much is that it’s like everyone IS the band since it’s all a cappella, and everyone is participating with their whole heart. They made an entire song that lasted at least five minutes out of the simple phrase “number one” sprinkled with “not number two” and “not number three” (and of course with lots of clapping and dancing :]). Also, because of all the rain, the speaker could not make it, so someone from the group was just called up on the spot to make a short sermon. Seriously… it had power, direction, and passion.. and it was completely impromptu. I just think that’s so incredible. Each morning we have heard an equally impacting sermon and decided we could sum them up with “If you love me, obey me. So, let’s be a new generation who goes deeper.” The way the say “go dee-pa” just makes it all the better :]. Ok, so for real this time… ttyl.. it’s time for bed.