The beauties of this country, and the beauty of the relationships built here.
On Sunday, WMF celebrated "Princess Day" with five of the Lighthouse girls. The title sounded silly to some of us, that is, until our team leader reminded us that "girls are never [normally] treated nice here." A sobering reminder!
The teenage Lighthouse girls, for the second year in a row, were treated to a wonderful full-day beach outing. Eleven of us hopped in a chartered poda-poda at 8:30am and headed to Burray Town, a beach further town on the Freetown peninsula, about 2 hours away. The luxory of a paved road made the ride smooth(er) and problem-free. (Well, there were those two times our driver almost rammed into oncoming traffic and some people's hearts jumped into their throats, but whatever! ;)
At the beach, Cami shared the Bible story of Hagar, Abraham and Sarah's Egyptian slave, reminding us of God's ever-present love for us. He is the God who sees us (Genesis 16).
Then, we played some beach games, coordinated by the U.S. Servant Team ladies - one game I learned in the comfy and laughter-filled environs of my college apartment (the clapping animal game!) and the other I played once at my Trinity youth group. It involved human pyramids and making shapes in the sand with our bodies. Lots of laughter and squealing involved!
Florence (the girls' Bible study leader) coordinated the food - we ate shwarmas and pepper chicken for "snack" and then soda, juice, water and *delicious* couscous and vegetable salad and more chicken for lunch. We played in the ocean, helping the girls stay afloat and dive under waves and splashed around in the river. We did live like royalty for the day!
It all culminated in the "dressing of the princesses." Each girl modeled their new African dresses that the Lighthouse tailors had sown for them, and jewelry purchased with Florence. They looked so beautiful and were having so much fun.
Again, elements of this may sound cheesy, but it really is true - how often are girls appreciated here? Told that they're beautiful and valued and given a chance to just enjoy a full day like this? Even as the day was closing some grown men were hanging around our post and asking if they could "take" one of the girls as a wife. I was so disgusted I wanted to scream.
But they were given a day to be appreciated and loved. And I loved that WMF's heart and mission is to pour into these girls' lives; to encourage and love them despite all they have been through.
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Saturday, May 10, 2008
On the streets
Two weeks ago, Word Made Flesh hosted a seminar entitled "Children in Crisis." A man from Britain delivered the 5-day conference, and WMF invited the parents or guardians of each of the Lightouse kids to attend, creating an opportunity to give them tools for raising their own kids who have lived through traumatic experiences and also allowing WMF to deepen their relationships with the Lighthouse kids' families. It was a good, enriching week.
Sitting on hard wooden benches at Robert Street Baptist Church from 8am to 4:30pm, serving tea and coffee, and mingling with Lighthouse parents, I was able to learn about the fragility of children, how formative their first years are, and the immense impact and power each adult in their life holds over them.
Two boys, both entering the Lighthouse program but without sponsors from America, were on my heart and mind. Best friends, they attended the seminar together, as they had no guardian willing or able to come on their behalf. One of them, I learned, still sleeps on the street; the other just came off the streets as his father invited him to live with him again. Neither are in school
I won't share too much about the boys right here, but I've known them since my first week in Freetown, and only during the seminar did I learn of their current situation. Through the seminar's content I began to understand how a life of poverty weighs on a child's mind and soul, subconciously feeding them all kinds of lies about their value and worth as dearly loved human beings.
All of the Lighthouse youth, except for these boys, have monthly sponsors. The sponsors' contributions to WMF enable the staff here to enroll the kids in school, pay for their lunches for the week, and organize meaningful outings, opportunities to have fun and grow, and to feel affirmed by WMF mentors.
One of these boys gives me joy from his bright smile, the other has quite a tough exterior from all he's gone through and reminds me of the sorrow and hardships in this place - both weigh on my heart and I hope some people some potential sponsors will soon show interest in them.
Another WARM Freetown day - gray clouds announce the enroaching rainy season. I've heard that Sierra Leone gets the most rainfall of any place in the world. Their rainy season lasts from May to October. Sierra Leone also has some of the most nutrient-rich soil on earth. And it's also the poorest, or perhaps second-poorest, country there is. It doesn't make sense does it? No; and it is tragic.
More from me later - just about one month to go before we leave; wow! Much love to you all!
Sitting on hard wooden benches at Robert Street Baptist Church from 8am to 4:30pm, serving tea and coffee, and mingling with Lighthouse parents, I was able to learn about the fragility of children, how formative their first years are, and the immense impact and power each adult in their life holds over them.
Two boys, both entering the Lighthouse program but without sponsors from America, were on my heart and mind. Best friends, they attended the seminar together, as they had no guardian willing or able to come on their behalf. One of them, I learned, still sleeps on the street; the other just came off the streets as his father invited him to live with him again. Neither are in school
I won't share too much about the boys right here, but I've known them since my first week in Freetown, and only during the seminar did I learn of their current situation. Through the seminar's content I began to understand how a life of poverty weighs on a child's mind and soul, subconciously feeding them all kinds of lies about their value and worth as dearly loved human beings.
All of the Lighthouse youth, except for these boys, have monthly sponsors. The sponsors' contributions to WMF enable the staff here to enroll the kids in school, pay for their lunches for the week, and organize meaningful outings, opportunities to have fun and grow, and to feel affirmed by WMF mentors.
One of these boys gives me joy from his bright smile, the other has quite a tough exterior from all he's gone through and reminds me of the sorrow and hardships in this place - both weigh on my heart and I hope some people some potential sponsors will soon show interest in them.
Another WARM Freetown day - gray clouds announce the enroaching rainy season. I've heard that Sierra Leone gets the most rainfall of any place in the world. Their rainy season lasts from May to October. Sierra Leone also has some of the most nutrient-rich soil on earth. And it's also the poorest, or perhaps second-poorest, country there is. It doesn't make sense does it? No; and it is tragic.
More from me later - just about one month to go before we leave; wow! Much love to you all!
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