Around Senase & a Visit to Akatim Village School 9/23

That morning Sarah and I had a very early wakeup call at 4 AM from the rosters outside. We both managed to fall asleep again and were woken up around 6 AM to get ready for the day. We explored the village a little this morning while we were waiting for the others to get up. We went along with Francis to get water for the day from the water pump. At the water pump there were a few people there already gathering water. They greeted us with big smiles! To gather water people would use BIG bowls or jugs, always carrying them on their heads back. There was a little boy there, who was SO cute, standing by the pump with a small pot of water on his head staring at us. When we walked off with his mother (who had a big bowl on her head) he kept on looking back and spilling his water EVERYWHERE. He was so adorable!

After everyone got together we went into town center to have breakfast. When we first headed out I didn’t think there would be a lot of people out in the town center but when we arrive there were so many people! There were a lot of kids wearing their school uniforms. There was even a live band playing! Haha it was a lot of fun. We had porridge & donuts for breakfast which was really good. The donuts weren’t like ours, they were basically fried dough balls – there was one called a sweet bar which was really good! While we ate we were surrounded by young children and people were lined on the streets watching us. We spent the morning socializing with the villagers, taking & showing pictures to the children, eating and dancing. It was such a good time!! The children love the pictures and keep on asking for more and more pictures. And when you show the pictures to them they light up and start pointing and laughing & screaming.

After we had breakfast it was time for us to be welcomed into the community by the Chief. We walked down the street to the home of the Chief. As we went in the Chief’s home, one by one we greeted and shook the hands of the Chief, Queen Mother and Elders. They were all so nice and welcoming to us and were so grateful that we were visiting their village. The Queen Mother even spoke directly to us which is a great honor.

After the welcoming ceremony we headed back to the center of town and piled into the back of a truck bed to head to the school in Akatim which is a close by farming village where Fred actually attended school. As we settled into the truck bed the rain started to pick up a bit but it wasn’t until we were on our way that the downpour started!! We were all soaked from it but it was so fun we were all laughing and I even have a really funny video of it with my waterproof camera which is hilarious!

Visit to Akatim Village School

We arrived to the school all drenched and the children were all lined up sticking their heads out looking at us. The day we visited was the second day of classes. There were four classrooms in the school with the youngest children set apart in a different building. The school was not in good condition, there were no walls, just boards nailed up, the roof was leaking and almost all of the children could not afford to buy books or school supplies. We spent the day doing activities like coloring, singing, clapping and using other sorts of games. Grant and I worked with the older kids and we all colored. The kids loved it, they were so proud of their work and they all did so well! The teachers even joined in and loved it. They played some of the games in the coloring book and they had so much fun. One of the teachers was only 20 years old and came to the area just to teach the students.

At first the children were very shy around us but after a while they opened up to us and welcomed us in. It was so sad seeing them there when they deserve so much better. I know the students are very smart and are capable of learning so much but without their school supplies and the ability to do homework it are almost impossible for them to learn. After we spent the morning with the children we got to meet with the headmaster of the school. We asked him questions and got to know a little more about the school. They have about 80 enrolled students in the school but not all of them continue to come because they can’t afford to. A large majority of them can’t even afford a notebook or pencil for class. We also learned that we were the first white people that the students have ever seen! After our talk we went back to spend more time with the children and presented the school with a soccer ball to share among the students. They were all so excited about it!

We also had the pleasure of walking some of the students home to see how far they have to walk to get to school. We set out with the children, who usually will walk alone, down the road towards their homes. The whole time the kids were asking for pictures and making funny faces and laughing. At one point I handed my camera over to one of the boys to take some pictures and he had a blast with that! I love them so much you can tell they are his because you can see his fingers in about every one of them! :)

We walked for about 45 mins until we got to one of the boys houses. The boy and his father invited us in to visit his home. It was sad to say good bye to the other children who had to continue to walk. Some had to walk another 2 hours to get home!!

We walked to the boys house which was pretty far into the woods and when we got there the boy climbed up and orange tree that was about 20-30 feet high! He picked a bunch of oranges and we headed out. The ride home was very fun! We were in the back of another pickup truck, but this time it was full of produce from the day. Along the way we made 4 or 5 stops for more people and more of their produce. There were almost 30 of us in the back of it and the first 2 rows were packed with stuff. People were sitting on the edge and it was so nerve racking thinking that they would fall off! Everything was fine though. :P

We arrived back home and spent the evening with the children in the village. I went down to the soccer field in attempt to play soccer with the kids but there was a practice going on. After a few minutes there was a mob of children surrounding us, watching us and posing for pictures. There was one point where I was sitting down that the circle of children was so thick that I couldn’t see anything past them. This was also the most I’ve ever been asked for my contact number by 6 – 10 year olds or being asked to be there future wife. One little boy was so cute, he came up to me and poked my arm and said “you are so soft! Will you be my future wife?!?” then word must have gotten out that I was really soft because I was getting poked for about 10 minutes by the children. 4 of the girls: Celestine, Lydia, Dorothy & Francisca were around me a lot that night and once they opened up enough for me the girl began playing with my hair and braiding to too. They were so sweet. I printed out some pictures of us and gave them to them and it was a huge hit..they loved them!!

That night for dinner we had Fu fu - it is soooo yummy! We ate it communal which was so much fun and we also had some rice and stew which was supposed to be served individually but we all got caught up in the moment and dug into whatever bowl we wanted!! It was a riot. After dinner we headed into town briefly and grabbed a beer at a local bar. The bar was blasting reggae music and it had a really good vibe. A man walked up to us with a big smile and said: “You are white people, I am black man, I love all people!” and he was dancing and having a grand old time! We called it a night once we got back from the bar seeing as we all had a very long day. Before bed Sarah, Fred & I had a long talk which was really nice. The day was amazing and it was something I will never forget. There was not one point during the day that I was not smiling!