"Darasa Time" with "Delan" the "Teach"

These seven sweet faces are my preschoolers (L to R back to front: Musa, Lazaro, Rahma, Hope, Mariah, Bahati, and Dorcas). This was taken today before class started. They are sitting outside of the classroom door and have just received a speech from me about how when the teacher says "ssshhhh" everyone must "ssshhh." They get into putting their finger to their lips and "ssshhh"ing. It's encouraging and gives me hope that they will be quiet little students and entirely attentive to all that goes on during our short time together. Today, for the most part, my hopes became reality.

Normally we begin our time together with a story. Books don't hold their attention all that well because they don't understand very much English and they honestly aren't that interested in staring at pictures. Volunteers and nannies don't read to the babies in the baby home so these kids haven't had exposure to the wonders of reading/being read to. So instead of struggling through story time we had singing time! It was mostly Danielle singing time. They sat and stared as I went through every "ooh," "aah," "sshh," and "wooo!" verse of "Jesus' Love is Bubbling Over." By the time I got to singing the "Window Washing Song" with/to them I could not contain my laughter. Here I was, seated on the ground in front of 7 toddlers and Anika, putting my all into these old Friday chapel classics. And seriously. The looks on their faces...I don't think they have ever experienced something like that before. Sure, they've been sung to here and there but it was like a show for them, hand motions and all. I could hardly sing, I was laughing so much. I was nearly crying!! I was overjoyed with how attentive they all were! After every song they would clap their hands and smile soo big. Anika told me to keep singing because she too realized what a gem of a moment it was! I think every afternoon will be started with songs from here on out, no matter if it's just me singing and them staring or what.

Now, don't get me wrong, preschool is still very hard and filled with a lot of "classroom management" difficulties but with class starting out that way it didn't seem as difficult. Today there was still, almost consistently, someone in the "naughty corner". We even had to take Rahma back to the big house because she would NOT listen. She laughs in the face of authority! Oh that girl. We'll figure something out, I know it. But with a song in all of our hearts everything seemed to be more pleasant. Juice time is always a favorite of mine because they sit and giggle and enjoy their tasty drinks. Puzzle time is great because they are actively using their brains and I LOVE IT. They need that educational stimulation.

After walking the kids back over to the big house, sterilizing the potty chair, chatting with Allison, and putting things away in the classroom I hung out with the rest of the babies that aren't quite preschool aged yet. It's crazy, you know those baby swings that are like diapers? Well they have a swingset with three of those type of swings and they fit two kids in each swing! I don't know if it's just me but I had never seen anything like it before. The thought of putting two kids in one of those swings had never crossed my mind! So I stood there pushing six kids on the swings. How efficient!

It's been a long week and I have been taught a lot. Teaching Staci has been going well, we had fun using glitter glue today. :) God has been revealing Himself to me in new ways everyday. I'm learning to trust Him with the little seemingly insignificant things. Those little things sure do add up though and work together to create one beautiful relationship. How amazing it is to have a god that cares about all the little things in each and every corner of our hearts. Enjoy your weekend and a very very happy Sabbath! :)

First Day of School

Oh what an afternoon this has been. It was my first day teaching preschool to the toddlers at the baby home. I was so excited! I had everything planned out—what colors they would learn, how well they would sit and repeat after me, how they would giggle while doing the hokey pokey, and how fascinated they would be with the puzzles. Shoe throwing, biting, screaming, crayon eating, peeling things off the walls, and all other misbehaviors were not in my schedule!! Little did I know they would FILL my oh-so-perfectly-planned schedule. Ugh. It was a rough beginning. Thirty minutes into our preschool time I was fighting tears. Thankfully Anika was in there with me keeping the mood somewhat light.

There are so many barriers between me and these kids. I don’t speak Swahili, I’m a stranger, and they are used to volunteers being in and out of their lives. I don’t know! I don’t know what to do! I felt like such a mean person today and I HATE that. Someone was constantly seated inthe naughty corner. I went to Davona’s office after the two hours were up and just cried. She was not surprised which is a comfort to me. She is going to come in with me tomorrow afternoon and give me a proper introduction and explain to the kids that they need to listen to me and follow my directions. I did not think it was going to be this hard but I know that it will get better! I’m sure that they will know and understand “school time” a lot better after 9 months. It’s only one day, the first day, and it will be an uphill battle but the view from the top will be breathtaking, I hope!

On a lighter note, I had a reallygreat weekend! Church was nice, quite long, but I think that’s the usual here. Little Ruth found me again but my fingers stayed in their normal position for the most part. Sabbath afternoon was relaxing. I finished my book and candied some walnuts. They’re delicious! I’m enjoying experimenting with different sorts of foods. Saturday night my roommates and I went out to dinner in Usa. There’s a restaurant that is run by a sweet German couple and they were having barbecue night. The cook made me some spaghetti with veggies. Yum! I ate the salad they had there and I think I’m alright, not too many intestinal difficulties. :)

Sunday was a grand adventure! Anika and I took on the town by dala dala! We decided to go into Arusha all by ourselves. We had never been by ourselves before but we knew we could handle it. It was interesting finding which dala dala we needed to take and learning how the city works. We got a lot of groceries at the Village Market. It’s quite the western supermarket. A lot of the dala dala’s tried to overcharge us but we wouldn’t stand for that. We’re locals!

So there’s a little update on life in Tanzania. Please pray for me and for the baby home. Pray that I will have patience with the preschoolers and will know the best way to communicate with them. Pray that I won’t take everything too personally and I won’t get discouraged. Tomorrow begins 1st grade with Staci! I’m looking forward to it. Pray for that too, please!

I love and miss you all. Write to me! I love hearing from home or from where ever you may be. :)

This is part of the playground. That jungle is our backyard. :)

Delicious candied walnuts!! Makes my sweet tooth so happy!

Shae, Jacqui, Anika, me, Fritz (the restaurant's donkey), Becky, and Ashley out to eat on Saturday night.

A Perfect Day

This evening as I sat in the playroom holding two young boys on my lap I was surprised by a skinny little half clothed baby walking towards me. His name is Clinton and he was wearing a too small onesie (the kind without legs). It was only ¾ length on his arms and had some sort of girly design on it. The most surprising part was that the crotch part was unbuttoned and Clinton doesn’t use nappies anymore. I looked at him and just burst into laughter jostling the young ones in my lap. I said to him, “Clinton! Where are your pants?” And in response he got a funny look of embarrassment on his face and tried to tug tug tug on his onesie flap while sort of crossing his legs and covering himself with his hands. Oh I could not contain myself! He was so happy and was on a mission to get to playing after going potty! He turned around and sort of wandered back towards the changing room. A few minutes later the same exact sight appeared before my eyes. Oh that boy, he gave us all a great bit of laughter!

Glory took her first steps today, as far as we volunteers know. It is such a wonder to me how children learn to walk! She was so determined. She would wobble wobble wobble then fall but get herself right up on her feet again! And she would be laughing the entire time. Even though I have not been a part of her life for too long, I am so much more than proud of her! Her steps were so unstable but she was not scared. I watched her with absolute awe. It’s something that I need to remember in my life—that even though my steps may be unstable and I may not know what is ahead of me, I should not be afraid. God is my strength and is so much bigger, stronger, and more loving than anything seemingly scary that comes my way.

I got to work in my school room today! It’s a lovely little room with a beautiful mural on one wall. Staci and I, the girl I will be teaching, spent some time together playing games and getting to know each other. I think we will have a great time at “school” this year! Her mom has a wonderful supply of educational books for me to use. I need to start some sort of lesson planning so that what we do is mapped out. I’m a bit nervous and I know that I will be learning right along with Staci. I will also be teaching 6 or 7 of the toddlers. I need to figure that out too! I think we’ll do a lot of coloring and hopefully a good bit of dancing too. I love preschool. :)

It’s been such a beautiful day. Davona reminded us this morning about how we must remember to take big gulps of God and all His love and wonders so that we don’t run dry for these little love bundles. I entirely agree and I love picturing it. I see it as those three tiered fountain type things. The water pours from one bowl to the lower one and when that is full it tips over and pours into the final bowl. I like being that middle bowl! One day these babies will be there too. No, they already are. They serve as that middle bowl for me. Ohh God is so great!

There's me in my fancy pants classroom!

Jambo!

Happy Sabbath from Tanzania! I am here, safe and sound. I arrived at Cradle of Love on Thursday evening around 10. It is so wonderful here! I have spent my first few days getting to know how this place works—buying groceries, playing with the babies, showering, and trying to get a little bit of rest. With a time difference of 10 hours I am still quite jet lagged. This morning I woke up at 4:30 and was not able to go back to sleep at all. So, I set out to fill my day full of life here in Tanzania.

It’s been a different sort of experience here. There are 3 German girls volunteering and I really love them but it’s hard to break into the their group with such a language barrier. They speak English pretty well but naturally they want to speak German! I went to sleep last night feeling a twinge of loneliness and longing for all of my WONDERFUL friends back in the states. During my devotions early this morning I prayed to God about it. I continued praying on my walk around the compound. It was such a gorgeous morning. The air was thick and the ground moist from the rain we’d had. I found a plumeria tree with a fallen flower. It was perfect. It had water droplets scattered all over the petals. I picked it up and ohh it smells so good! The flower is such a beautiful and yet simple reminder of God’s presence in my life and desire to LOVE me. Just now, I am filled with such a peace. Rachel, Michele, Chelsea, and Tanzi (and anyone else who has read Captivating) it reminded me of John’s whale and Stasi’s starfish. Do you remember that part of the book?

I wandered back over to the baby home and found the nannies changing the kids’ diapers. I shyly greeted them and in turn was greeted by a friendly little one. She grabbed my hand and took me to one of the play rooms where 10 babies were laying, swinging, and crawling around. I sat down and immediately had three of them around me. It was interesting, the first child that was in my lap definitely felt a sense of ownership. She would push away the others that crawled on me! It’s incredible to me how much these children need LOVE. And not just smiles and love pats but real good one on one “I am fully focused on you and am delighting in you” LOVE. It’s really what we all need but with these babies it’s more evident because they don’t have parents to give it to them.

After coming back to the apartment, eating breakfast, chatting with Matt and my mom I was in a car headed to church! I love driving around because I get to see everything! A lot people ride bikes here and walk. The compound is just off of a main road though so there is a bit of traffic as well. We arrived at church while Sabbath School was wrapping up. We stood outside and waited until they were done to go and sit down. There were so many children there! The Havilah kids go to the same church. Havilah is another orphanage that is here in Usa River. One friendly girl came and sat next to me. Her name is Ruth and she is five years old. I would look down at her periodically to find her staring at me with a shy smile on her face. Eventually she moved her hand closer to mine and started playing with my fingers. My, she was fascinated. She twisted and bent, pulled and squeezed, the works! She even tickled my arms then lifted up my arm and went for my armpit! Now, we were sitting in the second row so at that point I had to put a stop to the major movements but it didn’t stop her from playing with my bracelet and trying to break my fingers. While all of this was going on there were three girls behind us trying to sneak tugs on my hair. I would glance back at them and they would burst into giggles. So adorable! I really enjoyed my first church experience here in Tanzania.

We came back here to our apartment and made quite the Sabbath lunch! We had veggies, rice, and a peanutish sauce. It was pretty good but almost like straight up peanut butter. I’m excited to experiment more with the foods they have here. In a bit we’re going to take a walk with Davona, the director of the baby home. Then I think I’m going to head to Arusha, the bigger town here, to get Tanzanian shillings and maybe pick up some groceries. School and preschool don’t start until the 13th so I have this whole week to try and get a feel for what I’ll be doing! I’m looking forward to it.

I hope you are enjoying this blog. Please comment! And email me to at drjenson@puc.edu. The internet here is pretty good but majorly slow and sometimes it doesn’t load my email page at all. This morning at 4:30 it was super fast though! Please continue to pray for me and the other volunteers here and for this whole organization. Check out their website! It’s cradleoflove.com. There will be more soon!

This blog was written yesterday...the internet hasn't been good enough for me to post it until now! It's Sunday morning. :)