Home Visits!

I got to travel around town with our director, frank, and teacher Andrew on Wednesday to see where the children love and the kind of lives they live. It was a very saddening day that was very eye opening. We went to ten different homes and saw many of our children along the way.

We brought each family a kilogram of sugar and rice along with a loaf of bread. They were all so welcoming and thankful to have us at their homes and tell us about their lives. One woman makes mandazzi for a living and I purchased some from her to try. It was delicious!

We got to see one of our favorite kid, Antoine's, house. Terrence has decided to sponsor him and let his mom know while we were at their house. She was thrilled and so excited for her son.

We had to cross bridges like this all day and Andrew and frank always laughed at me because I was not a fan. I was always afraid I would be the one to step on it and snap the wood and fall through.

We walked through a lot of rice fields and even got to see some rice being planted on the way. We walked around 15 miles that morning from house to house. Some children travel 2 km to get to school by herself. It's a different way of life here to be sure.

We came across some berries along our hike and stopped to try them. They were a bit like grapes.

Many people lived in a house that was the size of a very small room. We complain at DG how small the rooms are yet our doubles in the new wing are bigger than these people's entire house. It's shocking how seeing this has really altered my view of the world. I want more for the people here and know what's out there. For them, this is all they know and all most of them will ever know.

The houses here all have a gate of some form for protection from outsiders. It was very cool to get to experience a day in the life and learn daily life is here. I have really put things into perspective being here and I hope when I return to the USA I can continue to keep what I've learned here with me in my daily life. I want to continue to appreciate the little things as they make the bigger picture that much better. The little things make a difference. Next time I go to complain ill think of life here and how much worse off I could be. I'm blessed to have such a great life and now know that even more.

With love from Africa,

Lauren