Day 4: 12/30/11

Crafts center

Chalk with the girls

Braiding and knitting

Basketball

Littlest Faidu

 I promise these entires will get shorter from here on! I hope the past two novel-length entries haven't discouraged you from reading on. Today was the first day of VBS. Deb and Darlene organized everything for this entire week, and I cannot say enough good things about them. The amount of preparation and thought they put into our Butterfly themed summer school is evident in the 4 trunks worth of crafts supplies, decorations, and themed snacks. So many of the supplies were already prepared and she had a detailed plan for each day. "Go Deb!" became the theme of VBS. I led the crafts station with Jeremy and Emily Bennett and we made cotton ball cocoons and caterpillars and butterfly fans. The combination of glitter, glue, stickers, and everything in between made things messy and fun. They turned out really great and even the older kids enjoyed themselves. We spent the rest of the day playing with the kids. A highlight included Kelly, Shane and my failed attempt at teaching some of the kids how to play Knock Out. It was hilarious- we kept trying to explain in the midst of them playing, shouting and throwing the ball everywhere that if the second person makes it before the first then the first is out, and that you don't pass it to the last person in line, and that if you make it that doesn't mean you get to shoot again... It was great. Saffie, Memunatu, and Juliana are three of the younger girls and we all went inside to play with chalk. I wrote Memunatu's name in bubble letters. Saffie watched me and worked so hard for probably twenty minutes writing "Saffie Koroma" in bubble letters and coloring them in. So cute. I spent the rest of the day floating around- swinging with Memunatu and Regina, finger knitting with Aminata, taking pictures, or "snaps" with Idrissa. One funny moment was walking with Moinina and his little brother Faidu. Faidu is the youngest boy and very short. Moinina kept pointing at him to me, teasing over and over, "This is the smallest boy at the CRC." Faidu smacked him and Aunty Hannah nodded, saying, "He is the least among us." I cracked up- I love the way they phrase things. Faidu looked a little defeated so I whispered that he was the boy at the CRC with the biggest heart. After dinner we headed back to the CRC for Vespers and movie night- Alice in Wonderland. We all were fading fast so we left early so we could do our devotional and get to bed. We talked about what we took for granted and I said circumstance. I am realizing that so much of your life is determined merely by circumstance- where you live, what you're born into. I am finding that I don't deserve everything that I take for granted each day the same way that little boy doesn't deserve to go to sleep in a pile of trash. It scares me.