Wednesday August 29, 2007

Day 11. Last day in the village. We had such a wonderful night here at Yayani's home. For dinner, we made soup and rice. We sat around the campfire and talked into the wee hours. Such wonderful conversations.


We all slept in this area of the homestead, Yayani's room. The boys, Langton, Mark and Jack, stayed on their side of the curtain. Godfrey slept in the truck - I think it's because he didn't want to hear the snoring OR hear us girls giggling as if we were at a slumber party. Unfortunately, the snoring carried across the homestead into Godfrey's truck. The giggling, not so much.




And here's Cindy preparing the breakfast, Yayani is on the left, Langton is on the right, Jack is in the background. Check out Cindy's fancy footwear.







This is where the women dry their pots and pans.









Cindy's distributing necklaces, made by a woman back home, to the ladies in the homestead.









....and here are all the women sporting their new necklaces








It's facepainting time! The theme of the festival this time is Animals, so all the children had their faces painted, and they got an animal visor. Here's Langton putting the first paint on...







...and here I am putting the noses on. Note my fancy zebra top!









A little boy at the festival









Here's the soon-to-be chief (left) and Bernard, the Deputy Headmaster (right), with the Zimbabwe flag donated by World's Window, just prior to singing the Zimbabwe National Anthem. They're wearing animal masks, too.





A beast was served at the festival, along with vegetables (remember the pictures of Jack and Mark in the truck?), rice, bread, and juice. All the children were fed, followed by the rest of the villagers. It was a wonderful feast. Afterwards, the orphans were given their bags of food and clothing from their sponsored families back in the US. (For more information on sponsoring a child, call me! or check out the World's Window Website by clicking here).



Here's Kudawashe, the 6-year-old boy mom and her friends sponsor.








And Joseph, the other boy mom and her friends sponsor.








That's Lvyes, the boy I sponsor.









And Admire, the boy my New Visions students sponsor.









And Given, the boy mom sponsors.












Well, that's it. Another mission. I have never felt more emotionally attached than I did on this trip. I had a hard time for the first week back in the US, so it took me a while to focus on this blog. I just couldn't look at the pictures for a while. I'd love to hear your comments. Much love, all. Thanks for your support and encouragement.