Bonfires and Water Time!

Thursday already! Everytime I write another entry, I am blown away that MORE time has past...

So lastnight, we had a Bonfire! I wasn't told we were going to do this until about 1:00 yesterday afternoon. And I thought it was all of Baby B, C and Toddlers... Which is roughly 48 children. I was thinking... *Great.... How are we going to pull this off with just the volunteers (currently 6 of us) and maybe 4 or 5 mamas?* To be honest. I was not excited at all. Then a few hours later I was told it was going to be just the toddlers (maybe 26 kids) so I was much happier. When it came time - after the kids ate their dinner, the mamas got them in their diapers and pajamas and sent them out to the front porch where we sprayed everyone down with mosquito spray (THANKS DAD!) and got shoes on. While we were trying to run crowd control with 26 screaming and very excited toddlers, I noticed more and more people showing up... More help! Hurrah!!! In the end, we had about 2 hours worth of fire with about 35 adults and maybe 40 kids under the age of 16 here. It was alot of fun and I ended up snuggling by the fire with my Toddler Boy - W. We roasted marshmallows and had a really good night. It made me slightly home sick because campfires are something that we always do when we go camping and I haven't been camping in so long... I miss it.

I carried on with my preschool and am getting more and more used to teaching these kids colors, shapes and letters. We read simple books and dance to silly songs. I enjoy going down in the morning and seeing the kids - and their attitudes. You can ALWAYS tell if it is going to be a good morning or a bad morning based on the chaos downstairs. If the kids are screaming, running around and nothing has been started... You know its gonna be a tough day! Hehe!

Today, I filled up 3 buckets of water and made water stations. I got some of the other volunteers to help me undress the youngest toddlers into just their diapers so I could have 3 groups of 5 splashing, playing and laughing in the tubs of water filled with cars, buckets and shovels. The tubs were like small bin sizes... The type of tub we use to do dishes in while camping... The square ones. So they aren't big enough kids can drown in but definately big enough to splash in!! My little baby "R" in Baby A is sick so I spent the afternoon snuggling him and helping the mamas with the babies. R ended up throwing up on me twice and I felt so bad for him with his fever and constant pain you know he is in. At one point, I had him on my lap, 2 babies at my feet and another on my chest... The mamas were teasing me... Saying I could handle 4 babies at once no problem! I (lovingly) told them they are crazy!

I am still super happy and enjoying my time here. My sicknesses have seem to subsided although I keep getting headaches and my tummy doesn't always agree with what I eat... But... TIA (This Is Africa)!!!

T.