Best Memories of Africa

My best and strongest memories of Africa are the people. In spite of the conditions that they live in, they all seem quite happy and are very strong in their faith. Also, the energy, enthusiasm and sincerity of their gratitude was overwhelming. First of all, visits for sponsored children are understandably rare. So when it does happen it is like five years of Christmas and birthdays all wrapped in one. I'm sure they get more soccer balls, clothes, dolls, toothbrushes, candy, balloons, etc on this one day than they have ever seen before in their lives. The entire family dresses up in their Sunday best (in contrast to our t-shirts) and the whole neighborhood appears around the house. In gratitude and any celebration/happiness they let out an infectious ululation that spreads throughout the crowd. The only way that I can describe it is how a young boy would flutter his hand over his mouth while emitting a war cry when playing "cowboys and indians". They do this with such fervor that it is difficult not to feel their gratitude. I kept thinking that it would be great if we had something in the U.S. that was similar to this but then I realized that would make their celebration less memorable so I was glad there isn't.

While many of the children were shy, the parents (and especially the aunts) were not. They would openly welcome and hug us and with each visit, offer up a prayer for us and for us to remember and pray for them. Can you imagine enthusiastically sharing your child with some stranger from a faraway land? It sounds quite odd for us but they did it willingly and happily. Their whole mood was not one of being beaten down and needy but one of welcoming and gratitude. It was inspiring to experience.

I must say that the singing and harmonies were incredible to listen to. We went to a worship service put on by a few churches that lasted for 3 hours but amazingly enough it didn't seem like it at all. While the electricity buzzed in and out, there were 4 choruses that took turns performing. The dancing, music and especially singing were fantastic to experience. While one chorus would be getting to the climax of their piece the others would join in and send up their ululations of celebration.

One final memory was of a soccer game that was arranged between us and a group of boys, probably 13-15 years old. While we took the lead early to gain some respect (a dramatic diving header by yours truly) we ended up losing in the end, 3-1. Appropriately so. This game is such a good memory because of how much it meant to the town. It was actually broadcast on the radio. When the game finally ended the crowd rushed the field and we all ended up chanting "Kolwezi! Kolwezi!" and doing their cry of celebration. There were hundreds of kids surrounding us all wanting to touch us, slap hands or just get our attention. Must have been what it felt like when the Packers won the Super Bowl.

Below is a picture of the soccer teams and a typical house. I promise more pictures as soon as I get some more from the other guys. Next up, more about our safari and bungee jumping(!?!).