"Let the little children come unto Me..."

I can't say for sure, but i don't think many things can beat the genuine smile or the bubbly laugh of a child. The past couple days here, i've had my fair share of laughs and smiles with the kids here in Choma. on thursday, we went on a field trip with our zambian history/anthropology class to a local school here in town. it was started by a christian zambian woman who felt God was calling her out of her government job and in a job of ministry. she saw a need for the orphans and most vulnerable children here, and so she started a school for them. it is a one room school, with a tin roof covering half of it, and the other half is open to the sky. there were two classes going on in there at the time we were visiting, along with two other classes outside. during the rainy season here, they have four different teachers instructing four different classes all at the same time, all in one small room! i tell you what..the kids here must have incredible attention spans not to get distracted by the other classes going on around them! hahaha...but my favorite part of visiting the school was after the tour was over. we got the chance to play outside for about 30 minutes before our van came to pick us up. we played futbol (soccer) and took pictures (they go bananas for getting their photo taken...they all push and shove to be in the front of the group, and after it's taken, you MUST take the time to show each and every child the picture on the screen so they can find themselves and scream out with excitement before you can take another :P ) it was soo cute because they follow you wherever you go in big clusters like baby ducks following a mother duck :D and....i didn't realize when it was time to leave because i was caught up in talking with the kids, and so all the other girls and teachers were already in the van and they pulled over to pick me up..and one little girl came and gave me a hug goodbye, which apparently was all the permission the other children needed to do the same, so pretty soon i was struggling to stay on my feet from all the aggressive hugging going on from all sides. hahaha..i loved it! The next day, friday, we were planning to go on a field trip into the market to shop, but also to use shopping as a cover to start conversations with the locals and ask about whether or not they were originally from choma or if they moved from a village, and if so, when and why. however, just as the first group arrived there, we found out that the market headman had not given us permission to ask those kinds of questions in the market, and so we had to leave. i was pretty disappointed just because so many of our plans have fallen through or not worked out the way they were supposed to. however, it turns out i was getting ahead of myself because that evening, we went on a "plan B" field trip to the village just 10 minutes away from our complex. we can walk there....and you wouldn't believe what we found when we arrived. KIDS! soooo many many kids, of all ages! we were able to stay for about an hour and a half before we had to leave because the sun was setting. i learned a lesson in trusting the Lord when he closes one door..he gave us such a better blessing in the evening than shopping in the market! it's wild going into situations like that, because the minute i start meeting the kids and getting down and dirty playing with them, i forget the rest of my team, and i honestly don't even see any of my classmates while i'm there. some of the kids i met were Oliver (he's a 10 year old boy who is a big flirt and loves to get his photo taken, by himself! he was the one who stuck by my side the entire time we were there) Tyson (the oldest boy i met, 12, who can do incredible acrobatic tricks like aerial cartwheels, backflips, and more!) little Miriam (a beautiful girl, probably about 5 years old...she spoke english soo much better than many of the other kids, even those older than her!) and Ivy (a little toddler..i think 3...she has the most beautiful face and eyes and hair..and she loves to be held) we played more futbol..with empty water bottles, took TONS more photos...did karate together, had tickle fights, had some foot races, did lots of gymnastics (i couldn't participate much in my restrictive skirt...boo...next time i'm wearing a flowy skirt with trousers underneath (can't call pants "pants"...that means "underwear" here!)) by the time we had to leave, i had fallen in love with these kids! it took a long time to say bye because they all wanted to shake hands and hug and kiss my hand and arms...that got a little out of control...a few older boys liked that a little too much and i had to yank my hand away a couple times :/ hahaha...but they are so open and friendly, and i am sooo happy that they are our 'neighbors'..we can walk there whenever we want! so obviously, i want to go back today! hahaha...we'll see if schoolwork permits.
this morning, we had a special speaker for history class who came and discussed traditional medicine and beliefs and how those influence our role as nurses. he was soooo blunt and open and honest...my jaw literally hit the tabletop multiple times throughout the discussion! ask me more about it if you're interested...but some of the stuff is so "graphic"..i don't think i'll post it publically on this blog :P
we just got back from our first time eating out at a restaurant here in town...it was definitely interesting..the food was great, but the wait just about made me insane. patience is really something i'm learning LOTS about here in Zambia. we were there for 2.5 hours...some girls even longer, just to get a hamburger and soda. crazy!
please keep us in prayer...on monday the first half of our team is going on our first trip to Zimba, a city about 1 hour away, for a 2 day hospital clinical. i am in that team, so i'm leaving early monday and getting back home tuesday night. pray for safe travel, protection against disease in the hospital, and also for knowledge and wisdom as we work with the patients...we very well may be called upon to do nursing skills we have never attempted yet (such as start an IV..yikes!)
the girls who were sick are all doing much better...thanks for all your prayers of support there!
i'll post again as soon as i get the chance! thanks for reading and stay tuned! :D
love and miss you all!
Britt