All Smiles

Hello all. Amber reporting today and so glad to have the chance to write to ya'll. It's tough to follow Tommy's wit, so I'll stick to the facts regarding the events of today.

First let me say, it's hard to believe that we only have one more day with the students and that today was our last day in the classroom. We had an awesome morning singing several favorite songs ("Deep & Wide," "Lean on Me," and Mandy introduced a "Good Morning" song which was well received). It still amazes me to see the kids every morning when we get out of our van, the mad rush to grab a hand of one of our team members. The morning is full of hugs and swinging kids from our arms, then we gather and begin the day.

Breaking into our lesson groups today I noticed that each group has really taken ownership and tailored the day to their students' needs. Tommy, Jess, Zazie & Seth are teaching the little ones the alphabet and really interacting with them on their stories. My group (Cregan, Bianca & James), having the middle age kids, is trying to encourage the students to remember the lesson from the previous day and relate it to what we're teaching today. Mandy, Jenna, Max & Joe's group have been so diligent to provide their kids with more challenging lessons, teaching them new words and even giving them writing lessons. It's so neat to look around the school and see that we are actually teaching these kids!

Today's craft offered slightly more focus and less noise (I'm sure a blessing to the Jinja residents after yesterday's noise makers). We had taken pictures early in the week and put them into Popsicle stick frames for each student. Today we handed them out so that each student could decorate as they pleased. They loved having their very own pictures with us and did a beautiful job decorating and personalizing their frames. They even did some decorating of themselves, covering their faces, arms and clothes with sparkly stickers. After, we asked all the students to gather around and Christine (the headmistress) and Julius (TAOST alum and translator) gave a quick tooth brushing demonstration. Then we handed out tubes of toothpaste and toothbrushes for each student. They were soooo excited to receive this and one boy, Henry, came up to several of the leaders and with sweetest smile said, "Thank you so much." It was so fun to see them all smiles with their brand new toothbrushes and boxes of Crest!

It's always a fun walk from the school to the field for the afternoon activities. The kids grab on 3 or 4 at a time to any given team member and walk the whole 20 minute+ walk that way. Lugandan language lessons are taught, songs are sung, and stories of family are told. It's really a precious time to have with the kids. Upon arriving at the field today, we were greeted by two cows roped to a large rock. The kids showed no fear and went right up to the cows causing them to respond with loud "moos." Lucky for us city folks the cows caused no harm and let us go on our merry way up to the field. Similar to previous days, the bigger kids played a rousing game of football and the smaller kids played a mixture of Duck, Duck, Hen (their version of Duck, Duck, Goose) and Simon Says -- we had them saying "Superstar" and throwing up their hands by the end of the game; it was absolutely precious!

Late in the afternoon we had a big group under the shade, where girls were getting their nails painted, sugar cane was being passed, and impressive hand games were being played (I almost have them down). All in all a beautiful afternoon.

Leaving is so bitter- sweet every day b/c we don't want to say goodbye, especially knowing we only have one day left, but then again we're wiped out from a full day of playing and running around. The kids rush behind the car as we pull away waving goodbye. They truly are a blessing!

Today proved to be yet another great example of God's great love for this community and what our team has been able to take part in. I am in awe of Christine and TAOST, and how they are loving and providing for these students. This experience is definitely reshaping each team member and as we shared this morning of how our "treasures" have shifted a bit since before we came on the trip, I leave you with a realization a few of the girls shared last night -- to see such joy in a community that literally has nothing, makes it difficult to think that would come from anyone but God. Experiences like this, recognizing that our treasure truly is in Heaven, can only draw us closer to our one true God and strengthen us as we continue to serve the students at TAOST tomorrow and beyond.

Thanks for reading, for your prayers, support and encouragement. We'll see ya'll soon!