A Million Pictures Taken... Half a Million Deleted!

I have to say before I start blogging tonight that we are all tired so this will probably not be very long. Susan is sick again (we are hoping it is not with Typhoid) so we did not do any shoe shopping; instead the kids came over and we did more interviews. I want to give you all a picture of what this looks like. First, and foremost, you have to realize that the majority of the children do not speak English - therefore we need an older child to translate. As a result, the questions we ask have to be pretty simple and stated quite simply. We bring the children over in groups of about 10-20. But today it seemed we had so many more than that. The little ones all stayed outside in the front playing. We threw out a ball (a soft small ball) and they were entertained for hours. The bigger kids came into the house with us and altogether there must have been at least twelve. And that meant at least six different conversations going on at once inside not to mention what was taking place outside the wide open window. Meanwhile the one being interviewed spoke in the softest voice possible. Trying to hear the answer among all the noise was really difficult. Not only in terms of hearing what they were saying but in terms of what they were telling us. One of the girls, as Phil was relaying the story that he already had about her parents, was reading his computer screen when she started crying. The tears were from her reading her own story! Its not that she didn't know the story it was that she was reading it again and it brought it all home to her. Phil just reached out and hugged her until she was able to get herself back in control. It was a really gentle moment. While this was taking place the chaos around us continued. None of the other kids in the room were touched by the show of emotion. I was however. I wanted to reach out and give her a really big hug. When the interview was over I did get a chance to hug her and she just wept into my arms. It was emotional for me needless to say.

It has been a very emotional day here. I think we are exhausted and that is playing into the overall feeling. The kids continue to lift our spirits every time we see them. They love the camera and I tend to lose control of it every day. The interesting thing is they are so excited to play with it that they don't really care what they are taking pictures of. So at the end of the day when I look back at the photos there is no telling what I may find. Usually I see pictures of the ground, the refrigerator, and this awful looking fake pink flower arrangement that Phil has. I also get a lot of headless children (I have a hard enough time identifying them when they have heads). The thing they love the most is seeing their image after the picture has been taken. They all crowd around and grab at the camera to be the first to see. Every night Phil and I sit down and we identify who all the children are - something I didn't do last year and lived to regret. I hate to say it but there are still so many I recognize but cannot put a name to a face. But then I am not very good at doing that a home either so it is just an overall character flaw!!

I am starting to see that my goal of updating all the profiles may have been overly ambitious. I am still doing my best to fulfill that goal but honestly I don't know if it will be possible. The interviews with the kids are taking much longer than expected partly because of the language barrier and partly because the stories are so difficult to understand. The kids don't really know their history and so trying to piece it together does take time - a commodity we don't have a lot of. Most of the kids really don't know their age either so we are doing our best to figure that out as we go. Interviewing two kids from the same family does not necessarily generate the same story! And since we are using a translator we can only hope that we are getting the right story and it is not becoming a game of telephone. At best we are getting five or six done a day.

We still have our twenty two kids to buy shoes for. Depending on how Susan is feeling I hope to finish that up tomorrow but I am learning the meaning of patience. This was supposed to be finished yesterday and still we are waiting...So I am learning to wait on God's timing which I am learning is often NOT MY timing! The kids we have bought shoes for were very excited to get them and I want to make sure that we share this experience with all of them.

Jerri Shelton, since you are now so computer literate, (I feel as one non-computer person I can say this to another) if you will email me your cell phone number I will do my best to get both Emma and Wilson Bombo to call. It was not my intent to have all the kids call but word has spread here and the kids are all so excited to call "home" that how can I refuse them that simple pleasure. The call would come in to you around 9 AM as the kids would then have to be back at the children's home in time to eat dinner. Brian Garrison, Vicki Marquez and Jaimie Piatnik we have not forgotten about your kids.

In closing another day has come and gone in Iganga. Each day begins with new hopes and dreams. Tomorrow Liz and Phil are going to start a Bible study with a group of about 11 kids, both boys and girls. The good thing about starting this so late in our stay is that we have had a chance to get to know the kids and their personalities. We are both so excited about the girls in the group - they are a wonderful group of women. And having just seen the boys list they a great group as well. Liz is going to take the girls and Phil will lead the boys. I plan to sit in with Liz and listen. But this is her deal and I am so excited to see her in action. I know she will do great and will be a wonderful example to the girls.

My prayer for tonight is health for Susan, rest for the three of us, and God's will for tomorrow. Shalom.