Tuesday, January 25, 2011

The Next Few Days..

The days began to consist of more scheduled and planned sessions starting on day 3. We had Bemba-learning sessions each morning, and then went to Hope Village after we ate some lunch (aka, peanut butter and jelly sandwich and chips). Hope Village looks like this:

The bola (soccer) field
 The Church
 Hope House
 The School
 The School
While we spent more and more time with the kids at the house and from the community, I started to feel overwhelmed by the amount of love these children and the community had for us. Just by our team coming to their village, we were showing that we cared, and in return they showed us so much more love and hospitality than a lot of us have ever received. On the 5th day of the trip, we drove through the village of Tawapia (where many of the school children live), and it was incredible how the children would light up when one of us waved at them or said "Muli Shani", which means "Hello, how are you?" The fact that Americans were in their village - not just any African village - meant so much to them. By this point of the trip, tears welled up behind my eyes more times than I can count. It's indescribable how beautiful the children are; how loving and joyful the people are as a whole; how much they love to dance and praise the Lord; how simplicity is so full of happiness; and how pride comes from entirely different things than what we call accomplishments in America.

We spent New Year's Eve at the church, along with the entire congregation. In Zambia, the new year means so much more than just a night to throw a party and get friends together - they are truly thankful to have lived through another year, and to be blessed with the year ahead. We praised God together as we celebrated life and acknowledged the struggles that were overcome in 2010. Of course, in true Zambian time, the countdown happened about 5 minutes after the actual stroke of midnight, but Ba Charles had to finish his sermon before the countdown could begin. It was such a beautiful service, and it has caused me to look at the whole celebration of New Years differently. It's not about a kiss, a date, a new dress, or how extravagant a party is; it's about the fact that God has given us another beautiful year to live out our lives praising Him.The new year should celebrated just as we did that night - hearing the word, thanking God for life, and dancing for Him, together, in community - a whole body celebrating the One who created us.

Dancing in Zambia is interesting - to say the least. To be completely honest, my hips do not move like the Zambian women's hips.  I was embarrassed to dance from the moment Ba Margaret took my hand and pulled me up front at the New Year's service, but, even still, it was fun to dance at New Year's, and to watch the kids at hope dance in their welcome ceremony to us. It was happy. And it was fun. At the welcome ceremony, Anna was the most fun to watch, as she's the smallest in the house, and shook her hips the most of any of them. She even had Ba Charles laughing hysterically.

This video isn't of the Hope house welcome ceremony, but it's the welcome ceremony that the school held for us before we left. It's a perfect example of how they dance.. (and that's my Rita girl with the red fabric wrapped around her waist)

Basically they're awesome. Little Shakiras all over the place. I loved it. I loved watching them dance and do something that they were so good at, that embraces so much of who they are and where they come from. It was beautiful. And hilarious, at times.

At this point in the trip, the Zambians were teaching me beyond what words can teach. With so little verbal communication, it amazes me that they taught so much, but what I learned from them is more than some people could teach me in a lifetime. My world was being turned upside down and I'd only been there for a few days. I knew that God was present in every interaction and moment spent with the people I got to meet, and it was beautiful.

Chels.

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