Visible Works Of God...Teleios Africa 2007
Day 14…The Kidetete Blessing and Soccer
Students at the Kidetete School eagerly raise their hands in anticipation of being called upon to answer the teacher's question.
Children at the Daily Bread Life Children's Home enjoy a competitive game of soccer against the village team.
Isyana, one of the children from the Daily Bread Life Children's Home, ranked Number One in Academics in school.
The children at Kidetete were all smiles as Floyd and Phileas gave each of them their very first Tootsie Roll Pop candy.
Today was truly a blessing visiting the Kidetete Nursery School and the Daily Bread Life (DBL) Children’s Home. The joy and thankfulness of being a part of what God is doing with these children and communities is a privilege beyond measure.
This morning, Mpeli Mwaisumbe, pastor of Kidetete Baptist Church and Supervisor for the DBL Children’s Home, and I went to Kidetete to visit the Nursery School.
First, when I asked about one young teacher (17 years old) who started teaching with the school two years ago, I learned that she had moved away to be married. Her father wanted the cows that he could get for her in dowry, so her marriage was arranged. Delia is the teacher who took her place. Delia is 25 years old and has finished her teaching education. She is an excellent teacher.
As I walked into the small class room, the children greeted me in English. I saw the walls filled with pictures, the alphabet, numbers, and drawings. Last June, Anne Davis encouraged the teachers to put pictures on the wall. I also recognized the shoes sent over in January gathered by Kristi Parker and brought to the school by Kip and Derrick Miller on their trip. This was the last day of school for a month. The children were sitting at new desks given through the Christmas catalog last year.
The children were smiling, laughing, and very excited to share what they had learned. The village leaders have given the school their approval as the village school. Twenty-six of the school’s students have moved on to primary school. They were tested, passed the entry test (yes, an entry test for primary school), and are now going to primary school. This is a great accomplishment for the children and the school.
After school ended, each child was given their progress report and work sheet. That’s when the reality of what life for a five-year-old could be. One five-year-old girl got her younger brother who is less than two years old, tied him on her back, and started for home. She was one of four children who had younger brothers and sisters to care for while attending school. As they left, the children received their first-ever Tootsie Roll Pop. Chalkboards, crayons, paper, activity books, balls, and other items given by Teleios partners were presented to the school.
In front of the church and school is the village drinking water supply. A large, six-foot hole with the sides covered in grass and weeds provides water for drinking, washing and rinsing of clothes, and other needs that require water. Please pray for safe, clean drinking water.
On the way back to the village, we passed women carrying every imaginable thing on their heads, from water and firewood to a 50-pound sack of charcoal.
In the afternoon, the DBL children went to a local playground for soccer. The boys were loosening up doing DBL-style jumping jacks led by Alex, who is one of the cooks and the soccer coach. They jumped into the air pulling their feet up and touching them with their hands—at least 10 times each—amazing! Then, they took on the local village boys in a friendly game of soccer.
The DBL teams’ skills were very impressive. Soon, they were winning 3-0. After about 45 minutes of constant soccer, the village team managed to score twice. One score was very questionable as the ball “went through” the bamboo poles that formed the sides of the goal. However, the shot was about 15 feet high—it counted.
In the end, though, the DBL team won 3-2. Mpeli proudly proclaimed that the DBL team has never lost to the village team. In fact, they are hoping to begin playing other children’s homes or schools. We are looking for soccer uniforms and shoes for the children. The girls were involved in a hot game of soccer themselves. No one was sure about the scoring as some of the girls played for both sides, but there was a lot of laughing and celebrating.
One of boys, William, was written about in a previous Teleios newsletter. When he came to the children’s home his legs were terribly scarred from insect bites, mainly from sleeping on infested animal skins. If you ask him now about what happened to his legs, he tells you, “I don’t know what you are talking about.”
His story highlights one of the really interesting things that has happened here at Kidetete. Many of the children tell you that they cannot remember the bad things.
I met Simon and Daniel, two 13-year-old boys now at the Children’s Home. They had escaped from a work camp (a children’s slave camp). They worked with no food or shelter. Daniel was “almost gone.” Simon helped Daniel to escape with him.
They crossed a crocodile-infested river. No one knows how they did it—Mpeli says it was only God’s protection. Without food for three days they were found by a local Christian group and taken to the police. The boys were placed with DBL and are awaiting their fate. It seems that it takes six months before they can consider DBL home and go to school. Please pray for them they really want to stay at the Children’s Home.
Josephine, a beautiful but sick child, who we met last year, has left the home to live with family in Dar Es Salaam. When she came, Neema Mwaisumbe was told she was two years old. Her picture is featured in last year’s newsletter report on the June trip. Neema and Mpeli did research and found out that she was five years old not two. Please pray for her as the staff is uncertain about her family in Dar taking proper care of her.
Samuel, Mpeli and Neema’s son, is having a hard (but, enjoyable time) adjusting to being their son and not one of the orphan children. He does everything with his friends but sleep at the Children’s Home. Every morning, he wakes up early for devotion and breakfast at the Children’s Home before running home to change for school. In the afternoon and evening he eats lunch and dinner with the children, studies with the children, and plays with the children. Today, he ate twice when he was “forced” to eat lunch with the family and me.
Once again, a DBL student is Number One at school in Academics. This time it is Isyana, a young boy in the primary school. DBL students were Numbers 3, 4, 6 in their class. We are so proud of their success.
Tonight, Frank and Ann Mwaisumbe took me to the Miami restaurant. We enjoyed a great meal of roasted chicken, hot pepper sauce, goat ribs and bites, roasted bananas, and Cokes.
Floyd presents the gifts of chalkboards, crayons and balls for the students on behalf of the Teleios partners.
Many of the children recognize the blessing of being able to attend school, but they know the realities of their daily lives also include having the responsibility of caring for younger siblings at the same time.
Students at the Kidetete School eagerly raise their hands in anticipation of being called upon to answer the teacher's question.
Children at the Daily Bread Life Children's Home enjoy a competitive game of soccer against the village team.
Isyana, one of the children from the Daily Bread Life Children's Home, ranked Number One in Academics in school.
The children at Kidetete were all smiles as Floyd and Phileas gave each of them their very first Tootsie Roll Pop candy.
Today was truly a blessing visiting the Kidetete Nursery School and the Daily Bread Life (DBL) Children’s Home. The joy and thankfulness of being a part of what God is doing with these children and communities is a privilege beyond measure.
This morning, Mpeli Mwaisumbe, pastor of Kidetete Baptist Church and Supervisor for the DBL Children’s Home, and I went to Kidetete to visit the Nursery School.
First, when I asked about one young teacher (17 years old) who started teaching with the school two years ago, I learned that she had moved away to be married. Her father wanted the cows that he could get for her in dowry, so her marriage was arranged. Delia is the teacher who took her place. Delia is 25 years old and has finished her teaching education. She is an excellent teacher.
As I walked into the small class room, the children greeted me in English. I saw the walls filled with pictures, the alphabet, numbers, and drawings. Last June, Anne Davis encouraged the teachers to put pictures on the wall. I also recognized the shoes sent over in January gathered by Kristi Parker and brought to the school by Kip and Derrick Miller on their trip. This was the last day of school for a month. The children were sitting at new desks given through the Christmas catalog last year.
The children were smiling, laughing, and very excited to share what they had learned. The village leaders have given the school their approval as the village school. Twenty-six of the school’s students have moved on to primary school. They were tested, passed the entry test (yes, an entry test for primary school), and are now going to primary school. This is a great accomplishment for the children and the school.
After school ended, each child was given their progress report and work sheet. That’s when the reality of what life for a five-year-old could be. One five-year-old girl got her younger brother who is less than two years old, tied him on her back, and started for home. She was one of four children who had younger brothers and sisters to care for while attending school. As they left, the children received their first-ever Tootsie Roll Pop. Chalkboards, crayons, paper, activity books, balls, and other items given by Teleios partners were presented to the school.
In front of the church and school is the village drinking water supply. A large, six-foot hole with the sides covered in grass and weeds provides water for drinking, washing and rinsing of clothes, and other needs that require water. Please pray for safe, clean drinking water.
On the way back to the village, we passed women carrying every imaginable thing on their heads, from water and firewood to a 50-pound sack of charcoal.
In the afternoon, the DBL children went to a local playground for soccer. The boys were loosening up doing DBL-style jumping jacks led by Alex, who is one of the cooks and the soccer coach. They jumped into the air pulling their feet up and touching them with their hands—at least 10 times each—amazing! Then, they took on the local village boys in a friendly game of soccer.
The DBL teams’ skills were very impressive. Soon, they were winning 3-0. After about 45 minutes of constant soccer, the village team managed to score twice. One score was very questionable as the ball “went through” the bamboo poles that formed the sides of the goal. However, the shot was about 15 feet high—it counted.
In the end, though, the DBL team won 3-2. Mpeli proudly proclaimed that the DBL team has never lost to the village team. In fact, they are hoping to begin playing other children’s homes or schools. We are looking for soccer uniforms and shoes for the children. The girls were involved in a hot game of soccer themselves. No one was sure about the scoring as some of the girls played for both sides, but there was a lot of laughing and celebrating.
One of boys, William, was written about in a previous Teleios newsletter. When he came to the children’s home his legs were terribly scarred from insect bites, mainly from sleeping on infested animal skins. If you ask him now about what happened to his legs, he tells you, “I don’t know what you are talking about.”
His story highlights one of the really interesting things that has happened here at Kidetete. Many of the children tell you that they cannot remember the bad things.
I met Simon and Daniel, two 13-year-old boys now at the Children’s Home. They had escaped from a work camp (a children’s slave camp). They worked with no food or shelter. Daniel was “almost gone.” Simon helped Daniel to escape with him.
They crossed a crocodile-infested river. No one knows how they did it—Mpeli says it was only God’s protection. Without food for three days they were found by a local Christian group and taken to the police. The boys were placed with DBL and are awaiting their fate. It seems that it takes six months before they can consider DBL home and go to school. Please pray for them they really want to stay at the Children’s Home.
Josephine, a beautiful but sick child, who we met last year, has left the home to live with family in Dar Es Salaam. When she came, Neema Mwaisumbe was told she was two years old. Her picture is featured in last year’s newsletter report on the June trip. Neema and Mpeli did research and found out that she was five years old not two. Please pray for her as the staff is uncertain about her family in Dar taking proper care of her.
Samuel, Mpeli and Neema’s son, is having a hard (but, enjoyable time) adjusting to being their son and not one of the orphan children. He does everything with his friends but sleep at the Children’s Home. Every morning, he wakes up early for devotion and breakfast at the Children’s Home before running home to change for school. In the afternoon and evening he eats lunch and dinner with the children, studies with the children, and plays with the children. Today, he ate twice when he was “forced” to eat lunch with the family and me.
Once again, a DBL student is Number One at school in Academics. This time it is Isyana, a young boy in the primary school. DBL students were Numbers 3, 4, 6 in their class. We are so proud of their success.
Tonight, Frank and Ann Mwaisumbe took me to the Miami restaurant. We enjoyed a great meal of roasted chicken, hot pepper sauce, goat ribs and bites, roasted bananas, and Cokes.
Floyd presents the gifts of chalkboards, crayons and balls for the students on behalf of the Teleios partners.
Many of the children recognize the blessing of being able to attend school, but they know the realities of their daily lives also include having the responsibility of caring for younger siblings at the same time.
Labels: Teleios / Grace Partnership
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