Craft Time!

   I have officially been in Addis for a little over 2 weeks now.  During this time there has been a bit of miscommunication due to cultural differences (another post for another time).  While it is nothing to stress over, at times I have been slightly confused as to waht I should be doing with my time.  When I am simply hanging out with the kids, spinning them or tickling them, I have a blast.  I also feel that I can offer something a little more structured though.  Sometimes when I plan something structured, the schedule changes and even the little kids have school all day.  Tiffany and I finally got our chance to do something really fun last Friday, June 19th.

   Tiffany came up with the great idea of making name signs for the kids' beds.  We found a ton of construction paper and crayons in the supply closet, so we simply set everything up at the dining room table and let the kids at Little Ahope loose!  They had an AMAZING time!  At first, things were a little chaotic as the youngest ones can't spell their names, and we couldn't even guess the correct spelling.  Luckily, the kindergarten teacher was kind enough to write everyone's name down for us.

   These kids are so creative!  Pretty flowers, hearts, soccer balls, and various animals were vibrantly colored on each sign.  Almost every sign proudly displayed at least one Ethiopian flag.  One girl, H., wrote "Happy" all over her sign.  Each word was spelled incorrectly, but I think her sign was the most beautiful of them all.  Another girl, D. (who I lovingly call Mia Hamm), took the sign I made and copied everything on to her sign.

   Every kid was so excited that they raced over to show me their finished product.  Everytime, I smiled and told them how Gobez (excellent) or Konjo (beautiful) their sign was.  They all wanted pictures with their creations, it was so cute.  Tiffany helped each child tape their sign to the wall beside their bed.  These kids have very little that they can call their own, something they don't have to share with 30 other children.  Something like a name sign may be an insignificant possession to many of us, but not to them.  The looks on their faces were so joyful.  It is something I will never forget.