We pulled into Shanto. We knew they were waiting for us. At one end of town was the open air market. As soon as the landcruisers pulled in, people began leaving the market and gathering around our vehicles. Eventually we were told to go ahead and get out of the vehicle and to take only our camera. We were met by a large number of villagers. The elders dressed in traditional attire, were dancing and singing the traditional dance. It took us almost an hour I'm guessing to walk down the road to the compound. Not because it was a long walk but because we were surrounded by curious onlookers. Like, worse than the shopping mall on Christmas Eve. Like worse than the football stadium right after the game ends. I'm a people person so I loved it. Being surrounded by tons of people I didn't know didn't make me uneasy at all. What really touched my heart was that as I walked I had one child holding my left hand and not sharing with others while I had 4 different children holding my right hand. And when we came to a mucky puddle, rather than let go of my hand and walk in front of or behind me through the dry spot, the children would wade through the puddle so they could keep holding my hand. I wondered what they were thinking as I tried to let go and let them go ahead of me. I'm not even sure what I was thinking.
When we finally reached the FOVC compound, we were greeted by this group of children and their teachers at the front gate. They were singing a song, in English, for us while proudly holding up their signs. It was warm. They were hot and been waiting a while so I'm sure they were as glad as we were that we were finally there!
One of the coolest parts of all this was when Jo locked eyes with her sponsored child and they ran for each other. Their embrace was one of long lost friends. What I didn't know then was that when Jo left in January, Ayelech was quite upset. Jo assured her that she would come back and said to look for her. Well looking she was and she found her and it was precious. When they hugged, Ayelech said "my mummy, you've come back". Yes, indeed she did Ayelech.
Of course, there was one sweet boy that was holding a sign with our names on it. We made sure to track him down and Julie grabbed a picture of us. This was the beginning of many little buddies that we would come to know.
Below is a picture of some of the town elders who were dancing, singing and playing their instruments. These people danced us all the way down the road and then continued after we greeted the children at the compound gate. They must have burned a lot of calories that day doing the "hand drying" (as we called it) dance.
Just a few of my friends are below. Really, I don't think I really knew any of these kids yet except the one to my immediate right. She stuck close to me all week. Love that sweet child. What was even better was that she asked about Ingrid shortly after I got to know her a little. How cool is that!!! She was asking about Ingrid, one of 4 people I know from last January's team of 28. I had brought her a little photo book from Ingrid and was so glad to be loving on her for my friend. As the week progressed, my little buddy would rarely leave my side.
Coming up next: come on, do you seriously think I have a plan of action for these posts? I think I'm saving the crops for last, just so you know. Other posts will be Judah's birthmom, livestock, medical, and who knows what else...
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