Our Fifth Day in Tanzania

On Friday we visited another child development center – TZ-229.  We don’t typically remember the number of every center but this one had a special significance.  On our way to the center, we learned that on February 21, the director of this center was murdered after some local people discovered they were just about to receive a special grant from Compassion to do a project.  Thinking that the director was now rich, they murdered him in his home with the hopes of finding the money.  It was so sad to think about what this center had just been through.  I was amazed to see that, despite the tragedy, all the kids were still able to show us their huge smiles and hearts.  The joy of the Lord was indeed their strength. 

The children were very excited to see us!  Three girls (one was 13 and the others were 14) greeted me with a warm smile and grabbed my hands.  Their names were Alima, Diana, and Naemma (Naemma is a very common name in Tanzania because it means “grace”). 

Today we really focused on playing games.  First, I played Frisbee with the boys and a few girls.  Since the Frisbee had a whole in the center, many of the boys tried to catch it around their heads.  I tried to do the same thing, but it never worked out.  I saw lots of children playing with bubbles in the background. 

I soon wondered where my mom went, and I discovered that she was on a rock in the distance playing games like tic-tac-toe, hangman, and dot-to-dot with four girls.  I joined them and found that the kids were happily licking ring pops my mom had given them.  They especially enjoyed watching their tongues turn multiple colors. 

As we were playing tic-tac-toe, we heard crying in the distance.  I saw a little girl coming toward us with tears streaming down here face.  I quickly grabbed some chocolate and gave it to her.  She almost immediately felt better.  “Chocolate always cures the tears,” I told her.

We then had lunch and played some more games outside, like the hokie-pokie, duck, duck, goose (which they call “ku-ku, ku-ku, bata, or chicken, chicken, duck), and red light, green light.  Probably the most significant game we played, though, was called (ooh – power just went out as I was typing this) Lion and Gazelle – translated ‘Simba na Swala’.  When playing, everyone holds hands and forms a circle.  One kid is chosen as the lion and one as the gazelle.  The job of the circle is to protect the gazelle from the lion.  As the lion runs around inside of the circle, the gazelle runs around the outside.  The lion tries to “attack” the gazelle, but the job of the people in the circle is the move strategically so the lion cannot reach its prey.  After the game of chase ended, our team leader Sean explained that the circle represents a community.  If someone strays from the community, it is the job of the circle to protect that person from the enemy who wants to devour them.  In the same way, God is always seeking after his lost sheep.  The enemy is the roaring lion, trying to devour its prey.  But it is our job to work with God to protect his children. 

When the rain started to come (typical in the afternoons, during this rainy season in Tanzania), we moved inside for more games.  Some played Uno and other games, but the majority of us played a fun game where we raced against another team to grab a water bottle in the center of the room.  Everyone was assigned a number.  When your number was called, you had to race against the person with the same number on the opposite team.  The team with the most winners at the end took the whole game.  It was very fun.  In Tanzania, the kids don’t need iPhone apps to enjoy games.  In fact, many kids are often seen playing in the dirt all day.  Life is more simple here.  And there is much to appreciate about that.  The children in Tanzania are teaching me that it is not money or things that bring us happiness.  It is more about time spent with the people we love.  And let and me say – Tanzanians are very easy to love. 

As we said our goodbyes, we left the center with a piece of luggage full of gifts.  It included paper, crayons, and other craft materials along with a few snacks and games.  In turn, they presented us with one final song that included lyrics about their thankfulness for the Compassion program.  It was also very meaningful because one woman on our team (Jeannie) decided to sponsor a second child that morning.  To our surprise, the child was at the center with us that day so Jeannie got to meet her in person and spend time with her.  Usually people meet their sponsored children after writing many letters to them overseas, so it was a very special moment for all of us.

In the evening, we returned to our hotel for some down time before planning our vacation bible school activities that we would be doing at another center the next morning.