"Baa Baa Black Sheep"

"Baa Baa Black Sheep have you any fear, no Sir no Sir the Lord is near." This is one of the many chorus' that the children sing at the primary school that Jessica and I had the joy of being at the past 2 weeks. There are 25 students from all different tribes ranging from ages 4-7. There is only one teacher and she is actually a missionary from central Kenya.
They were so excited to have us there and loved to stare at us and touch us especially our hair. It’s common around here that we will be the first white person they have ever seen or touched. Also they have been told things like white people eat children or that we’re ghosts or even demons. So some babies in the bush or villages scream and hide behind their moms when we come by. However the kids at this school were not scared of us and warmed up really fast. It was rather overwhelming to have 20 some kids charge you and want to climb all over you. Kids were getting hurt because the were so excited and it'd start a stampede or a mosh pit! The second day there we were asked to draw wild and domestic animals for the kids art project. This stretched me in my “skills” and made Jess and I laugh a lot because of the ridiculous things my hand and brain were coming up with. One little four year old upon seeing my “cow” burst out laughing and could hardly breath! God knows I’m not an artist! But I tried and did get better, anyway the kids enjoyed it and luckily they’ve never seen what a real pig or horse looks like.
Everyday the teacher would separate the older and more advance students and send them with me to do harder homework/lessons. I would help them do math, English and writing. It was so hard and most days I didn’t know if I’d make it. You’d think 5 and 6 year old would be no problem. But try telling kids who don’t speak very good English what to do. They are precious kids but they did not like to listen to me most of the time. Working with them stretched my patience and creativity on how to help them and keep them engaged. I enjoyed teaching them letters and helping them write and add and subtract. The kids here are so smart and they know a lot for their age. They also can sit for longer periods of time and not get overly restless. But they’re still 100% kids and enjoy being mischievous and disobedient and pushing me to the edge! But through it all we got to see into the lives of these kids and hear their stories. Most of the kids are from very very poor families and the lunch served at school would be their only solid meal for the day. Some of the kids only had one parent some were pretty much on their own. Their uniforms were torn their legs and feet were dirty and old cuts were dirty and infected. But regardless of all of that their spirit was still innocent and sweet. They love singing songs and being kids and dancing and laughing. They loved sitting on our laps and being hugged and just to be enjoyed. I wouldn’t have traded any of the hard times and frustrating times it was worth it when I saw them smile and heard them laugh. One day it started raining so I ran outside with a couple of them and we danced and spun around in the rain, it was awesome.
It hurts to see little kids their age expected to do so much and to be so much. They aren’t allowed to be just kids at home so it’s nice to see them singing and laughing at school and expressing their childishness. They’re all so precious and seeking love and attention, I’m glad for this week that I was able to spend time with them and love them and play with them. They’ll always be in my heart and hopefully I’ll visit them every once and a while, I don’t think they’ll forget about us either.